12
Edition
The Wellington Phoenix Gazette
19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Oct 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Benjamin Halloran
125 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Wellington Phoenix lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Nathan Walker is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Looking ahead19 Oct 2026
Paulo Retre goes back to face Sydney FC
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Paulo Retre’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Wellington Phoenix needing him to play as if none of it matters.
In brief
- Squad The penny has dropped for Quadri Liameed
- Looking ahead Looking ahead: the trip to Sydney FC
- The dugout The manager comes out for Alex Rufer
- Squad Alex Rufer is the talk of the training ground