Max Cummings

Central Defender - Hawke's Bay United
26 Nov 2026
Thursday
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Marked for Max Cummings

14 Edition

The Hawke's Bay United Courier

2 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad2 Nov 2026

Monty Rufer stands alone

10 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.

Squad2 Nov 2026

Kosta Lewis breaks a bone — 78 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 78 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad2 Nov 2026

Words at Hawke's Bay United training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Monty Singh is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Squad2 Nov 2026

Words exchanged at Hawke's Bay United

Max Cummings and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Match31 Oct 2026

Auckland City take the points off Hawke's Bay United

Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

The dugout2 Nov 2026

No hiding place for Oliver McCowatt

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Oliver McCowatt, and the manager let it.

In brief

Back issues
12 Edition

The Hawke's Bay United Courier

19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match17 Oct 2026

Bill Payne leads the rout of WaiBOP United

4‑0, and Bill Payne took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Hawke's Bay United tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.

Player ratings19 Oct 2026

Both of them Bill Payne's — 8.94

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.94, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Squad19 Oct 2026

92 days out for Kosta Lewis after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Hawke's Bay United will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Player ratings19 Oct 2026

A debut Dane Sutton will not forget — 7.66

There is exactly one of these per career and it does not usually go like this. 0 on the scoresheet, 7.66 beside the name, and a crowd that had never seen him before chanting it by the end.

Squad19 Oct 2026

The step up is real for Max Cummings

At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.

Squad19 Oct 2026

Joe Smith in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hawke's Bay United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad19 Oct 2026

A late step up for Monty Rufer

At 27 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 4 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.

Boardroom19 Oct 2026

2 academy players handed senior numbers at Hawke's Bay United

The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.

The terraces19 Oct 2026

One of their own: Dane Sutton

He is 16 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.

In brief

8 Edition

The Hawke's Bay United Courier

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad21 Sep 2026

Callum Murphy damages knee ligaments — 33 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 33 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Squad21 Sep 2026

A fracture rules Kosta Lewis out for 121 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hawke's Bay United will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad21 Sep 2026

Real improvement from Max Cummings at Hawke's Bay United

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Max Cummings is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

In brief