Adrian Bailey

Central Midfielder - Waitakere United
1 Dec 2026
Tuesday
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Marked for Adrian Bailey

15 Edition

The Waitakere United Sentinel

9 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad9 Nov 2026

A fracture rules Kai Johnston out for 42 days

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

Market9 Nov 2026

Slobodan Sergej hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Waitakere United can pretend not to have heard.

Player ratings9 Nov 2026

Joe Smith beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 27. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad9 Nov 2026

Words exchanged at Waitakere United

Tim Barbarouses 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.

Squad9 Nov 2026

Liberato Barbarouses signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Liberato Barbarouses commits to Waitakere United for another 4 years.

Squad9 Nov 2026

Words at Waitakere United training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Slobodan Sergej 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.

Player ratings9 Nov 2026

A masterclass from Adrian Bailey

Marked 8.03 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

The dugout9 Nov 2026

The form table has caught Tim Barbarouses

Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.

Match7 Nov 2026

Adrian Bailey rescues a point for Waitakere United

It needed Adrian Bailey to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Canterbury United, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

In brief

Back issues
14 Edition

The Waitakere United Sentinel

2 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad2 Nov 2026

The knee: Kosta Wood out for 14 days

14 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Waitakere United lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Squad2 Nov 2026

A fracture rules Kai Johnston out for 49 days

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

Match31 Oct 2026

Joe Smith leads the rout of WaiBOP United

4‑1, and Joe Smith took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Waitakere United tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.

Player ratings2 Nov 2026

Both of them Joe Smith's — 9.35

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.35, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Player ratings2 Nov 2026

Jake Fenton scores twice — 8.83

Two goals and a mark of 8.83 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Player ratings2 Nov 2026

Sam Rufer, 21, steals the show — 7.89

Marked 7.89 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.

Squad2 Nov 2026

Noah Reid 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 Waitakere United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad2 Nov 2026

Words at Waitakere United training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jake Fenton 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.

The terraces2 Nov 2026

Waitakere United supporters have found a favourite in Sam Rufer

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Sam Rufer has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

In brief

11 Edition

The Waitakere United Sentinel

12 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad12 Oct 2026

Kosta Wood damages knee ligaments — 35 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 35 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.

Squad12 Oct 2026

A fracture rules Kai Johnston out for 70 days

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

Squad12 Oct 2026

Oliver Kirwan is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 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.

Squad12 Oct 2026

A late step up for Adrian Bailey

At 30 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.

Market12 Oct 2026

Waitakere United and Tim Rufer are talking past each other

“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.

Market12 Oct 2026

The clock does Jake Fenton’s negotiating for him

5 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Waitakere United could ask drops and the wages Jake Fenton can ask rise.

In brief

2 Edition

The Waitakere United Sentinel

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market10 Aug 2026

Waitakere United turn down Team Wellington for Sam Rufer

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Market10 Aug 2026

Tim Fenton asks to leave Waitakere United

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Squad10 Aug 2026

Jai Bell signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Jai Bell commits to Waitakere United for another 4 years.

Squad10 Aug 2026

Tim Barbarouses 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 Waitakere United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market10 Aug 2026

Auckland City join the queue for Bill Lockyer

Add another name to the list: Auckland City have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Bill Lockyer. The answer from Waitakere United has not changed — yet.

Squad10 Aug 2026

A row about effort at Waitakere United

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Adrian Bailey was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

In brief