The Waitakere United Sentinel
Squad18 Jan 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Dane Smith
23 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Waitakere United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Dane Boxall runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 31. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market18 Jan 2027
Chris Nelson 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
James Stamatelopoulos falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match16 Jan 2027
Waitakere United come up short against Southern United
Southern United left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad18 Jan 2027
No hiding place for Sam Bell
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sam Bell, and the manager let it.
In brief
- Squad Chris Tuiloma in a row with a teammate
- Market The shop window has James Tuiloma in it
- Loan watch 5 goals on loan for Monty Stamatelopoulos
- Player ratings James Stamatelopoulos ran the game