Marked for Dane Lockyer
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market30 Nov 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Team Wellington, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Ryan Payne gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Loan watch30 Nov 2026
“I watch every Team Wellington game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Auckland City runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Every debut is a small story about the future: Michael Lewis, 15 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Callum Rufer finally opens his account
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Team Wellington have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market2 Nov 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Team Wellington can pretend not to have heard.
Loan watch2 Nov 2026
“I did not go to Auckland City to sit and watch. I want to come back to Team Wellington and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.
Squad2 Nov 2026
The captaincy has been taken off Callum Boxall. Team Wellington will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market5 Oct 2026
“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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ryan Payne commits to Team Wellington for another 1 years.
Squad5 Oct 2026
23 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 Aug 2026
“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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
The medical room confirms 30 days on the sidelines for Dylan Connolly, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 Aug 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Team Wellington, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market31 Aug 2026
A conversation is coming this week. Team Wellington will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market17 Aug 2026
Bill Cacace 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 Team Wellington can pretend not to have heard.
Squad17 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Stefan Waine commits to Team Wellington for another 3 years.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Stefan Waine knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Stefan Waine trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.