The Waitakere United Sentinel
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Nobody could get near Francis Sutton
Successful dribbles: 55. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Matt Cacace damages knee ligaments — 22 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 22 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.
Match7 Dec 2026
Waitakere United are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 10 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market7 Dec 2026
Winston Rufer puts it in writing
“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 The request is on a desk at Waitakere United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Monty Nelson signs on for more
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Monty Nelson and Waitakere United agree another 3 years.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Waitakere United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Samuel Okon 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Waitakere United
Stefan Lewis was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Loan watch7 Dec 2026
Noah Payne counts the days
“I watch every Waitakere United 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.
Match5 Dec 2026
Waitakere United and Team Wellington take a point apiece
It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
In brief
- Player ratings Off the bench and decisive: Francis Van Hattum
- Player ratings The pass was always on for Callum Smith