The Hawke's Bay United Courier
Squad11 Jan 2027
Oliver Waine breaks a bone — 49 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 49 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match11 Jan 2027
Hawke's Bay United sink to position 6
7 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Clayton Rufer keeps Hawke's Bay United in it on his own
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match9 Jan 2027
No end in sight to Hawke's Bay United's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Hawke's Bay United has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Monty Stamatelopoulos 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Hawke's Bay United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jai McCowatt 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.
Loan watch11 Jan 2027
Dane Bell has seen enough of Auckland City
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Hawke's Bay United, and 0 appearances in 21 say he has earned the hearing.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
A masterclass from Monty Stamatelopoulos
Marked 8.06 — 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.
Match9 Jan 2027
Hawke's Bay United and Team Wellington take a point apiece
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
In brief
- Market Tim Colvey told to find a new club
- Player ratings Callum Singh runs at them all day