Marked for Dane McCowatt
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market23 Nov 2026
Ryan De Vries 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 Southern United can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
No sign of nerves from Ryan De Vries at 20 — 7.87
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Ryan De Vries did not need any: 7.87, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Sam Rufer goes up and wins it — 7.75
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.75 for the rest of it.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Oliver Rufer has a hand in both — 7.98
One scored and one made, which is a different afternoon from scoring twice and an easier one to overlook. Marked 7.98, and involved in 2 of his side's goals.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Ben De Vries 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.
Match21 Nov 2026
Hawke's Bay United left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Match21 Nov 2026
Another one collected away from home
3 on the bounce on the road for Southern United. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
The medical room confirms 30 days on the sidelines for Dane Waine, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Oliver Rufer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Loan watch26 Oct 2026
“I did not go to Team Wellington to sit and watch. I want to come back to Southern United and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 10 matches say the rest.
Looking ahead26 Oct 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Canterbury United in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Squad26 Oct 2026
The training reports on Jai McCowatt are not good
A bad Saturday is forgiven; a bad Tuesday is chosen. Standards have slipped and in a building where everybody watches everybody, it has been noticed.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market28 Sep 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
59 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad28 Sep 2026
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Ben De Vries 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Southern United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oliver Rufer 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 dugout28 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Cameron Garbett
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 Aug 2026
Ruon Tongyik 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 Team Wellington this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Team Wellington asked and Hawke's Bay United said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Team Wellington are still strangers to each other
15 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
A loan enquiry to WaiBOP United: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Squad17 Aug 2026
No place for Callum Sutton in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Team Wellington are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Market17 Aug 2026
Team Wellington bring in a squad player on loan
A season-long audition: Waitakere United still own him, but the shirt and the minutes are Team Wellington's to give. A loan is a bet both clubs believe they are winning.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Aug 2026
Walter Scott and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Team Wellington asked and WaiBOP United said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Christian Bracco was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Bill Tuiloma has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Matt Barbarouses is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. James Bell has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Alex Singh has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Squad10 Aug 2026
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Team Wellington know which stage they are at.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Team Wellington will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.