The Waitakere United Sentinel
Market21 Jun 2027
Dane Lockyer agrees terms with Team Wellington
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Waitakere United people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Bill 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 Waitakere United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
Door shut on Dylan Peraić-Cullen
Waitakere United asked and Western Sydney Wanderers said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Nicholas Dmitrović signs a new deal
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Nicholas Dmitrović commits to Waitakere United for another 3 years.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
Waitakere United try to borrow Gabriel Popovic
Sydney FC have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
Tim Tuiloma gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Tim Tuiloma is on it.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
Dane Lockyer asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
The manager plants his flag on Marco Smith
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Marco Smith’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Aston Ellard finally belongs at Waitakere United
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
In brief
- Boardroom Waitakere United board back the manager
- Squad Ryan Rufer is out on the grass again