The Hawke's Bay United Courier
Squad23 Aug 2027
A late step up for Matt Colvey
At 30 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Squad23 Aug 2027
A row about effort at Hawke's Bay United
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Callum Boxall was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
Callum De Vries is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
Sam Waine 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 Sam Waine is on it.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
Bill Kirwan 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 Bill Kirwan trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market23 Aug 2027
Oliver Just leaves for nothing
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Oliver Just leaves Hawke's Bay United the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
In brief
- Market Liberato Lockyer leaves for nothing
- The dugout The manager plants his flag on Michael McCowatt
- Squad Callum De Vries is finding his feet at Hawke's Bay United
- Squad Deklan Waine is fit again