39 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. WaiBOP United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 The request is on a desk at WaiBOP United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Alex Smith 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at WaiBOP United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Winston Singh 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.
“I did not go to Brisbane Roar to sit and watch. I want to come back to WaiBOP United and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 11 matches say the rest.
The words a physio says slowly. 61 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.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Deklan Payne could not have asked for more on his first appearance — 7.51
Debuts are survived rather than enjoyed. This one was enjoyed: 7.51, 1 goals, and a manager already being asked whether he starts again next week.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Sam Van Hattum is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
At 26 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 4 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.
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Matt Waine is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The words a physio says slowly. 68 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Deklan Waine and WaiBOP United agree another 3 years.
At 24 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 4 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.
In brief
SquadAlex Nelson is a better footballer than he was
The words a physio says slowly. 82 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.
“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 WaiBOP United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Liberato Cacace is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
The words a physio says slowly. 96 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Alex Smith is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad14 Sep 2026
James Just falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
118 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. WaiBOP United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 WaiBOP United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at WaiBOP United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. James Just 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at WaiBOP United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Winston Singh and WaiBOP United agree another 3 years.
Alex Smith 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at WaiBOP United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Winston Singh 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.