Willem Ebbinge 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hadriel Ntumbabu 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 is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
66 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Southern United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Southern United are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Dane Cacace 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.
“I did not go to Team Wellington to sit and watch. I want to come back to Southern United and fight for my place.” 9 appearances in 31 matches say the rest.
94 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Southern 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 The request is on a desk at Southern United, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Oliver Rufer and Southern United agree another 4 years.
Dane Cacace 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 101 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.
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.
Nobody at Southern United will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Team Wellington have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Matthew Acton 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Corey Hollman 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Team Wellington, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Gabriel Sloane-Rodrigues did not need any: 8.28, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Team Wellington and Waitakere United have settled on $66.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
The deal with Auckland City is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
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.
Team Wellington asked and Southern 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Corey Hollman 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 words a physio says slowly. 25 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.
7 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
A brace, and Jason Doyle takes the afternoon — 9.02
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Jason Doyle provided it, and the 9.02 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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 7.66 for the rest of it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Southern United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Chris Wood 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.
Marked 8.16 — 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.
“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 Southern United, and 5 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.
Matthew Acton 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ilisoni Lolaivalu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Ryan Just’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Team Wellington needing him to play as if none of it matters.
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at Team Wellington the difference is visible from the back of the stand.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Southern United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Jason Doyle. 1‑0 against WaiBOP United, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“I watch every Southern United game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Team Wellington runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sam Van Hattum 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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Clayton Rufer could afford to be generous.
6 goals in one match, Jason Doyle on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Southern United and Canterbury United.
“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 Southern United, and 2 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 2‑4 Clayton Rufer left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Ryan Payne 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.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Francis McCowatt has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
James Lewis 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.
Lorimer Bouman 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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Southern United in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
“I will play as long as the body lets me and stop the day it does not.” He is 32, with 0 appearances behind him, and the club has to plan for a decision that is not yet made.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Team Wellington, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Southern 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 Stamatelopoulos and Southern United agree another 1 years.
“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 5 matches say the rest.
In brief
SquadSam Van Hattum falls out with a teammate over standards
“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 Southern United, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer went to Hawke's Bay United this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Southern United have gone to Auckland City with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Dane Cacace 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Canterbury United have kept their man, and Southern United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Team Wellington paid $16.0K and Southern United took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Ryan Payne 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.
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Chris Wood’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
The chase for Dane Cacace ended with $150.0K changing hands and Waitakere United out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Team Wellington have gone to Canterbury United with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Every supporter in the ground could have named the hole in this team, and most of them did, loudly, for months. Cameron Tuiloma has been signed to close it.
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.
He is 17, and nobody at Team Wellington signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Careers are short and most of them do not end in a deal like this one. Jai Payne has just secured his, and nobody at Team Wellington begrudges him it — out loud.
A season-long audition: Southern 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.
The offer from Waitakere United for Chris Wood was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Dane Cacace 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.
Southern United asked and Canterbury 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.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Southern United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Ben Cacace
Everything agreed with Southern United, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Ruon Tongyik 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Canterbury United have kept their man, and Team Wellington go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Oliver Just and Team Wellington agree another 3 years.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Auckland City waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Southern United is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The phone has started ringing about Ryan Just again, and this time the name on the line is Team Wellington. Southern United are listening politely and promising nothing.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Marco McCowatt and Southern United agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Matthew Acton 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Melbourne City have kept their man, and Team Wellington go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilisoni Lolaivalu 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.
13 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.
Southern United 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.
A season-long look at somebody else’s player: Kosta Tuiloma arrives from Southern United with something to prove and a return ticket in the drawer. Good loans make everybody richer; this one starts Saturday.