The Wellington Phoenix Gazette
Squad17 Apr 2028
Bill Tuiloma damages knee ligaments — 50 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 50 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.
Match17 Apr 2028
Every point is an argument now for Wellington Phoenix
Position 10 and 24 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
Jayden Smith: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Wellington Phoenix have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
Tobías Cervera has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Wellington Phoenix 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.
Market17 Apr 2028
The Ifeanyi Eze question follows Wellington Phoenix around
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ifeanyi Eze’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
Oliver Lavale 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 dugout17 Apr 2028
A door opens for Oliver Jones
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Squad17 Apr 2028
The penny has dropped for Max Vartuli
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at Wellington Phoenix the difference is visible from the back of the stand.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Alex Rufer is the talk of the training ground
Sharpest man there all week, by every account. It is the quietest line on this page and it usually runs the week before somebody’s run in the side begins.
In brief
- Squad Mitchell Lee is out on the grass again
- Loan watch Decision time nears on Lukas Kelly-Heald