The Waitakere United Sentinel
Squad10 Sep 2029
33 days out for Matt Rufer after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Waitakere United will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market10 Sep 2029
Only the photograph left for Dane Bell
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Dane Bell will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Waitakere United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market10 Sep 2029
Lucas MacDonald’s move to Southern United falls through
The deal that would have taken Lucas MacDonald to Southern United has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Waitakere United with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Squad10 Sep 2029
A falling-out at Waitakere United
Ryan Just and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 Sep 2029
A row about effort at Waitakere United
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joe Nelson was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market10 Sep 2029
One of our own: Sam Boxall joins the Waitakere United first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Sam Boxall is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market10 Sep 2029
Noah Lewis steps up from the Waitakere United academy
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Noah Lewis has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Transfer targets10 Sep 2029
Deadline beats Waitakere United to Sam Rufer
The clock did what Auckland City would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
Squad10 Sep 2029
Oliver Just stays put
“The easiest signature of my career.” Oliver Just and Waitakere United agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
In brief
- The dugout Ben Fenton gets picked when it counts
- The dugout Oliver Just gets it from the manager
- The dugout Lucas MacDonald knocks on the manager's door