The Hawke's Bay United Courier
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Clayton Waine runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Dale Edwards is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 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.
Market19 Oct 2026
Matt Payne hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hawke's Bay United can pretend not to have heard.
Squad19 Oct 2026
A late step up for Francis De Vries
At 24 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 5 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Hawke's Bay United
Dale Edwards 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.
Boardroom19 Oct 2026
Graduation day at Hawke's Bay United
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.
Match17 Oct 2026
Francis De Vries sends Hawke's Bay United past WaiBOP United
It finished 2‑1, and it was Francis De Vries’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Hawke's Bay United.
The terraces19 Oct 2026
Hawke's Bay United supporters have found a favourite in Alex De Vries
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Alex De Vries has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Market19 Oct 2026
One of our own: Cameron Reid joins the Hawke's Bay United first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Cameron Reid is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
In brief
- Market One of our own: Noah Just joins the Hawke's Bay United first team
- Market One of our own: Michael Barbarouses joins the Hawke's Bay United first team
- Player ratings One of those days for Francis De Vries