The Hawke's Bay United Courier
Match17 Oct 2026
Bill Payne leads the rout of WaiBOP United
4‑0, and Bill Payne took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Hawke's Bay United tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Both of them Bill Payne's — 8.94
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.94, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad19 Oct 2026
92 days out for Kosta Lewis after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Hawke's Bay United will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
A debut Dane Sutton will not forget — 7.66
There is exactly one of these per career and it does not usually go like this. 0 on the scoresheet, 7.66 beside the name, and a crowd that had never seen him before chanting it by the end.
Squad19 Oct 2026
The step up is real for Max Cummings
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Joe Smith in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hawke's Bay United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Oct 2026
A late step up for Monty Rufer
At 27 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.
Boardroom19 Oct 2026
2 academy players handed senior numbers at Hawke's Bay United
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
The terraces19 Oct 2026
One of their own: Dane Sutton
He is 16 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
In brief
- Market Marco Rufer steps up from the Hawke's Bay United academy
- Market One of our own: Tim Cacace joins the Hawke's Bay United first team
- Player ratings A masterclass from Joe Smith