The Team Wellington Gazette
Squad9 Nov 2026
Steven Lustica breaks a bone — 52 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 52 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Callum Reid says Team Wellington went back on their word
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Gabriel Sloane-Rodrigues, 19, steals the show — 7.82
Marked 7.82 at 19, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Team Wellington
James Donachie 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.
The terraces9 Nov 2026
One of their own: Gabriel Sloane-Rodrigues
He is 19 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.
Match7 Nov 2026
Willem Ebbinge the difference as Team Wellington beat Southern United
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Willem Ebbinge. 2‑0 against Southern United, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Willem Ebbinge was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.00. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Team Wellington are still strangers to each other
5 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.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Noah Lockyer: “That is the standard”
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 2‑0, already talking about the next one.
In brief
- The dugout Michael Kirwan gets it from the manager
- Squad Nikola Leković remains an outsider
- Market The Walter Scott talk will not go away