The Wellington Phoenix are good now. No matter how hard that might have been to imagine a few months ago, they really are and if they can keep on trucking the way they have been recently, considering the state of the A-League around them, then a top four finish should be less an aspiration and more an expectation. Of course the Ernie Days will remind us that the full course of a football season tends to unfold a bit like Snakes & Ladders and it could all very easily head back down in the other direction within a few weeks. A dip in confidence, some bad luck, injuries and suspensions... you’ve gotta keep on taking things one game at a time in this business. Even as a fan.

But the bigger lesson to learn at the moment comes from the mistakes that were made the last time the Welly Nix came outta nowhere to have a competitive team... last season. Mark Rudan took over the club with only a handful of contracted players but fast forward to the end of his eventful year in charge and the Nix’s playoff drought was over. Regardless of the fact that a poor last month or so cost them a shot at a home semi-final and ultimately led to a tame exit at the first postseason hurdle, it was a major improvement for a club that had been lucky to avoid the wooden spoon the campaign prior. Only the legendary ineptitude of Usain Bolt’s Central Coast Mariners spared them that humiliation and even then it was only by a single point (and the Phoenix had a worse goal difference).

I’ll spare you the post-traumatic shock of any more contextual stats about the state of the club when Mark Rudan took over, suffice to say that however you regard the man now he definitely left the Nix in a far far far better situation than he found them in. His French Exit from his contract midway through was unfortunate. Both in how it was handled and the fact that it happened at all... of which heaps of blame has to fall back on the club that gave him an outclause in the first place. But what was really inexcusable was the failure to plan ahead beyond that season even after it became clear that the coach wasn’t going to.

25 players took the field for the Welly Nix over the course of Mark Rudan’s reign. 18 of them had left the club by the time this season began. Three of them followed Mark Rudan to Melbourne. Three found themselves in India. A couple departed midseason. A few were imports which is usually a temporary thing anyway. A couple have since popped back up in the kiwi Premiership. One even found his way to Bayern Munich. In a funny way it might have worked out for the best since Uffie got to get busy on recruitment and we’ve since discovered that he’s a bit of a genius recruiter, plus we cleared out a fair bit of room to bring in all these young players that are elevating the club at the moment. Something that Rudan, and even Kalezic, had already begun but under Uffie it’s become a genuine objective for the Phoenix.

However we weren’t to know that at the time and for the Welly Nix to have to almost completely rebuild their squad (again) after getting back into the playoffs was a ridiculous thing. And it happened because of all the short term contracts they kept handing out, little one and two year deals that meant they were vulnerable to an exodus year after year (part influenced by the licence situation, part by a lack of ambition/direction, part probably by player preference). This time twelve months ago there were two players under contract for this season: Liberato Cacace and Sarpreet Singh. Singh ended up leaving anyway and Cacace we didn’t even realise he was under contract at that point, it was a bit murky. Steven Taylor’s automatic extension didn’t kick in until mid-February and they were able to sign up four more players after him: Alex Rufer, Oli Sail, Louis Fenton, and Callan Elliot (and Ben Waine was always staying too, just on a youth deal instead). All kiwi players, of whom only Rufer would have had significant other options. Sail and Elliot haven’t even played yet under Talay.

So it was beautiful to see the Phoenix getting ahead of things, finally, early in this new year with three straight days of contract extension announcements, locking down Steven Taylor, Jaushua Sotirio, and Tim Payne for two further years after this one and Alex Rufer for three more cycles. Six weeks quicker than any of these announcements a year ago and we’re also looking at four players who have been first eleven guys when fit under Talay. Sotirio and Fenton might not maintain that status with a full squad available but they’re very useful bench/squad members either way, with over 200 games of A-League footy between them.

Then you look at the delightful achievement of getting players like Ulises Davila, Stefan Marinovic, David Ball, and Cameron Devlin all signed on two-year deals when they arrived at the club in preseason and chuck in new signing Brandon Wilson who also had his deal announced in the first week of 2020. We’re not quite halfway through this campaign and already there are 14 players under contract for the next one. It’s a wonderful thing. Resting on what’s going on at the moment isn’t enough, the Phoenix had to secure these foundations moving forward and thankfully that appears to be happening. In the very least we can hope for a first eleven next season that includes most of this season’s preferred candidates.

Contracts expiring after 2018-19 season:

Callan Elliot, Walter Scott, Luke DeVere, Callum McCowatt, Luke McGing, Te Atawhai Hudson-Wihongi, Matti Steinmann & Gary Hooper

Contracts expiring after 2019-20 season:

Liberato Cacace, Louis Fenton, Oliver Sail, Stefan Marinovic, Ben Waine, Cameron Devlin, Ulises Davila, David Ball & Brandon Wilson

Contracts expiring after 2020-21 season:

Steven Taylor, Jaushua Sotirio, Tim Payne & Reno Piscopo

Contracts expiring after 2021-22 season:

Alex Rufer

Now, one or two of those guys might leave early – Libby Cacace has reported interest from a few different leagues in Europe and if I had to predict it, I’d say he sees out this season and leaves in the offseason (or signs elsewhere but is loaned back). It’ll be very interesting to see if he wants to wait until after the Olympics to add some extra leverage, something Callum McCowatt and Reno Piscopo could also have in their minds.

Also immensely relevant is that Ufuk Talay is contracted for three years himself, including this one. Not only is he contracted for that time but unlike his predecessor he actually seems to be planning for that length of time and beyond. Just peeking at those contract dates, the Nix really do have a nice balance going. The majority of their best players are under contract while the expirings, for the most part, are players who should be in that position where they’re trying to earn those potential fresh deals. Young players, fringe players, a couple injury prone veterans. But of the nine players to have played 800+ minutes under Uffie only Steinmann and DeVere aren’t under club control.

DeVere you’d hope is having chats as we speak because there’s not much other CB depth at the club currently and he’s a local player so no dramas there (although LDV might wanna use this as a launching pad season, like David Williams did last time, rather than as a long term home which is fair enough). Steinmann... not so much. He’s been pretty impressive for the most part but you do want to keep some flexibility with those import spots (with 3/5 already locked in for next season) and between Rufer and Devlin (and with Wilson having some big raps too) the midfield might not be the most necessary area for a precious import. Nothing against Steinbags but it only makes sense to wait until after the season for a decision and to keep that flexibility in place.

As for Gary Hooper in that other import spot, who knows? He’s only just now fit enough for the starting team so way too early to make a call there. His injury history demanded a one-year deal but his injury history is also the only reason Hooper was even available to a club like the Phoenix.

This is an unfamiliar position to be in. Not only are the club and its manager being proactive about the future but their success in the present is fast making that a simple consolidation. Players actually want to play for the Phoenix right now. Kiwi footballers are seeing pathways and so are young Aussie players, top prospects like Devlin and Wilson, who maybe didn’t feel they’d get the same opportunities elsewhere. There’s still that element of established Australian players who’ll never consider moving their family to Wellington to be a preferred option over an Australian club but that’s fine because we’re not targeting those players anyway. Which is another reason the future of the Wellington Phoenix seems in a decent place right now because these young fellas are only getting better. Look at what Libby Cacace and Alex Rufer have achieved over the last couple years and imagine Ben Waine and Sam Sutton in a few more years’ time. Not a lot to argue with there. Ain’t it great to see some ambition?

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