Five Standout Prospects From The Wellington Phoenix Academy's Class Of 2022
There’s not a football club on the planet that doesn’t know the value of being able to produce their own players. Not all of them bother with it, particularly those who can afford to bypass such long-term visions, but they all understand why it matters. Homegrown players have an automatic emotional connection to the club. Fans relate to them, kids are inspired by their example. Plus they’re cheaper. Sign ‘em young without rival clubs bartering up the price and there ya go.
The Wellington Phoenix are the only professional club in the nation of Aotearoa so there’s even more of an impetus for them to get traffic flowing freely along those pathways. They’ve only got a limited number of import spots available and they’re never going to be the first choice for top notch Aussie locals to bulk things up. Hnece it’s a bloody good thing that the Wellington Phoenix Academy is firing on all cylinders these days.
In the last couple seasons we’ve seen three academy products sold to European clubs for transfer fees. We’re not talking about eeking down the last days of their contracts and choosing to leave, no way, we’re talking about being actively pursued by clubs willing to part with golden currency for their immediate services. Sarpreet Singh to Bayern Munich. Liberato Cacace to Sint-Truiden. Ben Waine to Plymouth Argyle. And while he’s not an academy player, they probably oughta get some credit for Cam Devlin having plucked him out of the Sydney FC system and given him his A-League breakthrough (although he signed with Newcastle Jets in between leaving the Nix and joining Hearts in Scotland – where he’s now having a whale of a time alongside far too many other Australians).
You’re doing something right when you’re getting transfer fees for academy grads. Especially when you’re operating out of the Australian A-League far away from the ordinary gazes of European scouts. It runs much deeper than that though. There are six senior-contracted players in the first team right now who came through the academy and that’s after the departure of Ben Waine. That doesn’t even include Oli Sail or Alex Rufer who were signed from senior clubs in NZ directly to A-League contracts (as opposed to Callan Elliot who played for Tasman FC but initially joined the Nix on academy terms rather than pro terms). Or the various youngsters who’ve gotten amongst first team activities without signing on pro terms.
As the squad was stretched by injuries and covid dramas last season, Ufuk Talay leaned upon his club’s academy more than ever with twelve separate homegrown prospects taking the pitch in ALM matches as well as three more who made matchday squads but didn’t play. The full list, in order of minutes played: Sam Sutton, Ben Waine, Ben Old, Finn Surman, Louis Fenton, James McGarry, Callan Elliot, Alex Paulsen, Oskar van Hattum, Jackson Manuel, Riley Bidois, George Ott (plus Henry Gray, Kurtis Mogg, and Luis Toomey were the unused subs). Sutton was fourth in overall total minutes while Waine was tied top scorer so we’re talking about some major contributions amongst that lot too.
Some of those guys have since departed. There are only so many professional contracts available at the club and there are far too many jerries in contention to sign them all. James McGarry has left for Newcastle (scoring against the Nix earlier in the season). Louis Fenton retired from the top level though has been playing at NPL level with Queensland Lions. George Ott is the latest kiwi baller to end up at the Melbourne Knights where he scored three times in nine matches in the latter stages of their 2022 campaign. Kurtis Mogg popped up at Auckland United where he made TNC’s Men’s National League Team of the Season. Henry Gray reportedly left to do some trialling in Europe returned to play for Waterside Karori in the Central League, and more recently has apparently trialled with Central Coast Mariners.
Meanwhile Luis Toomey had the funkiest move of all as he flipped over to Finland to play for Pallo-Iirot. This was the fourth tier of footy in the country, not the highest level imaginable, but Toomey did have a wonderful impact scoring a bunch of goals including a hat-trick in their final home fixture as P-Iirot went the entire season undefeated to earn promotion. He’s currently back over in Finland auditioning for a new gig with an organised team of free agents.
Lots of accomplishments for a bunch of fellas who were only released last May, right? Let alone previous academy products such as Joe Bell, Max Mata, Logan Rogerson, James Musa, Eugenio Pizzuto, Ollie Whyte, Calvin Harris, Joel Stevens... the list goes on. There are Phoenix connections sprinkled all over the planet at this point.
Plus the various national teams are chock-full of the buggers. The All Whites squad for the Costa Rica World Cup playoff – the most important game for a decade – featured four players specifically brought through the Nix academy plus guys like Marco Rojas and Kosta Barbarouses who predate it but were Nix homegrown players along with several more who have played/still play for the club. 12/26 players had a direct Phoenix link. As for the age grade teams, they’re increasingly being dominated by WeeNixers... and the same is now becoming true of the Football Ferns and we’re starting to see the same in age grade women’s teams now that there’s a girls’ academy as well.
Not long before the 2022 National League season got underway there was an Oceania U19 Championships which took place. The victorious Aotearoa team had a jolly old time of it in Tahiti where they won every game and usually by a chunky margin. 33 goals scored across six games and zero conceded. 12 of 23 players selected for that squad (plus another one of the three travelling reserves) were affiliated with the WP. That includes nine of the thirteen guys who played the most minutes at the tournament.
Now, that might not actually be the best thing for kiwi football overall. Recent age-grade waves have see the WeeNix and the Ole Academy providing the bulk of the players but Ole were sort of in between generations with that squad and the Phoenix scooped up all the slack. Ideally the more diverse pathways that are producing high level prospects the better shape football will be in New Zealand... but every tournament is going to be different. This one just happened to be overwhelmed by a bunch of lads all hailing from the same academy. However let it be known that the Nix do recruit their academy players from all around the country, it’s not like only Wellingtonians have access to the wellsprings of Phoenix excellence.
Those players pretty much all then moved on into National League footy with the Reserve/U20s team – affectionately known as the WeeNix – where despite their youth team status going up against grown-ass men they won three, drew three, and lost three games on their way to a sixth-place finish amongst the ten clubs in the nation across the year.
This was after a Central League campaign in which they were a comfortable third in their region. Admittedly their best mahi came late in the Natty League season when the World Cup break meant several A-League players were able to drop down and help them out... but there was plenty of goodness on display throughout from a team that only once lost by more than one goal (and that was 2-0 away to eventual champs Auckland City).
So who are the standout prospects from the latest National League season? These things aren’t always so easy to predict but here are five to keep an eye on...
Isaac Hughes (Central Defender)
Born 25 March 2004
Let us begin with an easy one in central defender Isaac Hughes. A fella who has been in the Nix academy for many years and who has seasons years under his belt already at National League level - although it was in 2022 when he emerged as a regular starter. Hughes also featured prominently in that U19s Oceania Champs squad (like most of these lads) and, in the biggest nudge of his career so far, was recently included on the bench for the A-League side when they took on Melbourne Victory at the start of February. With Scott Wootton injured and Tim Payne suspended, just prior to the Nikko Boxall signing, it was Hughes who was summoned to full out the defensive cover on the bench.
Hughes spent time alongside Finn Surman in that NZ U19s side as well as for the WeeNix and that feels appropriate. The previous CB standout of this academy paired with the current standout. Hughes doesn’t quite have the same towering upside as Surman but he’s a sturdier more well-rounded player than Surman was at the same age (although Finn’s ALM experience means that we won’t be able to say that for much longer).
Isaac Hughes is one of those dudes who just doesn’t make mistakes. He knows where to be, has a great read on the game, and even has a sneaky bit of pizazz in there too - there was one assist he got for the WeeNix late last term where he employed a delicate backheel to set up Josh Tollervey. Most of all he’s got an excellent technique and there’s a reason you see him getting plenty of touches in the WeeNix’s build-up play. We already know that Ufuk Talay’s been taking notice. As were The Niche Cache when he worked his way onto the Third XI of our Team of the Season.
Dan McKay (Midfielder)
Born 27 November 2003
Here’s the other WeeNix bloke who got Team of the Season honours – in this case we’re talking about second team prestigiousness. McKay wasn’t necessarily an obvious starter for the WeeNix last season considering he’d been behind Charlie Beale and Fin Conchie for the NZ U19s (although with plenty of rotation going on he still got his moments – including scoring a double in a 5-0 win over Papua New Guinea). But Beale spent a lot of WeeNix time on the right wing while Conchie was in and out so it was Dan McKay who often ran the show.
And he was superb. It doesn’t mean that much to say he’s a technically reliable player with a good sense of possession footy because all the WeeNix blokes who get to this stage are like that... though McKay more than most. Plus while the steady passing mahi looks good, he’s not someone who keeps the ball for the sake of it. Watching him play you notice how he’s always got an eye on that potential killer pass. He’s got the skills to be able to hit those passes too. As mentioned in that Team of the Year yarn, there was this one no-look pass that he played to set up an Adam Supyk goal against Melville that was an absolute highlight and suffice to say that wasn’t his only assist along the way either.
Nobody in that Phoenix Reserves side boosted their stocks more than Dan McKay did during that Natty League, he was their top performer across those nine games.
Noah Karunaratne (Forward/Winger)
Born 27 June 2003
Noah (and younger bro Seth) have been making waves in the academy for a couple of years but it was in 2022 when the wider public was first shown exactly why. Karunaratne’s South-Asian heritage (Sri Lankan in this case) may have reminisces of Sarpreet Singh... but actually it’s a more recent prospect that NK best resembles. Both Karunaratne and Ben Old have similar styles, especially with regards their colossal ability to get their body between ball and marker and earn a free kick. Whether they’re static or on the move doesn’t matter, people keep fouling them either way. Karunaratne would have been one of the most fouled players in the last National League, while Old’s gone even further and translated that ability to the A-League level.
It goes deeper than that. Old is a left footer who plays on the right wing, Karunaratne is a right footer who plays in the left wing. Both are hectic dribblers. Both therefore tend to angle infield rather than around the outside (thus creating room for overlapping fullbacks). Both have great close control. Both have also played for the Wellington Phoenix first team.
For Karunaratne, that’s so far only in Australia Cup action but we all know that’s a common doorway into senior footy at the club. Karunaratne was included in the squad for their opening cup game, a 4-0 win over Devonport Strikers, making his debut as an 88th minute substitute replacing Oskar van Hattum up front (with Marco Lorenz also subbed on for a debut at fullback at the same time). Since then NK has been included in five further first team matchday squads, all as an unused sub. Twice more in the Aussie Cup and then three times in the A-League. With Ben Waine now departed, he’s moved even further up the pecking order and of all the five blokes getting highlighted here, Karunaratne is the one with the most immediate path into the top squad.
Although one point of note: he didn’t actually score a goal or register an assist in eight National League games last term. Started all but one of those appearances so the minutes were there. Gonna give him the benefit of the doubt and say that the WeeNix’s lack of an out-and-out striker that season was more the issue there, but it’s something to be aware of. Ben Old has a little bit of that same issue with the end product himself – Oldie only has 2 goals and 2 assists in 41 ALM matches (13 starts, 28 as a sub).
Charlie Beale (Midfielder)
Born 3 September 2003
The first three blokes on the list were quite easy to pick based on talent and performance in the past National League. The last couple are a lot more difficult because there are at least five more guys who could all be justifiably included (but it’d be taking the piss – and would take too much time – to write about them all). For the record, blokes who got first team footy last season weren’t considered so no Oskar van Hattum or Riley Bidois. This is mostly based on recollections from the 2022 National League, so someone like Fin Conchie misses out after only starting four of the nine games despite probably being amongst the top five in terms of ability.
Charlie Beale is of a similar pedigree. Having been a prominent midfielder for that NZ U19s lot, often paired with Conchie, he was mostly used as a right winger for the WeeNix (in that wide playmaking role, the ressies mirroring Ufuk Talay’s 4-2-2-2 formation). He played once in the midfield and seven times as the right-sided ten. Plus once off the bench when Alex Rufer and Yan Sasse both played the season finale for the reserves and blocked off both his positions.
Thing is, Beale can do both. He’s an impressive midfielder who plays with energy and keeps things moving along. He and Conchie have a really great partnership building, while Dan McKay offers a similarly well-rounded technical quality. But Beale’s also got a bit of punch to his game with a long shot and some crossing prowess which allowed him to prosper on the edge too. He’s the sort of player who can probably do a job up front or at fullback too. Good footballers are good footballers.
Also Beale’s a good example to use because while there is a solid core of the Phoenix Academy that have been nurtured long term as Te Whanganui-a-Tara locals, there’s also a fine record of recognising and recruiting top talent from other regions too. Beale fits into that category as a Tauranga native who moved to Wellywood as a 14 year old specifically to immerse himself in the Phoenix system.
Matthew Sheridan (Midfield/Fullback)
Born 9 May 2004
Here’s another lad from wider Aotearoa and the sneakiest of all these picks. Fair play to Josh Tollervey who was recently called up for the wider senior squad, as well as Ben Wallace who was in close consideration. Not to mention someone like Adam Supyk who has done fine mahi at fullback in the past but didn’t play that much last season due to Lucas Mauragis’s presence (or Adam’s younger bro Luke who scored a bunch of goals for the NZ U17s last month and should move into WeeNix contention over the upcoming Central League term). Or the towering Kelly-Heald twins - Alby is a goalkeeper and Lukas is a central or left-sided defender, both now getting a lot of opportunities.
But Matt Sheridan put up numbers in that Natty League and it was hard not to take notice. A goal and an assist playing mostly as an attacking right back, though Sheridan’s preferred position seems to be central midfield. He started six matches at RB and three in CM, the only guy to start every one of the WeeNix’s National League matches.
As a right back he’s always keen to get forward and work together with his winger (in a funny way that probably contributed to Karunaratne’s lack of assists as the WeeNix were often very right-side dominant... although Mauragis had a stint in the middle where he changed that). As a midfielder, well, it was more of the same. Not quite got the game sense of some of the others in that position yet but that’ll come in due course (note that he’s a year younger than guys like McKay/Conchie/Beale). He makes things happen, that’s the key thing.
Sheridan is a Christchurch lad from Selwyn United who actually joined the Phoenix Academy at a similar time to fellow Selwyn Utd blokes Finn Surman and Jonny Sims back in 2019. In fact Sheridan made the switch first despite being the youngest of the trio – he was there 3-4 months before the other two. Surman’s gone on to crack the wider first team already. Sheridan could potentially do the same soon enough with another season like the last one.
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