Wellington Phoenix squad for the 2018/19 ISPS Handa Premiership has been released.
Academy Director, Paul Temple, is extremely happy with the current squad especially with the recent additions.
“The majority of the team has been together for a while now and played together in the Central League season, we’ve just added a few new faces to give the squad some additional qualities and provide us a little more strength and depth.
“The extra squad depth provides good competition for places which these players need at this stage in their development.”
Temple believes the new players must exhibit the right qualities to represent the Wellington Phoenix.
“Firstly any new player must demonstrate the right character and be willing to work hard for the group.
“We are then looking for attributes in their games that will bring something different to the team and of course the potential to play at a higher level.”
Having seen plenty of Academy players make the transition into the first team, Temple will be looking for more of the same this season.
“We’ve seen Ben Waine go on the first team trip to Sydney and we’ve also seen 6-7 additional players also spend time training with the first team this pre-season which shows we’ve got a really good pathway in place.
“Mark is willing to look at the young players in the Academy but it’s up to them to step up.
“They need to be playing well consistently in the National League to prove they are ready for the chance in the first team.”
The Wellington Phoenix Reserves begin their campaign against Team Wellington on October 21 at Westpac Stadium, 2.10 pm. This game is the curtain raiser to the first team game kicking off later at 5.00pm.
Wellington Phoenix Reserves ISPS Handa Premiership 2018/19 Squad
Zac Jones
Dino Botica
Liam Moore
Calvin Harris
Willem Ebbinge
Sam Sutton
Oliver Valentine
Noah Tipene-Clegg
Stephen Sprowson
Ronan Wynne
Ben Waine
Maximilian Batchelor
Owen Smith
Caleb Emmens
Kieran Richards
Tuyi Byamana
Kurtis Mogg
Boyd Curry
