The ISPS Handa Premiership kicks off this weekend across the country, find out what’s in store with the official preview.

Waitakere United vs Wellington Phoenix Reserves
Seddon Fields, Auckland
Saturday 2 November, 3pm
#ISPSHandaPrem #WUvWP

Referee: Anna-Marie Keighley
Assistant Referees: Hayden Tutbury, Brandon Day
Fourth Official: Luke Gardner

Squads

Waitakere United: 1. Nick Draper (GK), 2. Luke Searle, 4. Robert Tipelu, 5. Flynn O’Brien, 6. Dane Schnell, 7. Alex Connor-McClean, 8. Sam Burfoot, 9. Zac Zoricich, 10. Jake Porter, 11. Lachlan McIsaac, 14. Gerard Garriga Gibert, 17. Emmanuel Darkwa, 18. Nicolas Zambrano, 21. Hayden Aish, 22. Elliot Munford (GK), 23. Joshua Redfearn
Coach: Paul Hobson

Wellington Phoenix Reserves: 1. Zac Jones (GK), 4. Kurtis Mogg, 5. Ronan Wynne, 6. Noah Tipene-Clegg, 7. Adam Hewson, 8. Owen Smith, 9. Stephen Sprowson, 10. Byron Heath, 11. Sam Sutton, 14. Luis Toomey, 15. Ahmed Othman, 16. Riley Bidois, 17. Callan Elliot, 20. Zachary Dean (GK), 24. Blake Driehuis, 26. Ryusei Ishibashi
Coach: Sam Wilkinson

Quotes

Paul Hobson (Waitakere United coach): “It should be an exciting game with plenty of exciting young players on display for both teams. We’ve had a good pre-season and are now ready to start the season and hopefully pick up three points on Saturday. I think our strengths will be our culture and willingness to work for each other. Our strength may also be some of the younger players coming into the squad pushing for places and playing with no fear.”

Southern United vs Tasman United
Logan Park, Dunedin
Saturday 2 November, 4pm
#ISPSHandaPrem #SUvTU

Referee: Cory Mills
Assistant Referees: Jack Henderson, Caleb Corbett-Marsh
Fourth Official: Calvin Berg

Squads

Southern United: 1. Liam Little (GK), 2. Levi Waddington, 3. Javier Langley, 4. Stephen Last, 5. Tim O’Farrell, 6. Conor O’Keeffe, 7. Erik Panzer, 8. Abdulla Al-Kalisy, 9. Alexander Cox, 10. Danny Ledwith, 11. Chris Wingate, 12. Garbhan Coughlan, 13. Cam Mackenzie, 14. Josh Sansucie, 15. Joel Stevens, 16. Benjamin Wade
Coach: Paul O’Reilly

Tasman United: 1. Pierce Clark (GK), 2. William Scott, 3. Hamish Cadigan, 4. Hamish Noorzai, 5. Fox Slotemaker, 6. Cory Vickers, 7. Corey Larsen, 8. Matthew Tod-Smith, 9. Jean-Philippe Saiko, 10. Jama Boss, 11. Facundo Barbero, 12. Max Winterton, 15. La Bu Pan, 18. Alexis Varela, 20. Nick Stanton, 21. Jackson Manuel
Coach: Jess Ibrom

Quotes

Paul O’Reilly (Southern United coach): “We’re in that bracket of being in the top five for the last two years and anything other than being in the top five again wouldn’t be ideal. I think we’ve got to be ambitious and say the top four is where we want to be this year.”

Jess Ibrom (Tasman United coach): “I want people to come to the games and be enthused about Tasman United, so we won’t play a brand in which we will sit back and let the game happen. We will be playing front-foot football. I want to be successful and firmly believe we can be.”

Hawke’s Bay United vs Auckland City
Bluewater Stadium, Napier
Saturday 2 November, 4.30pm
#ISPSHandaPrem #HBvAC

Referee: Ben O’Connell
Assistant Referees: Gareth Sheehan, Trent Pedley
Fourth Official: Edward Cook

Squads

Hawke’s Bay United: 1. Ruben Parker (GK), 4. Kaeden Atkins, 6. Jack Parker, 7. Sho Goto, 8. Karan Mandair, 9. Ahinga Selemani, 10. Dylan Sacramento, 14. Gavin Hoy, 15. Josh Murphy, 16. Joshua Signey, 17. Fergus Neil, 19. Bjorn Christensen, 20. Bill Robertson, 21. Shea Stapleton, 22. Ihaia Delaney, 23. Jorge Akers
Coach: Chris Greatholder

Auckland City: 1. Enaut Zubikarai (GK), 2. Mario Ilich, 3. Adam Mitchell, 4. Mario Bilen, 6. Brian Kaltak, 7. Cameron Howieson, 9. Myer Bevan, 10. Matthew Ellis, 11. Keegan Linderboom, 14. Jordan Vale, 16. Yousif Ali, 17. Andrew Blake, 18. Conor Tracey (GK), 20. Logan Rogerson, 21. Maro Bonsu-Maro, 23. Callum McNeill
Coach: Jose Figueira

Quotes

Ivan Vicelich (Auckland City assistant coach): “It's going to be an exciting start to the season and hopefully we can produce some good football. We know it’s going to be very difficult to get off to a good start but we’re preparing as best as we can for that. Chris and Bill have assembled a very good team again with new players and some that have been involved with Napier City Rovers and won the ISPS Handa Chatham Cup. They’ll be a very tough team to play against and we’ll have to be at our best to get a good result.”

Team Wellington vs Hamilton Wanderers
David Farrington Park, Wellington
Sunday 3 November, 2pm
#ISPSHandaPrem #TWvHW 

Referee: Matthew Conger
Assistant Referees: Mark Rule, Mark Whitehead
Fourth Official: Sean Reilly

Squads

Team Wellington: 1. Scott Basalaj (GK), 2. Justin Gulley, 3. Aaron Spain, 6. Scott Midgley, 7. Ollie Whyte, 8. Henry Cameron, 11. Mario Barcia, 12. Andrew Bevin, 14. Jack-Henry Sinclair, 16. Angus Kilkolly, 17. Alexander Palezevic, 19. Stevan Markovic, 20. Oliver Bassett, 21. Hamish Watson, 22. Keegan Smith (GK), 23. Rory McKeown
Coach: Scott Hales

Hamilton Wanderers: 1. Matt Oliver (GK), 2. Blake Weston, 3. Kohei Matsumoto, 4. Andy O’Donoghue, 8. Brad Whitworth, 9. Thilo Wilke, 10. Xavier Pratt, 11. Jordan Shaw, 12. Jordan Lamb, 13. Tommy Semmy, 14. George Ott, 16. Adam Davidson, 17. Jake Butler, 18. Quest Tipping, 20. Derek Tieku, 23. Cory Townsend (GK)
Coach: Ricki Herbert

Quotes

Scott Hales (Team Wellington coach): “There’s been a really positive vibe and the culture is something that we do pride ourselves on. The boys can’t wait for the game on Sunday, you spend six or seven weeks bedding in how you want to play and you can see the boys are just itching for that first whistle. Ricki has recruited some new boys and has retained as much as possible as well. So we’re expecting an organised, tough side who are quick on transition. They have quality all over the park who can nullify you but also hurt you when you least expect it. It’s going to be a good test.”

Eastern Suburbs vs Canterbury United Dragons
Madills Farm Reserve, Auckland
Sunday 3 November, 4pm
#ISPSHandaPrem #ESvCU
Live on Sky Sport

Referee: Campbell-Kirk Kawana-Waugh
Assistant Referees: Reza Al Rabea, Rhys Kimber
Fourth Official: Riley Greenbury

Squads

Eastern Suburbs: 1. Danyon Drake (GK), 3. Dylan de Jong, 4. Kelvin Kalua, 5. Alec Solomons, 6. Adam Thomas (c), 7. Michael Built, 8. Daniel Bowkett, 9. Martin Bueno, 10. Reid Drake, 11. Mohamed Awad, 12. Kingsley Sinclair, 16. Christian Gray, 20. Jake Mechell, 21. Ryan Verney, 25. Mackenzie Waite (GK), 27. Jade Mesias
Coach: Tony Readings

Canterbury United: 1. Edward Ashton (GK), 3. Benjamin Lapslie, 4. Dan Schwarz, 5. Tom Schwarz, 6. Tom Scott, 7. George King, 8. Luke Tongue, 12. Juan Chang Urrea, 14. Sean Liddicoat, 15. Calum Ferguson, 16. Cory Mitchell, 18. Aaron Clapham, 19. Samuel Field, 20. Jacob Richards, 22. Danny Knight (GK)
Coach: Lee Padmore

Quotes

Tony Readings (Eastern Suburbs coach): “It’s not ideal having a change of coach part-way through pre-season but the handover process has been pretty seamless so I don’t think it’s impacted on the players at all. They’ve been getting better and better each week so we’re looking forward to the game. We know Canterbury have a new coach this year so they may be a little different to previous years. But we know that whenever you play against Canterbury it’s going to be a tough game. They have a good history in this league and are always tough to beat. We just can’t wait to get going and hope we can do the fans proud.”

Lee Padmore (Canterbury United coach): “We’re very excited and are looking forward to getting started. We’ve got a heavily-local base within our squad with strong values around what a Cantabrian is – there’s a real focus on the commitment that a Canterbury footballer needs to wear the shirt. We’ve got to be going up to Auckland with a relentless and fearless attitude to try to win the game. They’ve lost a few players to professional contracts and their coach has moved on to be the All Whites coach but they’ve replaced them with big players and one of the best coaches in the country so they’ll be in a good space.”

For the full draw and more information on the ISPS Handa Premiership please click here

Article added: Saturday 02 November 2019