Team Wellington v WaiBOP United – Dave Farrington Park, Wellington. Kick-off: 3pm
After having last weekend off our ASB Premiership campaign kicks back into life this Sunday when we head to the capital to take on second-placed Team Wellington.
Head coach, Peter Smith, is looking forward to the challenge of playing Team Wellington this weekend. “This is one of the toughest away trips for us, when you factor in the travel and the quality of the opposition,” said Smith. “Matt’s done a really good job with his team, he’s recruited well and they look like genuine contenders for the title. In fact, when you look at the names in their squad, I think they’re the team to beat this season.”
Despite that, Smith isn’t daunted. “We’ll give them all the respect they deserve, of course, but we’ll head down and set about our business and look to take something from the game,” he said. “We have to be positive, with a game plan that works to our strengths, while trying to counter Wellington’s. This will be a great measure of where we stand so early in the season.”
While the stop-start nature to our season hasn’t been overly helpful, Smith is comfortable with how the team is tracking. “We’ve had a good couple of weeks at training and our season launch last Saturday has helped get the guys focused for the season ahead,” said Smith, taking a small break from preparations for the game in Wellington. “The squad is coming together nicely, the leadership is strong and we’ve got more depth. Now we need to go out and put in a few performances.”
We lost the corresponding fixture last season 3-2. Played at Westpac Stadium, the surroundings were quite a bit different to the more intimate setting we’ll encounter this weekend.
You can click in to our match centre here at 3pm on Sunday to follow the game as it unfolds.
For more information please contact:
Peter Smith, WaiBOP United Head Coach
