The Wellington Phoenix have made a move before the men\u2019s registration window closes, signing Corban Piper from Birkenhead United.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The combative midfielder has put pen to paper on a one-year scholarship contract with the Phoenix after a successful trial with the club.
Piper, 22, was an integral member of Birkenhead\u2019s midfield this year and scored seven goals in the team\u2019s first eight Northern League matches.
But he\u2019s joined the squad to give head coach Giancarlo Italiano more defensive cover for the upcoming Isuzu UTE A-League season.
\u201cCorban has all of the attributes to be a really good ball-playing central defender,\u201d Italiano said. \u201cHe\u2019s quite a tenacious defender, he\u2019s strong and he\u2019s got a good physique.
\u201cHe\u2019s got better and better every training session since he\u2019s been with us, which means he\u2019s hungry to do well and will embrace the opportunity. And by all accounts Corban\u2019s a really good person as well, which is really important.
\u201cWe\u2019re going to spend the next couple of months to get him up to speed and build on all of the attributes he already has.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Piper may make his debut for the club as early as tomorrow. He\u2019s travelling to Sydney today for the men\u2019s behind-closed-doors friendly against Newcastle Jets.
\u201cIt\u2019s all happened so quickly,\u201d Piper said. \u201cIt\u2019s been a whirlwind, but it\u2019s been great.
\u201cI\u2019m absolutely stoked. I love getting up in the morning and coming to training and being involved with the boys.
\u201cI\u2019ve been working really hard behind closed doors for quite a while now and I\u2019m really grateful to get the opportunity to show myself at a professional club.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Corban Piper grew up on the Whangapar\u0101oa Peninsula, north of Auckland and played his junior football for Hibiscus Coast AFC.
He has played most of his senior football for Birkenhead United but already has experience abroad. He played for Wexford FC last year in the League of Ireland first division.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And Piper is looking forward to switching to centre back, despite \u201cbanging in goals\u201d playing as a 10 for Birkenhead.
\u201cPhysicality is probably my greatest strength. I can\u2019t wait to make some big tackles!
\u201cI was playing a more advanced midfield role this season, but last year I was playing more of a defensive role as a centre back and a defensive midfielder.
\u201cThe way Chiefy plays he wants the centre backs to be ball players and I think I have the ability to do that.
\u201cBeing a 10 this season has really helped me develop my awareness and my one touch passing.
\u201cLike any other footballer I just want to be playing so that\u2019s my big goal.\u201d
Corban Piper will wear the no. 3 shirt for the Phoenix and is the men\u2019s 23rd<\/sup> contracted player for the 2024-25 season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":254,"featured_media":322828,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[329,330,356,343,349],"tags":[],"competition":[],"acf":{"match_card_embed_league":"","match_card_embed_club":null,"match_card_embed_match":"","match_card_embed_disable":false,"auto_publish_updates":true,"reference_article":null,"article_featured_video":"","article_featured_video_tagline":"","article_byline":"","article_media_type":"news","article_video":"","gallery":"","shared_ffa_source":"keepup","shared_hide_in_app":false,"article_player":"","article_team":"","article_competition":"","article_match":"","credit":"","related_articles":"","push_to_social":false,"priority":1,"sport":false,"language":"en","private_content":false,"access_level":"","article_id":"","app_featured_image":null,"article_content_group":"news"},"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/wellingtonphoenix.com\/news\/nix-bolster-mens-squad-with-deadline-day-signing\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Nix bolster men’s squad with deadline day signing","url":"http:\/\/wellingtonphoenix.com\/news\/nix-bolster-mens-squad-with-deadline-day-signing\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/wellingtonphoenix.com\/news\/nix-bolster-mens-squad-with-deadline-day-signing\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/wellingtonphoenix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2024\/09\/Corban-Piper-Signing-Yellow-Web-1920x1080-1.png?w=150&h=150&crop=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/wellingtonphoenix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2024\/09\/Corban-Piper-Signing-Yellow-Web-1920x1080-1.png"},"articleSection":"Breaking News","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"brenton"}],"creator":["brenton"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Wellington Phoenix","logo":"https:\/\/wellingtonphoenix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2022\/04\/cropped-Wellington_Phoenix_FC_logo-2.png"},"keywords":[],"dateCreated":"2024-09-16T03:30:00Z","datePublished":"2024-09-16T03:30:00Z","dateModified":"2025-02-12T00:58:15Z"},"rendered":"