{"id":324872,"date":"2025-03-27T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-27T02:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wellingtonphoenix.com\/?p=324872"},"modified":"2025-03-27T13:27:19","modified_gmt":"2025-03-27T00:27:19","slug":"dettol-central-league-2025-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wellingtonphoenix.com\/news\/dettol-central-league-2025-preview\/","title":{"rendered":"Dettol Central League 2025 Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Wellington Phoenix men\u2019s reserves are back in action, with their Dettol Central League 2025 campaign beginning this weekend.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 18-match competition will see them play each of the other nine sides in the league home and away, with Upper Hutt City first up this Saturday at Fraser Park.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the key focus for the academy side is always development, a largely settled squad are eyeing an improvement on last year\u2019s fifth-place finish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always about looking forward,\u201d head coach Chris Greenacre said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe group I\u2019ve got have had a year of understanding how I work, how we want to work within our system, and what it takes to replicate what would happen in the professional environment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe day to day things of training, looking after your body, being in the gym, the psychological aspect of high-performance sport. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHopefully we can improve on last year, having all this knowledge behind us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have to always remember that it\u2019s not all about winning, but a big part of it is still winning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Photo credit: Photomac\/Cam McIntosh<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re at a point now with my group where it\u2019s not about handing out jerseys to everybody. You\u2019ve got to earn that place.

\u201cWe can push on, and then the new players underneath are going to attach themselves to that and hopefully the process continues, and we can see even more young players pushing on to our first team environment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some unorthodox hurdles have not stopped the Nix from enjoying a \u201cvery positive\u201d pre-season, including matches against the Fiji and New Caledonia national teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been unfortunate with some long-term injuries that have carried over from last season. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPlayers have had tonsils and wisdom teeth out, unexpected injuries that you don\u2019t account for. That\u2019s been difficult to juggle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOn the flipside, we\u2019ve been able to bring some younger players into the environment, and it\u2019s been invaluable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTraining with my group, playing some really strong pre-season games against Fiji and New Caledonia, we\u2019ve exposed them to a different level of football which has been great.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although some reserve team standouts from last year have earned senior contracts, such as attacker Nathan Walker and fullback Xuan Loke, Greenacre sees the turnover as a positive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also expects that some first teamers will feature for the reserve side during the season. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Photo credit: Photomac\/Cam McIntosh<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf they\u2019re eligible, they\u2019ll be called upon. It\u2019s in everyone\u2019s interest for them to put their best foot forward, be playing regularly, and have as much game time as they possibly can. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen a high number of players achieve that recently. It shows the signs that the club is progressing and looking to the future when my group disintegrates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou feel like you\u2019re starting all over again, even though you\u2019ve got a nucleus of players who have been with you for a year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt shows the club is forward thinking, and we want to push our young players into the first team environment earlier than normal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s our job in the academy space to get the players to that level so they can become first team players, and hopefully fully fledged international players. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe job\u2019s trying to get players ready for the expectations of the first team environment and the first team staff.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The potential of selection for the U-20 World Cup in Chile this September looms as an extra incentive for players to perform during the Central League campaign. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt should be the motivation. There will be some disappointed figures at the end, and it\u2019s not the be-all and end-all for me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Photo credit: Photomac\/Cam McIntosh<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are many avenues you can see as success, and if it\u2019s not one it can be the other. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut they should all be motivated, chomping at the bit to be included.\u201d
\u00a0
And Greenacre certainly sees the potential for a successful season, both and and off the pitch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat we do have now is experience. You certainly hope that the players benefit from that experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think early on in other seasons, there have been quite a few individual errors, and there haven\u2019t quite been the results we wanted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe players are much better for those experiences, and the way they work through that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn pre-season we\u2019ve tried to minimise those errors, and the players know that the learning is actually on the field. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEven if you don\u2019t get the results that you should, the lessons you learn are so important if you\u2019re going to progress into the professional world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Wellington Phoenix reserves begin their Dettol Central League campaign against Upper Hutt City at 12.30pm on Saturday, March 29. All home games will be streamed live and free on FIFA+. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wellington Phoenix men\u2019s reserves – Dettol Central League fixtures<\/strong> (home fixtures in bold<\/strong>)

Round 1 \u2013 Saturday, March 29 vs Upper Hutt City, Fraser Park \u2013 12:30pm\u00a0<\/strong>
Round 2 \u2013 Saturday, April 5 @ Island Bay United, Wakefield Park \u2013 3:30pm\u00a0
Round 3 \u2013 Saturday, April 12 vs Napier City Rovers, Fraser Park \u2013 1pm\u00a0<\/strong>
Round 4 \u2013 Saturday, April 19 @ Miramar Rangers, David Farrington Park \u2013 2:30pm\u00a0
Round 5 \u2013 Saturday, April 26 vs Petone FC, Fraser Park \u2013 3pm\u00a0<\/strong>
Round 6 \u2013 Saturday, May 3 @ Wellington Olympic, Wakefield Park \u2013 3:45pm\u00a0
Round 7 \u2013 Saturday, May 10 @ Western Suburbs, Endeavour Park \u2013 12:30pm\u00a0
Round 8 \u2013 Saturday, May 17 @ North Wellington, Alex Moore Park \u2013 3pm\u00a0
Round 9 \u2013 Saturday, May 24 vs Waterside Karori, Fraser Park \u2013 3pm\u00a0<\/strong>
Round 10 \u2013 Saturday, June 7 @ Upper Hutt City, Maidstone Park \u2013 3pm\u00a0
Round 11 \u2013 Saturday, June 21 vs Island Bay United, Fraser Park \u2013 3pm\u00a0<\/strong>
Round 12 \u2013 Sunday, June 29 @ Napier City Rovers, Bluewater Stadium \u2013 2pm\u00a0
Round 13 \u2013 Saturday, July 12 vs Miramar Rangers, Fraser Park \u2013 3pm\u00a0<\/strong>
Round 14 \u2013 Saturday, July 19 @ Petone FC, Petone Memorial Park \u2013 3pm
Round 15 \u2013 Saturday, August 2 vs Wellington Olympic, Fraser Park \u2013 3pm\u00a0<\/strong>
Round 16 \u2013 Saturday, August 9 vs Western Suburbs, Fraser Park \u2013 5pm\u00a0<\/strong>
Round 17 \u2013 Saturday, August 23 vs North Wellington, Fraser Park \u2013 3pm\u00a0<\/strong>
Round 18 \u2013 Saturday, August 30 @ Waterside Karori, venue TBC \u2013 2:30pm<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":462,"featured_media":324878,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[328,330,343],"tags":[],"competition":[],"acf":{"match_card_embed_league":null,"match_card_embed_club":null,"match_card_embed_match":false,"match_card_embed_disable":true,"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\/dettol-central-league-2025-preview\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Dettol Central League 2025 Preview","url":"http:\/\/wellingtonphoenix.com\/news\/dettol-central-league-2025-preview\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/wellingtonphoenix.com\/news\/dettol-central-league-2025-preview\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/wellingtonphoenix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/03\/25-03-10-MRES-Training-106-1.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/wellingtonphoenix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/03\/25-03-10-MRES-Training-106-1.jpg"},"articleSection":"Academy News","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"roshi"}],"creator":["roshi"],"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":"2025-03-27T02:00:00Z","datePublished":"2025-03-27T02:00:00Z","dateModified":"2025-03-27T02:00:00Z"},"rendered":"