Defender waits for chance at Phoenix
Stuck behind two of the most experienced players on the Wellington Phoenix roster, Te
Atawhai Hudson-Wihongi has been forced to bide his time during his first season as a professional.
The All Whites defender has been used sparingly in the
2019-20 A-League campaign, accumulating just 47 minutes across the first 15 games – effectively half a game of football.
With midfielder Matti Steinmann receiving a one-game suspension, Hudson-Wihongi was in contention to start in last week’s narrow win over Newcastle Jets but coach Ufuk Talay opted for new signing Brandon Wilson instead.
Not that Hudson-Wihongi resented his coach’s decision. ‘‘I’m not disappointed,’’ he said. ‘‘I’m here for the team and whoever the coach decides to go with on the day.
‘‘I respect his decision and I’ll keep working hard and hopefully I’ll get my chance when it comes.’’
The reason for starting Wilson, Talay said, was because he believes Hudson-Wihongi’s best position is centre-back – an opinion the player himself agreed with.
But opportunities at centre-back have been hard to come by this season, with captain Steven Taylor playing every minute and Luke DeVere all but 14.
Instead, Hudson-Wihongi has been reduced to a bench role, coming on as an additional defensive presence to help close out the game, like he did last week, when the Phoenix hung on to deny a late Jets comeback.
‘‘With the form they are in at the moment you can’t really argue too much,’’ Hudson-Wihongi said.
‘‘It’s my job to push them and stake my claim for a starting spot and hopefully when I get the chance I take it.
‘‘I feel most comfortable at centre-back, obviously I like to play out from the back and that’s how Uffie likes to play so hopefully when I get my chance I can bring that to the team.
‘‘I just go out there and do my best for the team and try to close out games because that’s generally when I’m coming on, when we need to lock things up a bit more, and I feel like I’ve been able to do that.’’
With a bye this week, Hudson-Wihongi is among a handful of fringe players hoping to get a run for the reserves.