April 28, 2026 • 8 mins
Exciting news for Wellington Phoenix fans as Chris Greenacre has finally landed the role as the next head coach of the side for the 2026/27 A-League season.
He has been involved with the side since he retired from playing professional football in 2012 in a number of roles, but has finally landed the job he has long sought after.
Chris joined D'Arcy to discuss.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the sports Talk podcast with Dancy Waldegrave
from news Talk Z.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
It'd be football Now. Exciting news for Wellington Phoenix fans, players,
and of course the coach. Chris Greenacre has finally landed
the roles the next head coach, the gaff of the
manager of the side for the twenty six twenty seven
A League season. He's been in and around the club
since he retired from playing pro football and twenty twelve
He's been in a number of roles, but finally he's
(00:32):
picked up that top job that he has been looking for.
He joins us. Now, good evening, Chris, how are you?
Speaker 3 (00:39):
You're okay?
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Now, I'm very good, probably not as good as you, mate.
You finally snagged that manager's job at the Wellington Phoenix.
What is the second shot it for you? Isn't it Chris?
Speaker 3 (00:48):
It is? Yeah, it's yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
No.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
I'm absolutely delighted to lead the club forward. It's a
mensa pro moment for me and my family. And when
you realize what the Wellington Phoenix means to so many people,
that it makes it even more of a privilege to
want to lead it. So as I say, I'm pretty
delighted and can't wait to get to work.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
That must mean a lot to you as well. Two
thousand and nine, you're over here to strips and boots
someone and play a couple of years and then go
back to Britain again. You're still here and now your coach.
So it got its fangs and do you know won't
let go. It's got quite the grip on you, Chris Greeneger,
This club it has.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
I'm quite proud of the fact that I think in
all the clubs that I've played for, I've honored pretty
much every contract that I've ever signed. I was never
offloading looking for the next payday or the next opportunity.
I was pretty loyal throughout my whole career, and just
more so here. I arrived in two thousand and nine,
as you said, with my wife Lindsay, and we were
(01:52):
kind of fell in love with the place immediately, and
we were all in. And there's no point I think
with any new project, there's no need to I'm all
in if that makes sense, and I think you get
the best outcomes if you're all in, and I think
you get the respect of people around you if you're
(02:13):
in this for the long haul. And that seems to
be the case, and proud of the fact now that
my daughter was born here as well, which is which
I'm mentally proud about. And so yeah, it's been home
for the last week.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
While I've always been fascinated by the ability of coaches
of players to deal with loss and how that shapes
them in the future. And essentially, you dealt lost because
you lost out on getting that manager's role last time out.
You're here and now what did you pick up? What
did you learn during that time that you may be
(02:46):
changed when it came to applying again interviewing for this
role yet again.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
Yeah, it was disappointing. And I think I'm a believer
that things happen for a reason, and you know, adversity
often makes you stronger, and you know, I feel I'm
a strong character. I don't always outwardly show it, but
I think I think teammates that I've played in always
knew that I was all in and I was all
for the team and would wear my heart on my sleeves.
(03:14):
So I think the people that really know me know
what I'm about, what the makeup is. But yeah, it
was just a case of you know, you can sit
around and sort of blame everyone else, so you can
roll your sleeves up and have a good go, and
that's what I continue to do in the reserve space.
I had some great opportunities with the new newsm football
with the men's under twenties and some qualification stuff there,
(03:36):
and so all these little bit elements that I've worked
extremely hard upon I think have stood me in good stead,
and we'll stand good stead going forward. And now I
find myself here with the top role. I've had a
good run for the last eight weeks of tweaking and
changing an environment how I see fit. And again it
doesn't happen overnight, but we've been able to make some
(03:59):
good strides forward and hopefully we can continue to build
on that.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Everything changes as you age, as you develop more experience.
You take Chris Greenacre when you first started playing and
managers and how you felt about them and what they did.
Has that changed much now you've gone to the other side.
What do you bring from that from a player's perspective
to a menageria role That may have changed over the
(04:25):
last team twenty years.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
Yeah, I think something that hasn't changed has been the
sort of man management role of players and how you
treat players. And I haven't been retired that long that
I don't suddenly not know how players think. And I
think it's really important to put yourself in a player situation.
You know, whether they're playing, they're playing well, they're injured.
There's all heap of things that I have hands on experience.
(04:50):
And I said to the group when I first came
in on this interim role that there ain't much in
the game now that I haven't experienced myself personally. So
I've got a real feel to what you're going through.
Even the upheaval of the coach resigning. I've been interesting
rooms where the coaches design other coach has been sacked
obviously had long term injuries, short term injuries, being the
(05:11):
first name on the team sheet, not being able to
get in the squad. So I've got a whole whole
raft of experiences that I can draw upon. I think
the man management skills from all the coaches that I've
played under, I suppose all are different ways of doing things,
and it's about taking each of those ingredients. Then obviously
my morals and how I see the game and how
(05:32):
I want to be treated. You kind of roll that
and manifest that into your own environment. And again I
suppose it's the man management stuff that's the key. It's
yes as x's and nose, and you've got to get
a team playing how you want to play. But there's
a whole heap of other stuff that goes on away
from the pitch as important. We have outside help with
(05:55):
psychologists and all this kind of stuff, and effectively you're
a psychologist and everything. You're all these roles when you're
head coach, and it's just trying to balance that with
each individual situation.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
I think primary focus when you peck the lines up,
I presume you've already started around about kind of way,
being already on the toes for a couple of months,
haven't you.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
Yeah, Yeah, it was Obviously you've got to assessor an
environment as quickly as you possibly can. You've got to
do a lot of hands on bigging around, finding out
what's going on, what's been going on, what's been working,
Because not everything's not working. There are always some good
elements to every environment and things that you can try
and change quickly and try and get some big wins
(06:36):
within the group. So it's about trying to assess a
situation as quickly as you possibly can and then try
to put your stamp on it again without too much upheaval.
And that's what I tried to do. And the initial
part for us were conceding a lot of goals and
it was important that we kind of stop the rot immediately.
And then when we did that, it gave us the
opportunity then to try and start to build on on that.
(06:59):
And then that came inside with you know, sort of
playing my sort of brand of football and how I
want to see the game to be played, and we'll
hopefully continue to improve that as we go along.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Can you sum it up in a sentence or two?
How does Chris Greenacre want the game being played? What's
your vision?
Speaker 3 (07:16):
I want to I want a team that's brave with
and without the ball. And I think when you're brave,
you create opportunities. And when you're creating opportunities, you get
a fan based behind you that wants to to to
get behind you. And that's the key element. And we
need to get our fans on side with a band
(07:36):
of football. We want a team that our fans can
be proud of and are you know they want to
wear our colors and shout our name with pride. And
if we do that, we'll be on the right track.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Black and yellow, black and yellow black, and now you
know the thing exactly. Chris Greenacre, I congratulations and I'm
looking forward to pasturing you over the next few years.
You look after yourself, my friend.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
Thank you, dus. You appreciate your sport. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
For more from sports Talk, listen live to news talks
they'd be from seven weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the sports Talk podcast with Dancy Waldegrave
from news Talk Z.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
It'd be football Now. Exciting news for Wellington Phoenix fans, players,
and of course the coach. Chris Greenacre has finally landed
the roles the next head coach, the gaff of the
manager of the side for the twenty six twenty seven
A League season. He's been in and around the club
since he retired from playing pro football and twenty twelve
He's been in a number of roles, but finally he's
(00:32):
picked up that top job that he has been looking for.
He joins us. Now, good evening, Chris, how are you?
Speaker 3 (00:39):
You're okay?
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Now, I'm very good, probably not as good as you, mate.
You finally snagged that manager's job at the Wellington Phoenix.
What is the second shot it for you? Isn't it Chris?
Speaker 3 (00:48):
It is? Yeah, it's yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
No.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
I'm absolutely delighted to lead the club forward. It's a
mensa pro moment for me and my family. And when
you realize what the Wellington Phoenix means to so many people,
that it makes it even more of a privilege to
want to lead it. So as I say, I'm pretty
delighted and can't wait to get to work.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
That must mean a lot to you as well. Two
thousand and nine, you're over here to strips and boots
someone and play a couple of years and then go
back to Britain again. You're still here and now your coach.
So it got its fangs and do you know won't
let go. It's got quite the grip on you, Chris Greeneger,
This club it has.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
I'm quite proud of the fact that I think in
all the clubs that I've played for, I've honored pretty
much every contract that I've ever signed. I was never
offloading looking for the next payday or the next opportunity.
I was pretty loyal throughout my whole career, and just
more so here. I arrived in two thousand and nine,
as you said, with my wife Lindsay, and we were
(01:52):
kind of fell in love with the place immediately, and
we were all in. And there's no point I think
with any new project, there's no need to I'm all
in if that makes sense, and I think you get
the best outcomes if you're all in, and I think
you get the respect of people around you if you're
(02:13):
in this for the long haul. And that seems to
be the case, and proud of the fact now that
my daughter was born here as well, which is which
I'm mentally proud about. And so yeah, it's been home
for the last week.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
While I've always been fascinated by the ability of coaches
of players to deal with loss and how that shapes
them in the future. And essentially, you dealt lost because
you lost out on getting that manager's role last time out.
You're here and now what did you pick up? What
did you learn during that time that you may be
(02:46):
changed when it came to applying again interviewing for this
role yet again.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
Yeah, it was disappointing. And I think I'm a believer
that things happen for a reason, and you know, adversity
often makes you stronger, and you know, I feel I'm
a strong character. I don't always outwardly show it, but
I think I think teammates that I've played in always
knew that I was all in and I was all
for the team and would wear my heart on my sleeves.
(03:14):
So I think the people that really know me know
what I'm about, what the makeup is. But yeah, it
was just a case of you know, you can sit
around and sort of blame everyone else, so you can
roll your sleeves up and have a good go, and
that's what I continue to do in the reserve space.
I had some great opportunities with the new newsm football
with the men's under twenties and some qualification stuff there,
(03:36):
and so all these little bit elements that I've worked
extremely hard upon I think have stood me in good stead,
and we'll stand good stead going forward. And now I
find myself here with the top role. I've had a
good run for the last eight weeks of tweaking and
changing an environment how I see fit. And again it
doesn't happen overnight, but we've been able to make some
(03:59):
good strides forward and hopefully we can continue to build
on that.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Everything changes as you age, as you develop more experience.
You take Chris Greenacre when you first started playing and
managers and how you felt about them and what they did.
Has that changed much now you've gone to the other side.
What do you bring from that from a player's perspective
to a menageria role That may have changed over the
(04:25):
last team twenty years.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
Yeah, I think something that hasn't changed has been the
sort of man management role of players and how you
treat players. And I haven't been retired that long that
I don't suddenly not know how players think. And I
think it's really important to put yourself in a player situation.
You know, whether they're playing, they're playing well, they're injured.
There's all heap of things that I have hands on experience.
(04:50):
And I said to the group when I first came
in on this interim role that there ain't much in
the game now that I haven't experienced myself personally. So
I've got a real feel to what you're going through.
Even the upheaval of the coach resigning. I've been interesting
rooms where the coaches design other coach has been sacked
obviously had long term injuries, short term injuries, being the
(05:11):
first name on the team sheet, not being able to
get in the squad. So I've got a whole whole
raft of experiences that I can draw upon. I think
the man management skills from all the coaches that I've
played under, I suppose all are different ways of doing things,
and it's about taking each of those ingredients. Then obviously
my morals and how I see the game and how
(05:32):
I want to be treated. You kind of roll that
and manifest that into your own environment. And again I
suppose it's the man management stuff that's the key. It's
yes as x's and nose, and you've got to get
a team playing how you want to play. But there's
a whole heap of other stuff that goes on away
from the pitch as important. We have outside help with
(05:55):
psychologists and all this kind of stuff, and effectively you're
a psychologist and everything. You're all these roles when you're
head coach, and it's just trying to balance that with
each individual situation.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
I think primary focus when you peck the lines up,
I presume you've already started around about kind of way,
being already on the toes for a couple of months,
haven't you.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
Yeah, Yeah, it was Obviously you've got to assessor an
environment as quickly as you possibly can. You've got to
do a lot of hands on bigging around, finding out
what's going on, what's been going on, what's been working,
Because not everything's not working. There are always some good
elements to every environment and things that you can try
and change quickly and try and get some big wins
(06:36):
within the group. So it's about trying to assess a
situation as quickly as you possibly can and then try
to put your stamp on it again without too much upheaval.
And that's what I tried to do. And the initial
part for us were conceding a lot of goals and
it was important that we kind of stop the rot immediately.
And then when we did that, it gave us the
opportunity then to try and start to build on on that.
(06:59):
And then that came inside with you know, sort of
playing my sort of brand of football and how I
want to see the game to be played, and we'll
hopefully continue to improve that as we go along.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Can you sum it up in a sentence or two?
How does Chris Greenacre want the game being played? What's
your vision?
Speaker 3 (07:16):
I want to I want a team that's brave with
and without the ball. And I think when you're brave,
you create opportunities. And when you're creating opportunities, you get
a fan based behind you that wants to to to
get behind you. And that's the key element. And we
need to get our fans on side with a band
(07:36):
of football. We want a team that our fans can
be proud of and are you know they want to
wear our colors and shout our name with pride. And
if we do that, we'll be on the right track.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Black and yellow, black and yellow black, and now you
know the thing exactly. Chris Greenacre, I congratulations and I'm
looking forward to pasturing you over the next few years.
You look after yourself, my friend.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
Thank you, dus. You appreciate your sport. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
For more from sports Talk, listen live to news talks
they'd be from seven weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
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