Club career
Wellington Phoenix
Waine joined the Academy at Wellington Phoenix at the age of 14. [5] On 7 August 2018, Waine made his debut for the senior side in their FFA Cup loss to Bentleigh Greens. [6] At the age of 17 years and 57 days, this made him the youngest player in the club's history. [7] He played most of his games for the Wellington Phoenix Reserves in the New Zealand Football Championship, scoring a team high of eight goals, before head coach Marko Rudan called up to the senior team again in March. [3] On 30 March, Waine made his league debut for the Phoenix, coming on as a substitute in their 4–1 win over the Newcastle Jets at the Westpac Stadium. [8] On 28 April, he made his first league start for the Phoenix in a 5–0 loss to the Perth Glory. [9]
In June 2019, Waine signed a two-year contract with the Phoenix. The first year was a scholarship deal, with the second year moving him onto a full-time contract. [10] Just before the 2019–20 season kicked off, the first year of this contract was upgraded to full-time. [11] On 3 November, Waine scored his first professional goal off the bench in Wellington's 3–2 loss to Melbourne City to become the youngest goalscorer in the club's history at 18 years and 145 days. [12] He continued to score goals for Chris Greenacre's Reserve team, before injuries to Tomer Hemed and Jaushua Sotirio and a suspension for David Ball gave him the opportunity to play games for the senior team. [13] He established himself as a key player in the 2020–21 campaign, becoming the youngest Phoenix player to score five A-League goals in a single season and the fourth player in the club's history to score in four consecutive games, securing himself a nomination for A-League Young Footballer of the Year. [14] [15] He rejected an offer from English club Coventry City to instead sign a new three-year deal with Wellington. [16]
Waine scored six league goals in the 2021–22 season, finishing as the club's joint top-scorer alongside Gael Sandoval and Jaushua Sotirio. [17] He began the 2022–23 campaign in good scoring form, hitting three goals as Wellington reached the quarter-finals of the FFA Cup. [18] He scored a total of 17 goals in 73 A-League matches and was dubbed the "Waine Train" by Nix fans before he departed at the age of 21, with head coach Ufuk Talay remarking that "he's hopefully going off to bigger and better things and continues to have success in his career". [19]
Plymouth Argyle
On 30 December 2022, Waine agreed to join English League One leaders Plymouth Argyle for an undisclosed six-figure fee on a two-and-a-half-year deal, the transfer going through on 1 January when the transfer window opened. [20] Director of football Neil Dewsnip confirmed that the club had first attempted to sign the player the previous summer. [21] He made his first start for the Pilgrims on 4 February, leading the line in a 3–4–2–1 formation in a 1–0 defeat at Sheffield Wednesday, though was taken off at half-time for tactical reasons. [22] He scored two goals in 11 matches in the second half of the 2022–23 promotion-winning season, though was behind Ryan Hardie and Niall Ennis in the pecking order and missed the later stages after picking up an ankle injury. [23] [24]
Now in the Championship, he made nine starts and 23 substitute appearances in the league in the 2023–24 season, scoring two goals. [23] He also scored three goals in the EFL Cup, including against Premier League club Crystal Palace at Home Park. [25] Speaking in November, manager Steven Schumacher said that "he's desperate to learn, he's desperate to get better and I think we're seeing that in his performances". [26] Schumacher left the club in January and new manager Ian Foster continued to give him opportunities off the bench ahead of Mustapha Bundu. [27]
He featured on the left of an attacking trio in two of the new manager Wayne Rooney's opening three games of the 2024–25 campaign. [23] [28] On 30 August 2024, Waine returned to League One with Mansfield Town on a season-long loan to gain some more game time at Field Mill. [29] He started two league games for the Stags, scoring three goals in 29 overall appearances. [30] Manager Nigel Clough explained that "if we were halfway up the league or something like that, or in a better run, he would have played more, but his attitude has been absolutely fantastic all season". [31] He left Plymouth Argyle after the relegated club opted against taking up a 12-month extension on his contract. [23]
Port Vale
On 30 June 2025, Waine agreed to join newly-promoted League One club Port Vale on a two-year contract. [32] Manager Darren Moore said that "he's a young striker who will come in and give us something different". [33]
International career
On 16 April 2019, Waine was selected as one of the 21 players for the New Zealand U-20 who played at the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Poland. [34] He scored a brace in their opening match against Honduras on 24 May. He made two further appearances in the tournament, starting in both New Zealand's 2–0 victory over Norway and the 1–1 loss on penalties to Colombia in the Round of 16. In September, Waine was a member of the New Zealand U-23 team, known as the "Oly-Whites", who took part in the 2019 OFC Olympic Qualifying Tournament. [35] [36] He was second top goal scorer for the tournament with eight goals including one in the final, helping New Zealand to qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. [37] [38] He went on to compete at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, scoring the winning goal against Guinea at the Allianz Riviera in the group stages. [39]
Waine made his senior international debut on 18 March 2022, scoring his first senior international goal in New Zealand's World Cup qualification match against Papua New Guinea, winning the game 1–0. [40] [41] He established himself as the back up to captain Chris Wood. [15] He scored four goals at the 2024 OFC Nations Cup, and played the first 73 minutes of the final, a 3–0 victory over Vanuatu. [42]
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