With fewer than than 50 days until the 2024-25 A-League season kicks off, there’s no denying the Auckland FC and Wellington Phoenix rivalry has well and truly ignited.

From a pitch invader dressed in a Black Knights jersey crashing a Phoenix match at Eden Park in March to Auckland’s signing of former Wellington goalkeeper Alex Paulsen, and the fans commentary on social media, the anticipation ahead of their first meeting in the capital on November 2 has everyone talking.

It’s also a narrative in which players themselves are investing.

The latest Auckland signing, Nando Pijnaker, told the Herald players from each club have already been jesting in the current All Whites camp.

“There’s so many of us now from Auckland and Wellington so we were joking about how it’s going to be when Auckland plays against Wellington.”

Pijnaker admitted the banter had remained friendly for now, but there was a chance it could reach a new level after they first play one another.

The New Zealand senior men are currently in California to play Mexico in a friendly on Sunday, before heading to Cincinnati to play the United States on Wednesday.

Elliot Collier, Max Mata and Nando Pijnaker Lithuania v New Zealand All Whites in Lithuania in 2019. Photo: Rafal Oleksiewicz / www.photosport.nz

Named in that 21-strong roster are four Auckland players; Pijanker, Paulsen, Tommy Smith and Logan Rogerson, and three Wellington Phoenix; Kosta Barbarouses, Tim Payne and Alex Rufer.

For their maiden season, the Black Knights have signed 11 players who have one or more caps for New Zealand, while the Phoenix have seven.

Pijnaker said it was positive that New Zealand would see so many of its players playing in the upcoming A-League campaign.

“I think it’s really exciting, it’s an exciting time for the league, it’s growing,” he added.

“This is a new team that wasn’t in the league last year so it means that the league’s doing something right as more teams are coming in and there’s more money.”

On Tuesday, the Herald revealed the 25-year-old All Whites defender would join the Black Knights for the 2024-25 season from his former side, Sligo Rovers, in the Irish Premier Division.

Born in the Netherlands, Pijnaker emigrated to Rotorua as a 3-year-old before joining the Wellington-based Olé Football Academy at 16.

He impressed for Wellington club Western Suburbs and was part of the squad that reached the Chatham Cup final in 2018, before moving to Auckland to join Eastern Suburbs. He was part of the New Zealand squad at the 2019 Under-20 Fifa World Cup, when the side advanced to the Round of 16, before signing his first overseas contract.

“[Olé] had a massive impact on me,” he told the Herald. “We all pushed each other and we had a really good group of players and coaches.

“I’m just really grateful that I was there at the time that I was.”

After his recent two-year stint in Ireland, Pijnaker returns to New Zealand with an abundance of European football experience having also played professionally in Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland and Portugal.

He said he was motivated by a return home because he felt the transtasman competition was more competitive than where he’d come from.

“Personally, I think it’s a step up for me coming from the Irish league.

“I’ve been in Ireland now for more than two and a half years and for whatever reason, I haven’t got the opportunity to play at a much higher level in Europe.

“This is a new team that I think I can do really well... they came with a good opportunity and I think it’s a step up from Ireland so I thought why not? And obviously, I love New Zealand. It’s an easy transition, so that’s what drew me back.”

He also said another drawcard was the fact the club is owned by Bill Foley – who also owns Premier League side AFC Bournemouth and other European clubs.

“For every footballer they want to make it to the highest level they can. If I can do really well at Auckland, who knows what can happen.”

Pijnaker is extra pumped for the first derby in Wellington, as it’ll be hosted in a region where his football took off. And he plans to show off what he’s learned since leaving in 2019.

“I just want to help [Auckland] as much as I can,” he professed. “I’m a defender so I don’t want to concede goals and want to help the team play a really good style of football.”

His robust, defensive characteristics are attributes that will come in handy when meeting his New Zealand teammates such as Barbourouses, Payne and Rufer.

“We’re still friends at the moment, but we’ll see what happens later in the year,” he said revealing his predictions for the first meet:

“I think we’ll win, one or two nil.”

Bonnie Jansen is a multimedia journalist in the NZME sports team. She’s a football commentator and co-host of the Football Fever podcast and was part of the Te Rito cadetship scheme before becoming a fulltime journalist.