Wellington Phoenix’s Corban Piper and Central Coast Mariners’ Talia Kapetanallis have been voted as the winners of the Austraffic PFA Player of the Month for October.
The duo received the most votes from their peers ahead of five other players in both the A-League Men and Women competitions to receive the award.
Piper’s first month of the season was nothing short of sensational and has played a major part in Wellington’s unbeaten start to the season.
The versatile striker found the back of the net in each of Wellington’s first three matches and sat atop the Golden Boot charts at the end of October before being usurpsed by Sydney FC’s Al Hassan Toure in the first weekend of November.
His performances also caught the eye of national team selectors too, earning a first cap for the New Zealand national team against India last night.
In fact, he was joined by fellow nominee and Wellington teammate Matthew Sheridan in the All White squad, along with fellow ‘Nix players Nathan Walker, Bill Tuiloma, James McGarry, Alex Rufer and Henry Gray.
Meanwhile, Kapetanellis has been a revelation for Central Coast in the early rounds of the campaign.
The Mariners attacker scored five goals in three games to help her side to an unbeate start to the season and just like Piper, sat atop the Golden Boot charts at the end of October.
Incredibly, Kapetanellis wins this award only months after she believed her football journey may be over following her release from Western Sydney Wanderers at the end of the 2024-25 season.
But her fantastic form in the NPL with both Sydney Uni and APIA Leichhardt Tigers landed her a second chance in the league and the 21-year-old has not looked back since.
2026-27 POTM winners
A-League Men
October: Corban Piper (WEL)
A-League Women
October: Talia Kapeteanllis (CCM)
Image credit (right): Central Coast Mariners Women
