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Player-coach Brian Shelley has instigated a recruitment drive over the off-season that has borne much fruit and is pleased to add further quality to a midfield already brimming with talent.
Mulligan and Biss are at contrasting ends of their careers – an 11-year age gap separates the duo – but Shelley is confident both will contribute greatly to the cause.
“Mully is a top player who has played the game at the highest level,” Shelley says of the former All White and Wellington Phoenix player. “In possession of the ball he has an outstanding range of passing and is also excellent from dead ball situations.”
Biss, 21, does not yet boast the same professional pedigree and experience as his former Hawke’s Bay colleague but is well on the way to emulating Mulligan’s feats.
“Tom is a well-rounded player who can play anywhere across the midfield,” Shelley says. “He has a great ability to get into good attacking areas and also has a keen eye for goal. I am really pleased he has decided to make the move up to Auckland.”
The pair will need to perform at their best as, with the likes of Chris Bale – one of the most highly-regarded players in the domestic game – and Futsal Whites international Dylan Manickum also joining Waitakere, competition for places in midfield will be intense.
“Finding room for everyone will not be easy but it’s a great problem to have because the depth of our squad will be an important factor throughout the season,” Shelley says.
It’s a homecoming of sorts for the two arrivals from Hawke’s Bay as Mulligan grew up in Auckland and had a one-season stint at Waitakere in 2012-13 while Biss is also no stranger to the west, having played for his new team in this year’s OFC Champions League.
A prodigy at schoolboy level, Mulligan had long been earmarked for a professional career and that came to fruition during a decade in England, firstly with Barnsley and Doncaster Rovers and then through less prominent spells at Scunthorpe United and Port Vale. He returned to New Zealand in 2008 to sign a two-year deal with the Phoenix but found chances hard to come by and made only several A-League appearances during his time in the capital.
The 32-year-old was a member of the All Whites squad that competed at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa and joined Auckland City after the tournament, spending two years at Kiwitea Street before moving on to Waitakere and then Hawke’s Bay.
Biss is nowhere near as well-travelled but has still crammed much into his career for such a young player. The Hastings-born attacking midfielder also has experience of a World Cup, having taken part in the U-20 event for New Zealand in 2013, and made one A-League appearance for the Phoenix in 2012 as a youth academy player.
Biss and Mulligan join many other fresh faces at Fred Taylor Park as Shelley puts the finishing touches on a squad aiming to claim Waitakere’s sixth ASB Premiership crown.
Other key signings have included Bale, Manickum, young All Whites defender Luke Adams, stalwart goalkeeper Danny Robinson and former Auckland City striker Adam Dickinson.
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