It has been 10 months since the New Zealand international striker joined the Pilgrims for an undisclosed fee from the Wellington Phoenix.
Ben Waine signed a contract with Plymouth Argyle on January 1st of this year, and it was immediately clear that the striker was not expected to appear in the first squad right away.
After ten months, Waine’s chance has arrived as both Ryan Hardie and Mustapha Bundu sustained hamstring injuries during Saturday’s 3-2 Championship loss to Ipswich Town on the road.
When he moved from New Zealand to England at the age of 21, it was inevitable that he would go through a time of adjustment. If he had helped the Pilgrims right away, it would have been an added benefit.
Surprisingly, after only a few weeks in this country, Waine was given his full league debut in the top-of-the-table League One away clash against Sheffield on Wednesday in front of more than 33,000 fans at a packed Hillsborough.
He struggled to make any impact playing up front on his own and was substituted at halftime as Steven Schumacher changed personnel and tactics to a 3-4-1-2.
Waine did make one important contribution to the Pilgrims’ eventual League One title triumph, scoring the late second goal in a vital come-from-behind 3-1 win away to Morecambe on Good Friday, April 7.
The aim always seemed to be that the former Wellington Phoenix striker would be prepared to be ready to challenge for regular first-team football in 2023/24.
Argyle went into the season with Hardie and Waine as their only two out-and-out strikers as they waited in hope to take Josh Coburn on loan from Championship rivals Middlesbrough.
With Schumacher switching to a new 4-3-3 system, Waine began the league campaign on the bench as Hardie got off to a fast goalscoring start.
Waine did show his eye for goal, though, when he was picked to play in the Carabao Cup first round tie against Leyton Orient and scored both goals. He was also on target in a subsequent 4-2 defeat by visiting Premier League club Crystal Palace.
Three days later, Argyle brought in Mustapha Bundu from Belgian club Anderlecht as a third attacker in their squad after Middlesbrough boss Michael Carrick decided to keep Coburn rather than loaning him out.
Schumacher gave Waine his first Championship start when the Pilgrims went to play Bristol City at Ashton Gate on September 19, as he made widespread changes to his side for the second of three games in an eight-day period.
Argyle conceded two goals inside the opening eight minutes, and it turned out to be a tough evening all round, including for Waine, who did have one very good scoring chance when it was 3-1 shortly before half-time, but he fired wide.
Waine was substituted on the hour mark as the Pilgrims went on to lose 4-1, and since then he has made just three substitute appearances, the last of them against Ipswich as a 60th-minute replacement for Mickel Miller.
The full extent of the injuries to Hardie and Bundu from the game at Portman Road has yet to be confirmed, but as both were taken off, there has to be a reasonable chance neither will be available for the visit of Middlesbrough to the Theatre of Greens this Saturday.
If that’s the case, Waine will probably make just his third league start for Argyle, and this will be his opportunity to show why Schumacher and Argyle were so eager to have him join the team in the first place.
Recall that the Pilgrims had a long-term interest in Waine before bringing him to Home Park. In the summer transfer window of 2022, they attempted to sign Waine from Wellington Phoenix but were unable to come to an agreement on a fee. There is a possibility. Can he start to make it happen?
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