Tratt has been one of the few shining lights for the New Zealand club this season, with the bottom-placed side’s record of two wins from nine games costing coach Ernie Merrick his job.

Merrick announced his resignation on Monday morning, saying he took “full responsibility for position the team is currently in.”

The search is now on for his successor, but the Dubbo junior and former Sydney FC under-20s captain has shown enough this season to kleep his place.

In fact, prior to Sunday’s 2-0 loss to Adelaide, Tratt was the most effective tackler in the entire competition.

The defender’s 18 tackles won was the fourth most of any player in the competition, while  his tackle success rate of 90% was the outright best of any player in the competition with at least 15 attempts.

In a real positive for the sport in the local region, in second place, again prior to the weekend’s action, was Sydney FC defender Rhyan Grant, who hails from Canowindra.

Tratt had been praised by Merrick early in the season, with the 22-year-old doing a sterling job on the right side of a rookie defence which has been regularly bombarded by opposition attacks.

The Dubbo junior again lined up against Adelaide on Sunday, with the loss meaning the Phoenix is now equal last with the Newcastle Jets.

Tratt and the Phoenix take on the Central Coast Mariners next weekend.