A 0-0 draw in Melbourne against Melbourne Victory on Wednesday night may have not seemed all that big in itself but the manner in which it was achieved and the personnel which it was achieved with was significant.

Wellington bossed much of the game and could have easily come away with all three points. Making important contributions were Wellington's three most recent signings, goalkeeper Danny Vukovic, defender Jade North, who was on debut, and midfielder and former Melbourne player Nick Ward.

With so many changes to a team which came within a game of making the Grand Final last season, Herbert feels things will only improve as the season evolves.

"I guess we are still juggling the team a wee bit. You see Jade coming in tonight. He's only had one training session with us. We're delighted. It's certainly adding competition to the squad," he said.

"Nick was outstanding, sometimes you get that off the back of leaving a club, but he was great for us last week and fantastic this week."

While existing players may see the arrival of a trio of such experienced A-League players as a threat, Herbert says it's a challenge to the entire squad to lift their standards. As World Cup hero and goalkeeper Mark Paston has found, nobody's position is safe

"I think we're in a different phase now. It's a great chance to challenge the squad. I think we've brought in some fantastic players to make that happen. I think the dressing room always needs to be fresh. This year was a good time to inject that. We're starting to see some good results," he said.

Herbert, coming off his own extraordinary achievements with the All Whites in the World Cup in South Africa, makes no bones of the fact that he is an ambitious manager in charge of an ambitious club and that he seeks the same qualities in those players he has brought to the club.

"We know where we want to be. We want to be in the final again. I think when you get a taste of it, you don't want to let that go," he said.

"The club's growing and we've got strong ambitions. Part of that was coming here and playing well, and we did."

"Nicky, Vuka, Jade, they are players with ambition. That's a strong core of myself. They want to be national team players, and they want to do the best players we can. We want to provide an environment where we can help that and grow that."

Having now assembled one of the strongest lists in the A-League, Herbert, who has led New Zealand football from the wilderness to the light over the past four years, will not let the chance at another shot at history pass by he and his proud club.