Kosta Barbarouses set the Nix on their way at Sky Stadium, only for Angus Thurgate to rifle home an equaliser in a deserved 1-1 result.
"That felt like two teams that haven't played a lot of games and just trying to find their feet," Wellington coach Giancarlo Italiano said.
Italiano - who led the Nix to a second-placed finish last campaign - was happy with the first hour but saw his side cede control after an hour.
"The pendulum swung when both teams made their subs, and they just had more legs in the end," he said.
It ends all square at — Wellington Phoenix 🔥 (@WgtnPhoenixFC) @skystadium 💛🖤 | https://t.co/SAVRs4aeWc pic.twitter.com/EOaxtwdpN4October 20, 2024
The match was generously decribed by Kiwi commentator Jason Pine late in the first half as "still waiting for its moment of inspiration".
If not inspiration, then Barbarouses certainly showed doggedness to open the scoring a minute from half-time.
Sebastian Pasquali - playing as a number six - earned a yellow card for persistent fouling, giving Wellington a set piece.
From Hideki Ishige's free kick, Isaac Hughes sent a header back across goal, where the Kiwi winger stretched out his leg to score just ahead of the onrushing Matthew Sutton.
Wellington were without key players Marco Rojas (fractured leg) new signings Paulo Retre (groin) and Stefan Colakovski (conditioning), and playing in a defensive 5-3-2 as a result.
Ramy Najjarine and Ben Garuccio (groin) were also missing from John Aloisi's team sheet as Western battled to create chances.
Angus Thurgate (left) scored the equaliser to earn Western United a point in Wellington. (Masanori Udagawa/AAP PHOTOS)
Barbarouses was the danger man all day, sending a shot onto the outside of the post, colliding with Sutton while chasing a long ball and then missing an overhead kick.
Aloisi rung the changes, bringing on Botic and 20-year-olds Rhys Bozinovski and Abel Walatee to seize momentum.
After a neat turn, Thurgate combined with Botic, playing him through and then receiving a cut-back to lash past Josh Oluwayemi, who had a mixed debut.
"What I'm most pleased about is we had seven of our academy players that played today," Aloisi said.
"Towards the end, they gave us energy, and that was really pleasing."
Aloisi was clearly the happier of the two managers post-game, with Italiano suggesting it would take several weeks to replicate last year's form.
"Give us four or five, maybe six games, I think those chances start falling in, and it's going to be very hard to play us," he said.
Unfortunately for Italiano, that timeframe is too long for their huge match in round three - the first all-New Zealand clash with Auckland FC.
Sunday's game also created a a little slice of history, with five Japanese players on the field for the first time in A-League/NSL history.
Both sides went shopping for J.League experience during the off-season, with Wellington's Ishige and Kazuki Nagasawa and Western United's Hiroshi Ibusuki joining Tomoki Imai and Riku Danzaki, already at the Melbourne club.
"They're great people; great professionals, and they're quality players," Aloisi said of his Japanese contingent.
"I'm sure Giancarlo is thinking the same about the Japanese players they've got. Top quality players who have played at a really high level, and good people to have around your football club."
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