It's an interesting one. And yes likes of Waine and Mata are the future. Would make some sense to bring Mata into an AWs squad gathering in Europe. Estonia is pretty close to Lithuania after all. So some playing minutes in Vilnius not a bad idea for Max.
I was coming more from the angle of, if Wood was injured now (as he was against Peru), who would replace him up front, against a top side. Neither Mata or Waine are ready yet. They have shark load still to learn, and Waine in particular needs to develop physically. A side like Ireland will be fill of big bodied men from EPL/Championship/League One.
So now you could either slot in Barba up front (like Hudson tried against Peru), or Brockie. Yes the Nelsonian's record is bad but at the moment he is still the best like for like Wood replacement.
However I guess in reality the AWs don't play any meaningful games against top teams until a 2021 Confeds Cup (if there is one), or the March 2022 inter confed qualifying games. Assuming AWs qualify out of OFC for both.
So do you discard Brockie, and hope Mata/Waine/Collier develop enough over the next 2 years, to backup Wood in need? Or do you still keep Brockie in the picture? What if Wood is unavailable for any OFC Nations Cup in May-June next year (if there is one)? For this Nov window is Waine just better to stay with the Nix, and continue to push for a starting spot - given A League will play through the window?
Also need to consider what future style are AWs going to play against top sides. Putting the coaching merits of Hudson/Hay/Buckingham aside, the AWs side come March 2022 is going to have a far stronger midfield than the Nov 2017version (Peru games).
In 2017 you had Weemac (career in decline), and Lewis (Handy Prem footballer). Plus Rojas not doing much, and Tuiloma who at that stage was a bench player in the French 3rd tier (Strasbourg). A top form Thomas was the only shining light.
Come early 2022, Thomas will hopefully be back to his best, Joe Bell will be a pro footballer, Lewis hopefully somewhere better than ACFC, Eli Just probably at a club higher than Danish 3rd tier, and future star Singh could be a regular at a mid table top flight Euro club (or better). Tuiloma a hard nosed DM (if not a CB), and Rojas still thereabouts.
So the future mid field looks bright, with less reliance on hoofing forward to a target man like Wood to hold up play. So the need for a similar bigger body upfront, to substitute for the Woodsman should diminish.
PS. Remember now that Nix have the bye in November FIFA window, so Hay might as well pick anyone from Wellington that he thinks is worthy.