Could it have been scripted any better? The regular season is set for a grandstand finish as eight teams jockey for a place in the A-League’s top six and a chance to ultimately be crowned champions.
Central Coast’s relatively comfortable 2-0 win away at Adelaide United last night sets up a blockbuster final set of matches, although in truth much of the sting could be taken out of it midway through the round.
Should either Brisbane Roar or Sydney FC prevail in a winner-takes-all showdown at Suncorp Stadium on Thursday night, they’ll sew up fifth place in the league and the finals place that comes with it.
That would ensure there’s everything to play for at Hunter Stadium the following evening, as Newcastle attempt to scramble into the six at the same time Western Sydney Wanderers look to secure the Premiers’ Plate.
The Wanderers need only a point to finish top of the league at their first attempt, however defeat to the Jets could open the door for Central Coast, who would finish top on goal difference by beating Melbourne Heart the following day.
And amidst the chaos, Perth Glory will be hoping they’re still in the running for a finals place when they host Adelaide United at the newly completed NIB Stadium.
The Glory will also hope a bumper crowd packs into a venue which has proved more of a hindrance than a help this season.
The Glory are working in conjunction with Football West to give away thousands of free tickets to ensure the new eastern stand is packed for the occasion.
And should Perth sneak into the six under the stewardship of new coach Alistair Edwards, it would mark a remarkable turnaround for a side which has struggled to find form all season on the back of last season’s controversial grand final defeat.
Glory’s dramatic 3-2 win over Melbourne Victory on Saturday had Victory coach Ange Postecoglou hopping mad, but in truth few of the top teams outside of the Wanderers are in anything like a rich vein of form.
And after much conjecture over the merits of the A-League’s new finals system, Football Federation Australia has been vindicated by the fact so many teams go into the final round with a chance of progressing to the play-offs.
After blowing the chance to wrap up the premiership against city rivals Sydney FC in the derby on Saturday night, the Wanderers may find the trip up the F3 to Newcastle to face a fired-up Jets side a similarly daunting prospect.
And although the Jets might only be considered an outside chance of making the six, there’s every possibility they’ll be liberated by the knowledge that nothing less than a win over the upstart Wanderers will suffice.
A-League fans could hardly have asked for a better Easter present from what will be a gripping round of football, though once again the issue of whether fixtures should kick off simultaneously bears some consideration.
It might be the done thing overseas, but it’s hardly a premise host broadcaster Fox Sports is going to champion and the current scenario ensures the excitement is spread over several days.
It starts with what will be a straight-up shoot-out between the Roar and Sydney FC, in what is an ideal precursor to the battle for the Premiers’ Plate over the following two days.
And with Mariners striker Daniel McBreen just ahead of Wellington’s Jeremy Brockie and mercurial Victory youngster Marco Rojas in the race for the Golden Boot, there’s still plenty for all 10 clubs to play for – even if the Phoenix and Melbourne Heart are already out of the race for the finals.
This has been an exceptional A-League season to date and the final round of action promises to continue that trend, as the premiership is decided and two teams say goodbye to the prospect of finals football for another campaign.
Nick Richardson
Roar Guru
Ronaldhino is off contract at the end of the season. Wouldn't it be amazing if he came to the A-League.
Ian
Guest
I can attest to most under 8s only wanting to score goals or do a big kick. my 5 yr old was that in a nutshell last year. we've explained not everyone can be berisha and score goals all the time and there are 9 others and a goalie who help get the ball to the other end and get it in the net. saying broich does not score goals all the time was a help - on a point of difference broich was special especially in his early 20s making his way into the german youth team and i think germany b team. he was touted as a 'beacon of hope'. but the rest from there is on his dvd doco. anyway - i find the training discussion very interesting as i am assisting with my daughter's football and know the drills to put them through in their midweek training session in preparation for their 4 a side small sided football on saturdays. while good at little training exercises and dribbling, she was intimidated by trying to get 1on1 with larger boys to get the ball. that has changed this year and seeing her get the ball and shield it while moving it around the boys and go down field (until a bigger boy catches up to her) couldn't make me prouder.
Cameron
Roar Guru
I don't know if problems like these can be eradicated with ease, nor do I think anyone thinks that but there are people out there willing to do anything to get their 15 minutes of fame! They ultimately look like d'heads and make us look bad. Same problems occur with race, its a societal problem and one which will never go away. We can educate the players and close knit fans but the wider demographic/public will be an uphill battle. It also shouldn't be left to the fans to have to deal with either. Our match day experiences are being slightly tarnished and if we step in we cause problems for ourselves. Those who police these active areas are not perfect either but their job shouldn't be made hard at a football match, that's just ridiculous. We all just have top stay positive and do our part!
Griffo
Roar Guru
Prime/7 news update tonight had a guy saying something along the lines of '...we don't want the hooliganism brought in from Europe, Asia and South America and ruin our sporting events...' pretty much words to that effect. My ears were on the floor with my jaw at the time wondering WTF? First I heard about any trouble...
Griffo
Roar Guru
Geez...it's deja vu for the Jets from HAL7 - must win against the 'other' Sydney team this year to make the Finals Series. Not as clear cut as the last game against Sydney FC last year either. What is even more interesting is the member emails from the club all week - 50% off merch in the Hunter Sports Store, bring your voice, show the Wanderers whose town it is, etc. etc. A bit of fear mongering there :-) I think we can expect a 15k plus crowd perhaps, if half the Jets members don't leave town on Good Friday to camp over the Easter long weekend. I had an article pre-Round 1 crystal ball gazing the final standings - not even close, but at least I may have gotten this part right: It’s so difficult that I am giving a range of positions that any team mentioned could finish, but by no means confident that those named outside the top-six will be there come end of the season. No kidding! No particular order for positions mentioned: Position 1 - 3 Victory, Roar, Mariners Position 4 - 6 Jets, Sydney FC, 'Nix Position 7 - 10 Glory, Heart, Wanderers, Adelaide. Potentially I could get 5 out of 10!
Kasey
Guest
Glory probably will win. AU have been disinterested for about a month now. I can see the Reds limping into the finals with two losses on the trot and then exiting after 90 minutes of finals football. We only seem to be able to get up for MBV games and seeing as both AU and MBV have home finals on Sunday and Friday respectively, unless we can convince our opponents to wear the MBV council worker away kit, I think we'll not make much of an impact on the finals Series this season:( Very excited though to see how this Finals Series plays out under the new format.
jbinnie
Guest
Cliff. There is no one happier than I to see a youngster "making the grade " and getting a decent run in an HAL team. I think the point that Towser (and I) is making is that how many of these youngsters have attained a level of skills commensurate with the players they are playing with. I can watch most HAL games and without too much trouble I can pick out most of the imported players just by watching their levels of skill. You talk about bedding down a system taking 10-15 years.!!!! Our latest program is based on ideas first introduced Into Australia in 1974 so has been around not for 10 -15 years but 38 years.I have in my possession an article published in a local football magazine written by a State Director of Coaching,(every state had them in those days) in which he explains the benefits to be had with the new system of junior coaching being introduced.The magazine is dated 1974.????????. jb
jbinnie
Guest
Towser- My apologies. The small sided games on small pitches is a purely mathematical arrangement that sees the chances of ball contact for every individual in the team increased, The practice is the "weekend match" only for kids up to the age of 10-11.Their "training sessions" are also set up to ensure more ball contact,2v2, 3v3, 4v4 in an even tighter area,with the exercise mirroring the skill under practice,passing,receiving,tackling,etc etc.It is hoped by concentrating a kid's attention on these aspects of the game his general expertise in those skills will have improved greatly by the time he is moved to a bigger pitch in a bigger team at around the age of 11 to 12.This format was introduced into Australia around 1974/75 and many of our Golden Generation have indicated they took part in the arrangement as youngsters. My problem is that after 40 years the message has not yet worked it's way down to grassroots level and that is worrisome. jb
Australian Rules
Guest
"Good to see an ARFers, who is willing to objectively report about A-League." You mean..."good to see ARFers, but only if they report positively about A-League".
Cameron
Roar Guru
Cause although Neil Cordy played AFL and reports for AFL, this means he's not a football supporter? That's just his account on the events that unfolded on Saturday night. Did you watch the news? Or the video above in this article? I'm sure the moment he or any other AFL journo says anything bad about the A-league, you'll be the first to let us know. Perhaps you should take a leaf out of some of the more professional football journos and experts and not listen or give a rats behind. You don't care about the opinions offered by AFL supporters on this forum and then here you come bringing an AFL journo into it saying he's pretty much doing a good job. You're a real character Fuss and I have you all worked out.
Punter
Guest
NO!!!! Mainly at AFL fans who has issues in their own sport.
Towser
Guest
kellett_1992 Football hooliganism its treatment & disdain for it is universal across the planet,. If you want to delve deeper type in google "Margaret Thatcher football hooliganism" it will keep you occuppied for hours Admittedly it was heavy stuff in England both on the fans & government side. There was no football hooliganism when I was growing up in England ,it grew like topsy under the noses of police ,government everybody. Bottom line is nip it in the bud now in Australia before the wannabee's get any sort of foothold.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Interesting Tweet by Neil Cordy, who is a former AFL player and now an AFL writer with the DT: @neilcordy: Went to Wanderers v Sydney Sat night. Had dinner in Church St, saw no trouble anywhere pre game and one bloke punted at Stadium --- Good to see an ARFers, who is willing to objectively report about A-League.
Cameron
Roar Guru
"People in glass houses should not be throwing stones!!!!" That isn't directed at me is it?
Rob
Guest
Fussball, the big difference was the 12,000 Collingwood supporters marched to the ground, without incident.! The 2-300 WSW "supporters" for want of a better name, marched to the ground, terrorised innocent patrons, including many children, dining in the restaurant. Throwing a bottle accross the restaurant was also an act of real bravado! Wake up to yourselves!
Punter
Guest
Kellet, AFL is the cup of tea of Redb & he has tried the A-League, he's also an Essendon fan & really people in glass houses should not be throwing stones!!!!
Cameron
Roar Guru
One thing that channel 9 made very clear was that this is the minority, not the majority. Players, fans, media, police, have all called for a stop to this. Wanderers and the majority of their fans have been amazing but these tossers that continue to bring the game and its team into disrepute are harming any potential to move forward into the future. I'm glad you agree Striker, otherwise then I would have witnessed no hope and given up.
Mike Tuckerman
Expert
Haha, just trying to protect your feelings, Stevo!
striker
Guest
Kellett gotta agree why do some fans become agressive if someone else supports another team just pathetic and i am a wanderers supporter, if they dont get rid of these thugs they will take this great new club down the pits.
Franko
Guest
Love their passion, but some of the footage is not good. Always have to be a few that take it too far.