Dylan Wenzel-Halls made his debut for the Roar last Saturday in Brisbane’s 2-0 win against Melbourne City.
Coming on as a stoppage-time substitute for Matt Mackay, the brief playing period marks a huge achievement and a dream come true for the young striker.
Playing NPL QLD football earlier this year for Western Pride, the 20-year old (who turns 21 in December) notched up a record 24 goals in just 14 games.
Understandably, the Roar snapped him up, signing him to a one-year contract in May. This meant he was not able to finish his NPL season off, although he impressively still managed to win the golden boot, leading many to wonder how big his haul could’ve been had he played the season out.
Named on the teamsheet for the Round 4, 2-2 draw against Western Sydney, he was an unused substitute, but didn’t have to wait much longer to get his first professional run and he hope he doesn’t have to wait too much longer for some more minutes.
As for his three minutes of playing time against City, he displayed intensity, was confident and purposeful, with a couple of direct and probing runs with the ball.
Having had a few words with him, he appears to be a patient, grounded person with great work ethic and tenacity.
If he shows a willingness to learn and improve, he has the chance to learn from some of the league’s best, which makes it hard not to see him play a bigger role very, very soon.
stu
Guest
If Australia was the size of say.....NZ, a second division makes perfect sense. In a country trying to maintain a national spread, the introduction of a second division (promotion/relegation) the risk is a 1st division with all teams based on say....the east coast. A 'conference' system is possibly the only solution. Of course the FFA could be daring and change the season to winter and create a national 2nd division then hope for the best. Define what you mean by 'political'.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
And the bidders for that matter, who will be spending tens of millions of dollars just to make it to their debut game should they be allowed in.
TK
Roar Rookie
Pretty sure the existing A league clubs wouldn't be too keen on a 2nd division - no benefit for them being faced with relegation.
Gaston Ropolo
Roar Rookie
Yeah there is always plenty of motivation for an NPL team to play their best against an a-league team in FFA cup. Who doesn't want to knock off a full professional outfit? They go in as underdogs with no pressure, can field their best players and battle hard and not worry too much about injuries and might still not even be the best team on the day but just get lucky. But look at results for NPL teams who beat A-league teams, they dont back it up with an NPL win next game as often as you'd think. On the other hand the a-league teams will rarely start their strongest 11 anyway and do everything possible to avoid injuries. Thats the difference with an a league team, all the eggs are not in one basket. Consistency, roation and player management to get through a full season and still be competitive in a league towards the end nearing the finals.
Kangas
Roar Rookie
I reckon it’s a 4 goal gap between best nsl and mid table A league Cup games for various reasons always through up upsets.
Waz
Roar Rookie
The gap between the A League and NPL is huge. The ffa Cup shows nothing.
Waz
Roar Rookie
The resistance to the second division from the ffa is political for whatever reason; the league can work from tomorrow with any tv deal, sponsorship etc dictating only the revenue coming in not whether it can work or not. Better still, Fox has $30m of government money precisely for this sort of thing (if they can use it to fund the broadcast if a decades old rugby competition they could use it for football)
Fadida
Guest
There's a significant gulf in quality, which is why some of the standouts in the NPL can't make it when given an A-league chance. Which isn't to say some players don't step up.
Hopper
Roar Rookie
The gap between the A- League and the NPL is not so great. The successful FFA Cup has shown that there are NPL players who can compete with the big boys. AL clubs would be crazy if they didn't scout these club for the raw (pardon the pun) talent that is out there, remembering Matthew Leckie was a complete nobody before Adelaide gave him his chance. Maybe Wenzel-Halls is one of those hidden gems just needing the opportunity.
Gaston Ropolo
Roar Rookie
Could it be a size thing? Dont have official stats on height but he doesnt appear to be taller than little Matty Mackay. Its hard to gamble on a forward of his stature for such a physical league as the a league (unlike a lot of south American and Asian leagues) where it really helps to add another dimension to the game where you're using height and weight to hold and shield the ball... unless you're a clear standout e.g. Messi. It proves no matter what your size if you're good enough, you will make it. And what are the stats for a forward that prove you're good enough? For Dylan, not only his NPL goal tally but assist stats would've done it.
Fadida
Guest
It's the gap in quality between the NPL and A-league. If we had a second professional tier, and if he produced a goal a game season then I've no doubt he'd have been picked up sooner
Jordan Klingsporn
Roar Guru
What i find weird it that he scored something like 23 goals in 25 games in a season and no one looked at him. It took him 23 goals in 11 games to finally get looked at.
Fadida
Guest
"only the political will"? Money, a tv deal etc are surely more of an impediment. I agree that more opportunities for young players is essential though
Waz
Roar Rookie
Wenzel-Halls is a good example of what is going wrong in Australian football, and also of the potential that exists. Wenzel-Halls is a product of the Roar Academy but faced with limited competition (no reserve team) and a cap system that restricts the number of players a team can have, Roar let him go. In a similar fashion Arzani left (for Victory) last month because the rigid cap system meant there was no room, and no flexibility, so he left the club that developed him. The upside, and an indication of the potential, is Wenzel-Halls dropped to NPLQ and went in to have an outstanding season. How much better might it have been had he been able to drop into a second division though - the talent is there only the political will to make this division a reality is lacking.