Another round of COVID-related postponements meant there were only two A-League Men games this weekend, and which one you saw depended on where you watched.
Adelaide United’s 2-2 draw with Melbourne City was clearly the more entertaining of the two, with the Reds twice pegging back the defending champions at Coopers Stadium.
They might have claimed all three points had Craig Goodwin not seen his tame stutter-step penalty easily saved by Tom Glover with 20 minutes remaining, only for the unlikeliest of sources to step off the bench and secure a point for the Reds.
After a few not overly successful spells in Spain, Belgium and his homeland Japan, Hiroshi Ibusuki arrived in the City of Churches with plenty to prove.
He failed to score a league goal for a bang-average Shimizu S-Pulse last season – mainly coming off the bench – and with the Reds looking for a replacement for the injured Kusini Yengi, it’s fair to say Ibusuki probably wasn’t a player anyone expected Adelaide to sign.
Yet the 195-centimetre giant made an immediate impact at his new club, staying alive to volley home after Glover had shovelled away a Stefan Mauk header.
(Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images)
Ibusuki’s equaliser came on the back of Mat Leckie laying two goals on a plate for Andrew Nabbout and Jamie Maclaren respectively.
The Socceroos veteran had come under some criticism on social media for his lack of impact, only to turn in an attacking masterclass against the club where he started his professional career.
And some of the criticism is noteworthy given the lack of context around it.
One of the most obvious reasons Leckie enjoyed a successful ten-year career in Germany is because he was surrounded by better players. He was never the star of the show at clubs like Hertha Berlin but an able member of the supporting cast.
However, it’s hard to have an impact when you’ve missed huge stretches of the past three seasons through injury, which might also explain why he’s been slow to get going in the A-Leagues.
At any rate, City will no doubt hope Leckie has put those recurring injuries behind him and continues to provide the sort of service Nabbout and Maclaren received on Saturday night.
It was a different kind of game in Kogarah where Brisbane Roar battled to a hard-earned point in a 1-1 draw with Sydney FC.
That was the game I watched – more on that in a moment – and it was another reminder of the dangers of writing off A-Leagues teams without ever watching them play.
No one would suggest Warren Moon’s side look terribly likely to lift the A-League Men trophy this season, but some of the online criticism of Brisbane Roar has been laughable given the fact they haven’t even played for a month.
(Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
They were decent enough value for the point in Kogarah after Nikola Mileusnic volleyed home a skipping equaliser that Andrew Redmayne could only palm into the corner of his goal.
And if you were watching the game on Channel Ten in Sydney or Brisbane, that’s exactly what you saw.
The news that Ten had split the two broadcast games into respective regional markets is a welcome announcement from a broadcaster still finding its way in the A-Leagues.
Certain elements of the coverage so far have been good – particularly the main broadcast game on Saturday nights – while others need a fair amount of work.
Broadcasting FFA Cup games on 10Play and not on Paramount+ adds an extra layer of complexity even before we get into the now well-worn list of complaints, which includes the inability to pause or rewind live matches, the length of time it takes to post replays and the lack of a dedicated app for a significant range of TVs.
I’d like to think Ten ViacomCBS is taking some of these concerns on board, as evidenced by the decision to split the two broadcasts on Saturday night.
But what do you think? A par score so far, or plenty of room for improvement?
Ogled WSW
Guest
Been decent for a first season. Needs a few more features but I can live with it for now. I just wish we didn’t have so many postponements.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
Foxtel were the ones to use COVID to tear up the old deal. If the situation was so good with Kayo, where were the viewers ? It seems just a little strange how many people are now saying how good Kayo was with the A-league , and how many people say they were watching it when 12 months ago it was your not getting another tv deal because no is watching it. Having Channel 10 doing some promotion of the A-league is more promotion than Foxtel ever did of the A-league thats the reason to go with them. Are you seriously saying the A-league stay with Foxtel because they have more sports streaming features and even though they dont want to pay for the A-league anyway. Whats next pay Foxtel money to take the A-league back so they can bring back their camera that focuses on a single player.
Oethesaint
Roar Rookie
Broadcasting FFA Cup games on 10Play and not on Paramount+ adds an extra layer of complexity even before we get into the now well-worn list of complaints, which includes the inability to pause or rewind live matches, the length of time it takes to post replays and the lack of a dedicated app for a significant range of TVs. *** This. I’m going to cancel next month if Paramount don’t fix the above, they’ve had long enough. The subscription isn’t of any use if I can’t watch timely replays.
Sam
Guest
Again Chris …. You’re being selective with your comments. The AFL and NRL may rate lower in some markets however ALM rates poorly in most of the national landscape. Surely that is a concern? Why else do RL and AFL get $2bill deals? Just try and be a little balanced in your comments and we’ll get on better!???? As for your streaming comment, no I don’t have the figures, but I assure you they are very good. Kayo streaming is securing record subscriptions. Paramount has not captured many these A League viewers that were on Foxtel
Pro Rel NSD
Guest
Ten made their decision with all the data avialable to them so they knew what they were getting into. You cant force people to watch something that is free anyway with a cool theme song and new website. Either the football improves or people will find other ways to get their football fix. People go to the football for the football. And if the football is slow boring and played in 30 degrees than it can be easily substitutable with football from anywhere in the world from the comfort of your own home. Get the football right and than fans of football will come to watch the football.
chris
Guest
I think you meant paltry not poultry? What are the streaming figures Sam? You have them? Does Melbourne even show a live NRL match if its not the Storm playing? And 2 Melbourne AFL teams being shown in Sydney rates even worse than an A League match.
chris
Guest
That first dribble he did where he did the Ronaldo flick to the inside and accelerated was wonderful to watch. He obviously overdid it in the times after that. But yes, he showed glimpses of being something special. I'd hate to have him coming at me 1v1!
brookvalesouth
Roar Rookie
At least with goal scoring/try scoring in sports like NRL and AFL - the referee is advised when to restart based on when the broadcaster has returned from the commercial. There is a bit more communication between the officials and the broadcaster about what each other is doing.
Saffi
Roar Rookie
I have great sympathy for the ten/paramount team. Covid has just stuffed our comp and the broadcasts. Any excitement we may have had at our original start date in November (remember that?) just didn’t happen and then with our eventual start and progress for 4 rounds (remember that magnificent Victory v City game) any momentum just come to a crashing halt. Tara’s Monday A League highlights show is so light with games she struggles to get a show together. Yes, it would be nice to have a fast replay or highlights package and some of the game time replays are tardy but we just need more games in regular time slots and I’m sure the broadcasters will get it right. Finally, I hope there’s a big crowd for the Victory v Sydney game on the 25th. That will show me if we have ANY potential restart and excitement left to this disrupted season.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
Except the peak year of the A-league came when it did go free to air. There was lull when they expanded from 8 to 11 teams. The only thing exceptional about the first years in the unbelievable profits Foxtel made with people paying over 100 a month and Foxtel paying 600k and then 16m a year. Foxtel were only at about a 20% subscription rate before the start of the A-league and grew to 30%. So if one were a Foxtel or News exec I can see why they loved the first years specifically.
Sam
Guest
@chris The difference being AFL& NRL’s worst rating in any game - any time, is still better ALM’s best poultry rating on Ch 10. And that includes any streaming figures each produce. Also if you think no one watches sport on FTA, just look at Ch 7’s Ashes ratings……millions of viewers.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
the A-league you dont have free ad slot in even on the W-league which rates almost nothing, other shows they have just endless promos on Ten they cant sell the Advertising. Its all big name players I haven't seen a step one ad during the A-league. So why have they sold all this advertising with the A-league and not these higher rating programs.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
Where is a clip of the others showing bias against Adelaide? Produce the evidence. Who recommended Isaias for the Socceroos was it Milligan and Wilkshire. I dont know about Djite but I think those two need their heads examined, and treated for pro-Adelaide bias along with Harper.
sportstar111
Roar Rookie
the best advice i can give for someone to follow when games are is to download sofascore. add the leagues/teams you want to follow and it is easy to find out when the games are. i have no affiliation to the app whatsoever but it works for me
Blood Dragon
Roar Rookie
6/10 for Sport on Paramount + PROS Cheap Sport is included at no extra cost Regionalized Broadcast on FTA Not Fox Paramount + included with A-League Membership CONS FFA Cup and FA Cup on 10 Play not Paramount + No Rewind Feature No Ability to chooses between the Aussie and Kiwi Commentary for Nix Home Games Streaming Issues Sports can be hard to find Commentary Team is Hit and Miss HOW TO IMPROVE Needs more Sport for example maybe a European League and CBS NFL Games Rewind Feature All Sport needs to be on Paramount +
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
Firstly, the timing is not great, coming into a third year of living with the virus (although, arguably, this should have minimal impact on TV audiences). My starting position is that I've never been overly fussy about the commentary teams, I tune in to watch the game, and the less I notice the commentators, the better. Not really sure why anyone expected there to be some sort of massive jump in improvement from Fox to Paramount, or even why people started hating the Fox coverage. Fox always gave you additional shows over and above the live telecasts, including mid-week shows, plus replays. In the hey day, may even have been two mid-week shows. A-League was always featured in the 24/7 sports channel, the only one of its kind in Australia. 30% of housedholds had Fox, including majority of sports fans, and so all could keep tabs on the A-League, at a mnimum, via the sports news. As another poster has noted, general sports fans could tune into A-League games (and when Fox had the Premier League, those fans could watch a A-League before start of Premier League). What do we have now? Well, not a whole lot to be honest. Thinking back, the A-League thrived those first 8 seasons, and it was shown exclusively on Fox. At that point, there was zero FTA coverage, but the A-League thrived. Not just with attendances, and general interest, but I think back to the many forums that existed back then and how lively they were. Take 442 for example (when the forum was actually part of the 442 stable) - that forum was jumping. The page of topics on screen would disappear within the hour, so many and frequent were the posters. Now, you might see three new posts in the space of half a day. This isn't a TV issue per se, but there is some sort of correlation - interest has dipped across the board.
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
Well, it does matter. Advertisers still get a chance to reach a million people at the exact same time across the whole nation, that still carries some value. On Saturday night, "Country House Hunters" got over four times the viewers of the A-League, so Nine is a good chance of making four times the advertising revenue that evening for a show that probably costs a fraction of putting on than the A-League. Also, for the 6th weekend in a row, SBS beat Ten on a Saturday night. So if your an advertiser (or even a potential sponsor of an A-League club), you're definitely taking notice of those sorts of numbers. Incredibly, repeats of Big Bang Theory, shown on 10 Peach on Sat night are beating the A-League. It's not a good look.
criag
Roar Rookie
This is a classic case of a league taking the money without thinking what effect it would have on the fans. How hard do Football Australia actually want to make watching the A-League? It was a lot easier with Kayo. Games were easy to find, there were roundup shows, replays, not to mention rewinding and starting the game when it suits you. Just finding what matches are on and where they are on is not even easy. One guide told me a match was on Ten Play and it turned out to be on Ten. I'm certainly not getting yet another streaming service! I just have to hope every Saturday night my team is on free-to-air. Not everyone has a smart tv either!
patrick clarke
Guest
Bloody pathetic its absolutely killing the league without the cash from the deal the league would go under.. its 3rd world ???? quality production
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
ahhahaha niav owen, you're joking right? if i wanted to watch a ventriliquist, i'd go to a puppetry show. she is one of the reason why the broadcasts are terrible