Central Coast Mariners’ 4-2 win over the Newcastle Jets in a pulsating F3 Derby was precisely the sort of drama the APL needs to start marketing to win back fans next season.
Let’s get the major talking point out of the way first. Was it the correct decision to disallow a goal from Newcastle substitute Savvas Siatravanis in the 82nd minute?
The Jets thought they had come from three goals down to make it 3-3 with less than ten minutes remaining, only for the VAR to inform referee Kurt Ams that another Newcastle substitute in Archie Goodwin had fouled Mariners defender Kye Rowles in the build-up to the goal.
So was it the correct decision? Rowles went down like he’d been shot, but as slight as the contact seemed from Goodwin, it’s hard to deny that his hands were on the defender’s back.
Perhaps a more pressing issue is the fact that so many games officiated by Kurt Ams seem to end in chaos.
Much as we should be careful about singling out referees – not least because it’s a position that’s becoming increasingly tough to fill at every level of the game – it does feel a bit like games officiated by Ams are inevitably going to finish with a dismissal or two.
That one of those red cards belonged to Newcastle playmaker Daniel Penha on Saturday night was no huge surprise, with the hot-headed Brazilian eventually receiving his marching orders after elbowing Mariners substitute Harrison Steele in the back of the head.
It leaves Penha facing his second suspension within the space of a few games, and while the Jets would no doubt love to re-sign the fiery playmaker – who has been one Newcastle’s best players this season – we may have seen the last of the former Atletico Mineiro man in the A-League Men.
But one player we’ll be seeing plenty more of is Mariners striker Garang Kuol. The younger brother of former Mariners and current VfB Stuttgart excitement machine has got bags of talent himself, and his superb half-volley from Beni Nkololo’s flick-on was a goal worthy of winning any game.
So the Mariners march on with finals football still firmly within their grasp, while the Jets miss out for the fourth consecutive campaign.
Adelaide United’s 2-0 win over Perth Glory at Coopers Stadium on Sunday night was perhaps not quite as straightforward as many of us would have expected, but with goals from teenagers Bernardo and Nestory Irankunda – the latter another absolute scorcher – the future looks bright in the South Australian capital.
And with Brisbane Roar hosting Melbourne Victory in an ANZAC Day fixture that was unfortunately postponed at late notice last season, regular A-League Men observers could be forgiven for having to re-familiarise themselves with a few clubs who haven’t exactly received an equal share of the spotlight this season.
Brisbane Roar have had to fight hard to host a regular ANZAC Day clash, and while results haven’t exactly gone to plan this season, it’s at least some consolation for a club that is regularly on the receiving end of some punishing fixture list rescheduling.
Last season the Roar twice drew close to a full house at Moreton Daily Stadium in their two clashes with Sydney FC. This season they’ll host the Sky Blues just once, on the final day of the season, at 7.05pm on a Tuesday night.
It makes it so difficult to sell tickets in a league that isn’t exactly setting the world on fire when it comes to broadcast audiences either.
The APL deserve credit for dealing with the extenuating circumstances that kept Perth Glory and Wellington Phoenix on the road for long stretches of the season, and being flexible enough to keep the campaign going in the face of frequent COVID-19 postponements.
But they need to get the fixture list right next season, because as Saturday night’s F3 Derby reminded us, it’s a lot more fun talking about what happened on the pitch than incessantly worrying about what’s happening off it.
Kewell
Roar Rookie
Mike, you are right, but how do you get that out there when the MSM are against you. I liken the situation in this country to the banning of conservatives on Twitter. We hear plenty of stories about a bloke named Dusty in the AFL but nothing about a Nazarene or a Mcclaren in the ALeague. MSN know that if you deny sports the oxygen of media coverage then that sport will be forever diminished. And that is what is happening in this country now. Why the hell FFA aren’t complaining about this censorship is beyond me, but perhaps that also is not being published. I thank channel 10 and Paramount for what they are doing for the sport the rest are sticking to the script from the 1960’s where wog ball was the cry.
Football Fan
Roar Rookie
It's all good and well to say we should have pro/rel and we all agree in principle but we need a sustainable NSD for a number of years then we need to build those clubs to a professional level. Maybe in 10 years time we might get there so we can set a time timetable and some criteria for both NSD and A-League membership. We simply do not have enough top tier quality clubs at the moment. I for one would not be happy if Perth Glory were replaced by Perth SC or Floreat Athena, Victory replaced by Heidelberg, WSW replaced by Apia. Nothing against those clubs just using them as an example.
chris
Guest
Hmm Sydney FC - you seem to be referring to Sydney City/Hakoah. East Sydney is anything east of Lidcombe.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
The NSL started on free to air, in an era where there were only 4 Tv channels , no pay tv, they dropped it after a year. Newcastle first team in a national league got the big early crowds in the NSL but they dropped off as well. SBS showed it at times, ABC took on the coverage, the only ratings I heard about was the grand final Melbourne Knights Adelaide City, and the ratings were 14 adelaide 2 Melbourne. So a Melbourne Knights team in a grand final gets 2 percent of the TV audience in Melbourne while 14 percent watch Adelaide City in Adelaide, this is back in the analogue Tv era where the test pattern would rate on ABC. The NSL never got the complete blanket ban in media coverage we see now. When Northern Spirit came in they were on the front page of the Telegraph. The live world cup in 2002 final in prime time beat AFL and NRL grand finals. The demand has always been there the problem was the NSL. The C7 business is more a myth , did you ever hear of any ratings from the NSL, how many subscribers did they get for the NSL, they would have dumped it because it didnt rate and didnt attract subscribers. Pay TV was the actual problem for the ethnic clubs in the NSL because once they brought in the foreign language Tv channels and people could see euro football then they dropped the NSL. I know people started watching the euro football on pay TV I never heard of anyone subscribing to C7 for the NSL. When the A-league came in Foxtel had a huge increase in subscribers. Channel Ten had Dwight Yorke on the biggest loser, some other shows, without any strings attached, A-league promos across all Tv Channels with Ridley Scott making the first ad the coverage was across all media because you had Lowy in charge. The current mob have zero influence and the A-league is now the leper colony outside of Channel 10.
Nick
Roar Guru
And yet, the BBL still gets bigger crowds than the A-league...
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
Ha, ha - touche!
chris
Guest
Small steps forward are better than backward steps. BBL came and went like a roman candle burning brightly for a few seconds. It was never going to last. Football is here for the long term and 10 (I think) are building this nicely.
josh
Guest
If it's Sydney FC then don't you think something a little more relevant such as the anniversary of the Yom Kippur war or the 6 day war?
Football is Life
Roar Rookie
The day is definitely sacred. I subscribe to the Kiwi mentality. When you have served your country, you will understand.
Football is Life
Roar Rookie
punishment is an understatement Rob. I went to the Victory game in Newy and he got pounded, but old mate Daniel Whatshisname with the whistle just let it all go. At times it was hard to watch, but Penha just kept on going. Maybe that ref was the guy on the VAR at the Newy GF a few years back :silly:
Football is Life
Roar Rookie
Brainstrust, it's better than what we had in the past when 7 bought the rights and buried them so deep, archeaologists are still looking for them
Football is Life
Roar Rookie
mate, you have just made a first class dill of yourself
Football is Life
Roar Rookie
Grem, Ever tried jumping in the box for a cross without using your arms to assist your lift. Rowles rorted that like there was no tomorrow. It tarnished a really good game. Put yourself in the Jets shoes, punished week in week out by the embarrassment that we call referees, when other teams are given latitude.
Football is Life
Roar Rookie
Honestly........how can you not single out Kurt Ams. The guy is an absolute train wreck of a referee. My nephew plays junior NPL and I have seen better 16 year old refs than Kurt Ams. What is missing is intent. Why can the referees not grasp the concept of intent? Was there intent in the action? The optics suggest that this is what EPL referees use as a gauge. It keeps football as football. The referees have turned football into a non-body contact, look sideways and your penalised sport. Struth, there was a netball game in progress next to my nephews game the other night and deadset, that was more hard core than some of the football I have seen lately. What this country needs is a development path and a curiculum for referees. One of my nephews got his ref's ticket for juniors in a weekend. Well done the boy, but not good enough. The young fella should be taught from day one about quality refereeing, about letting the game flow, about the best refs being invisible. The collective that we call A-League referees seem to believe that the fans turn up to see the ref, supported by 22 other blokes on the pitch. They are an embarrassment and nothing but detrimental to the game. Fire up the shredder, shred contract A-League referees and give a shot to the NPL refs out there and implement a pro/rel situation. That way Ams will spend most of his time with the U/7s. As for the Jets. Hey, it doesnt matter, it's just the Jets. I went to the Jets Victory game over Easter and honestly, talk about what appeared to be double standards. What a Jets player would get pinged for, a Victory player would get away with it five minutes later. But it doesnt matter, it just the Jets. Mike you are absolutely right about Brisbane and a punishing schedule. When Jets went to Perth they had to take a red-eye to Brisbane and play the next day. I have a fiver says the Smurfs, Victory or City would not have to have done that. Wellington and Perth have been absoulely smashed over the last two years. Acknowledging the pandemic, more and more I am starting to question whether there are the haves and the have nots in this league. If we want this league to prosper and grow, will someone please stop sweeping the issues under the rug and have the kahunas to address them. There is some really good football played, there are some great players, but if we address the issues, maybe just maybe the crowds will grow, we can make the league more profitable, we can begin to establish a greater media presence (where we can without the bias shown by the commercial stations)
Football Fan
Roar Rookie
I might also add that the ironic thing is, most people (maybe not you, I don't know) that keep banging on about pro/rel also want the finals system scrapped which would increase the number of clubs that have nothing to play for at the end of a season.
Garry
Roar Rookie
Yes Glover is being covered up by the players in front of him..may yet cost them the GF.. ps no sign of Leckie – injured? rested? BTW where do these commentators come from???? The Sydney one mentioned Grant as ‘suprisingly’ playing whereas where was the record maker Scott Jamison!!!! And Trent B’s surname is pronounced so weirdly I have to double check.
Football Fan
Roar Rookie
Hey Full Time NSD, I agree that Pro/Rel provides extra excitement at the bottom of the table and hopefully one day we'll have it in Australia as well, once we can have a sustainable NSD and second tier clubs can become more professional. My gripe is that people keep mentioning Euro leagues that are exciting due to the relegation battles but ignore the majority of the clubs in the middle i.e above relegation and no chance of top spot. At least we have a finals system which means with 2 rounds to go, 8 of the 12 clubs (that's two thirds of all clubs) still have something to play for hence why the Newcastle - Central Coast match was so exciting. If this was a Euro league it would have been a dead rubber.
Munro Mike
Roar Rookie
and I hate both clubs involved; and I dislike that they had for arguably too long been given the day pretty well exclusively. So I'd be happy to be critical of it!! It might be even harder for someone like me to acknowledge that it's respectful and appropriate. What impressed me when we went into the 2015 Dawn service at the Shrine - was the number of people there in their Essendon and Collingwood beanies/scarves - - they were in for the long haul for the day. The irony being - that I think back to the late 70s/early 80s and the big deal was the map and lists of all the reunion locations for all the different units. The old diggers were heading off everywhere for a drink, two-up, etc. Away from everyone else. These days.....we have something like this game. I think back to the late 70s/early 80s and there were anti-Anzac day protests (perhaps most characteristic by women to highlight the impact of war on women - killed and raped in war - and against the 'glorification' of war). Perhaps how we do it now? This game has been running since the mid '90s - with the RSL well and truly on board - and seems to have helped with the messaging of how we treat the day. But I still just hope both teams lose!!! Anyway - - I'd imagine up in Sydney that Peter V'Landys will be dreaming something up for the NRL.
Grem
Roar Rookie
It’s always interesting to read comments from writers who know their sport or topics. You obviously fit in this category. I briefly saw some of the ANZAC Day ceremony at the MCG on the news this morning and it did look impressive, but more importantly, after reading your information, it was respectful and appropriate
Sheffield WesDay
Roar Rookie
All the more reason to get this NSD running with full prom/relegation. We can see the spectacle two rival teams can deliver, not only in what is a derby match but also as they both scramble to lock up that top 6. Imagine the desperation and fire we would see on the pitch if Perth, Roar and WSW were staring down the relegation barrel over the last few weeks? With a "we'll rebuild for next year", or even a "let's find a bit of form and save a bit of face to finish the season" attitude A League teams are able to afford currently. I am sure we would see some absolute crackers, regularly, as they not just avoid the wooden spoon but risk losing their Div 1 position.