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Australia Cup season is a beautiful time of year. For fans, it’s a chance to see teams full of regular guys with ‘nine-to-fives’ try and pull off miracles against professional squads. For teams, it’s a chance to face fresh opponents, try out new combinations, and potentially lift a trophy that doubles as a ticket to continental football. But for Brisbane Roar and Perth Glory, it’s survival of the fittest up in Darwin. Whoever wins their playoff Tuesday night gets to host Melbourne City in the Round of 32, while the loser goes home with egg on their face. So let’s size up how the two oldest clubs in the A-League got here, what they’ve done to prepare, and how they can come out on top.
In terms of the Australia Cup, Brisbane have been trending up for a while now. Their last few attempts saw them reach the quarterfinals, the semifinals, and most recently the final itself, where they blew the lead late and fell 3-1 to Sydney FC. Naturally, if the pattern continues, this is their year to win it all, but it all depends on them making it out of Darwin alive.
Last year’s Lions weren’t a hapless bunch—they picked up wins over top teams like Melbourne Victory and the treble-bound Central Coast Mariners over the course of the regular season—but they were severely undercut by the league’s biggest coaching carousel. Ross Aloisi’s initial success got him poached away to Shanghai Port, Luciano Trani bombed in his one match as caretaker, and Ben Cahn only lasted a month before he sadly had to leave to fight off his thyroid cancer. Ruben Zadkovich ended up stabilising the job, but a narrow defeat to Adelaide United at the end of the season means he now has to try and squash Perth, the team he once played for and managed, in this bid for cup survival.
The Roar’s most intriguing acquisition this offseason has to be defensive midfielder Walid Shour, who won the 2019 AFC Cup with elite Lebanese side Al Ahed and made crucial contributions in their run to last year’s final. With the amount of big-match experience and defensive knowledge Shour brings from his years at one of West Asia’s most impenetrable clubs, he could be the perfect complement to what two-time A-League All-Star Jay O’Shea does on the attack, and this tournament would make a fitting platform for Shour to announce his arrival.
If there’s one place that Perth Glory doesn’t live up to that name, it’s the Australia Cup. This problem goes far beyond last year, when Macarthur threw Perth in the dumpster 4-0. The Glory haven’t been to the Round of 32 since 2019, and the last time they did win a match in this tournament was all the way back in 2016. That said, their most recent victories in both this cup and the A-League were both against Brisbane, so there’s at least one glimmer of hope in their history to focus on.
Star striker Adam Taggart attempted a Herculean carry-job for this team last year, scoring 20 goals on his way to a Golden Boot before helping the A-League All-Stars humiliate Newcastle United 8-0. But the team’s desperate search for new owners created dire straits far beyond Taggart’s control, and despite finding those owners in February, they would ultimately take their second wooden spoon in three years.
Perth didn’t exactly go for splash signings this offseason, but they did pick up former captain and K League alumnus Brandon O’Neill, who returns for his third tour of duty with his hometown club. Winger Salim Khelifi also returns after his infamous forced loan to Melbourne Victory while the Glory were under administration.
On top of that, they’ll bring the A-League’s newest manager, as Alen Stajcic’s departure to try and eliminate the stigma at Western Sydney Wanderers made room for David Zdrilic, an inaugural Sydney FC forward who Perth snatched off the Sky Blues’ coaching staff. After cutting his teeth with assistant coaching jobs around the globe, including prior stints in MLS and Serie A, this is Zdrilic’s big chance to be the mastermind, and he’ll look to start his tenure on the right foot.
Adam Taggart celebrates a goal for Perth Glory. (Photo by James Worsfold/Getty Images)
Based on their records last year, Brisbane may seem the likely favourites, but they’ll have to play smart if they want to win. Fortunately, manager Zadkovich and new pickup Adam Zimarino both have intimate knowledge of the Glory’s personnel from their respective stints on the west coast, and they can use that to identify and exploit favourable matchups.
However, Perth will have the element of tactical surprise, as Zdrilic finally gets the chance to truly unleash his vision. He can even augment it with some inside intel of his own on Brisbane, courtesy of new signings Taras Gomulka and Nikola Mileusnic. Whatever Zdrilic schemes up, though, maximising star striker Taggart’s chances will be vital if the Glory want at least the marginal improvement of not getting goose-egged.
Either way, expect players on both sides to come at it rested, refreshed, and ready to go 100 per cent in order to assert their individual places on the roster and keep their teams’ cup dreams alive.
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