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Next week, the Australia Cup will officially reach its national rounds, but before that, we’ve still got one last piece of the puzzle to settle up in Darwin. As a result of their poor seasons last year, the A-League’s Newcastle Jets and Western United must face off in a playoff, with one team going home disappointed and the other living to face second-division Rockdale Ilinden in southern Sydney. So before the first of likely many battles to come between New South Wales and Victoria clubs in this tournament, let’s go over why these two sides ended up here, who they’ve brought in over the offseason, and what it’ll take to win this battle for survival.
The Newcastle Jets know what it takes to survive in Darwin. Just last year, they pulled off a shocking upset over Melbourne Victory, winning a penalty shootout to reach the Round of 32, where eventual finalists Brisbane Roar needed extra time to put the Jets down. Therefore, repeating the feat, and maybe even reaching the Round of 16 for the first time since 2019, should be perfectly doable.
The Jets had a rough go of it last year, as they spent the season overshadowed by the looming question of when or even if they’d find new ownership. Of course, the action on the pitch wasn’t terribly exciting either—despite a breakout season from forward Apostolos Stamatelopoulos, who scored 17 goals, Newcastle spent much of the year as a crushing force of neutrality, with only Melbourne Victory racking up more draws over the course of the year. When paired with just six wins to 11 losses, that’s not exactly a formula for setting the world on fire.
But last month, they finally found a buyer in the form of Maverick Sports Partners, and the Jets’ moves since then have added a wealth of experience in this tournament. Journeyman defender Aleksandar Šušnjar and loanee Matthew Scarcella were part of Macarthur and Sydney FC’s respective runs to victory in 2022 and 2023, with the latter scoring a penalty in the Sky Blues’ harrowing 10-9 shootout win over Central Coast Mariners. Having players who know what it takes to lift this trophy around should be helpful in this pursuit.
Western United’s three appearances in the Australia Cup have been a story of steady improvement, including reaching the quarterfinals for the first time last year. But this playoff will feel a bit familiar for them, as their first bid back in 2021 started with a playoff against Newcastle just like this year. That time, the Nomads prevailed 2-1, and they’ll look to repeat that result here in Darwin. The fact their next opponent would be a lower-division team, which Western feasted on in last year’s run, is just a bonus.
However, while Western’s cup fortunes have improved year over year, their regular seasons have gone on the opposite trajectory. Last season opened on a particularly brutal note, as they notched just eight points in their first 15 matches, in large part because of a six-match losing streak early in the year. The team looked doomed to finish dead last, but from mid-February onward, they found some form, winning or drawing eight of their final twelve matches to pull themselves into 11th. Still, though, it was the worst season in the team’s brief history, and one they’ll hope a strong cup run can help them avoid.
Key to that turnaround will be new striker Hiroshi Ibusuki, who the Nomads lured away from Adelaide United after they couldn’t agree to a new deal with him. It was certainly strange, considering he scored 15 goals and put up a hat-trick over Sydney FC last year, but the Reds’ loss should be the Green’s gain if he maintains his form, and a strong debut will go a long way towards making his old club miss him.
A FIRST Isuzu UTE A-League hat-trick for Hiroshi Ibusuki – with his final touch of the game ????????
— Isuzu UTE A-League (@aleaguemen) January 13, 2024
What a way to seal it too. A ???????????????????????????????? header from the Adelaide United star ????
???? Details: https://t.co/PJx5uL4QGc
Tune in on 10 Bold ????#ADLvSFC #ALM pic.twitter.com/vUCHVnpXGy
Chances are this match will come down to the strikers. The Jets will be out to create opportunities for Stamatelopoulos and shut down Ibusuki, while the Nomads will try to ensure the reverse. The main thing separating the two sides is that, where Stamatelopoulos has a familiar team and system around him, Ibusuki will need to adjust to a new club and all the little nuances that come with it. On one hand, this could make it easy for Western to study their game tape and find a way to lock the Newcastle attack down, rendering them powerless to stop their new star. However, if Ibusuki is still going through growing pains and getting used to his surroundings, that creates an opening for the Jets’ back line to isolate and negate his presence, ideally enabling more opportunities at the other end that flood their Western United counterparts’ mental stack with added pressure and lead to a decisive goal.
If it goes beyond the standard 90 minutes, though, precedent says Newcastle have the advantage. Let’s not forget that last year, when presented with a Darwin battle for survival against what turned out to be a much scarier Melbourne Victory team, the Jets could have easily cratered upon blowing a 2-0 lead in stoppage time through absolutely absurd circumstances. Instead, they kept it together in extra time, forced a penalty shootout, and had the fortitude and follow-through to win. If they have to do it again, the institutional memory is certainly there, waiting to be called upon.
Whatever the case, we should be in for an intriguing matchup that could blow the doors wide open for either side in their quests to start this year on a strong note.
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