Welcome to The Debate, where the Mercury sport team discusses the big issues in Illawarra, national and international sport. This week, sports writers (and football fanatics) JOSH BARTLETT and JORDAN WARREN discuss the title favourites heading into this year's A-League campaign.
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BARTLETT: It's been just over four months since Western United lifted the premiership on their shoulders, but another fresh A-League Men's campaign is upon us. The 2022/23 season kicks off on Friday night with United looking to get off on the right foot against rivals Melbourne City.
Jordan, it's time to look into your crystal ball. Do you think the men in green and black will defend their crown, or can you see another team - or sides - really challenging for the title?
WARREN: Favourite time of the year, Josh, the start of the A-League Men's season. Despite the fact that Western United are the defending champions, I feel as though they flying under the radar as we head into the start of the season.
John Aloisi will be hoping he will have his charismatic skipper Alessandro Diamanti fit and firing this season following a knee injury which derailed the majority of his season last campaign. He is crucial for the side not just on the field but off it as well with his calmness in those big situations such a help to Aloisi and his younger players.
As always, we expect the Sydney teams to go well.
Sydney FC had a poor campaign last season, finishing outside the finals for the first time since the 2015-16 season. They have recruited well, signing Nottingham Forest winger Joe Lolley and Slovakian international Robert Mak, as well as Jack Rodwell from cross-town rivals Western Sydney.
The side will also welcome back injured midfielder Luke Brattan, which will almost be like a new signing for Steve Corica this season.
As always is the case with the Wanderers, they seem to be world-beaters in pre-season with their new signings.
Under Mark Rudan, who is about to enter his first full season in charge, the side are looking to make the finals for the first time since they lost the 2016 grand final to Adelaide.
But you can never rule out Melbourne Victory or City for that matter.
What have you made of the Melbourne sides coming into the season Josh? Especially Victory, who were one game away from the grand final last season and have added the most high profile signing of the off-season in former Manchester United legend, Nani?
BARTLETT: I think you'd be hard pressed to not be impressed with what Victory achieved last season. After a couple of very underwhelming campaigns, Tony Popovic came in and did a great job getting them from bottom of the ladder to a title contender swiftly.
The addition of Nani will be massive, in terms of drawing attention and potential members, and hopefully translates on the field. He may be in the latter stages of his career but will bring a wealth of experience to the club, and will add another layer of potency in Victory's attack. I'm pretty excited to see what Tomi Juric can do in the front third this season too so, on paper, you've got to think Popovic's men will be amongst the premiership mix again.
In terms of their cross-town rivals, can you ever write off City? This side has arguably been the league's best in recent years and should be right up there again. The squad is filled to the brim with talent, led by last season's leading goal scorer Jamie McLaren, while I reckon Marco Tillio is ready to take his game to another level in the next year or two.
So we've covered the Melbourne teams pretty well, let's shift our attention across the ditch. Our readers would be familiar with the Phoenix, with the squad having spent the entire 2021/22 campaign based in Wollongong due to COVID. Wellington have been in and around that top six mix in recent years, and the likes of livewire David Ball and Clayton Lewis are going around again in the yellow and black. They will also get to actually play all home games in New Zealand now. Jordan, are you excited about Ufuk Talay's side heading into a new A-League season?
WARREN: The Nix were definitely a smoky team last season, finishing sixth, even despite not being able to play the majority of their games in New Zealand.
Talay has been at the helm of the club for some time now and will be looking to sneak into that top four, despite not being favourites to do so.
I think the signing of hometown hero Kosta Barbarouses from Sydney FC will prove to be a quality signing. And then there's their goalkeeper, New Zealand international Oli Sail who proved on so many occasions last season that he was one of, if not, the best in his position in the competition.
The Phoenix will be ever-reliant on Ball to do a lot of the leg work up front. He proved last season that he is perhaps the most selfless player in the competition, playing games despite needing injections to finish off the season.
The side will be boosted by the return of their captain Alex Rufer midway through the season as he is returning from an ACL injury that derailed his campaign last year.
Before we sign off Josh, I wanted to chat about Mariners legend Matt Simon, retiring due to that on-going neck injury just on the eve of the season.
How big of a loss do you think he will be for the side and just how much of an impact has he had on the competition since he debuted in 2007?
BARTLETT: Love him or hate him, I think you've got to respect what Simon has done for the game in Australia. He's certainly got a character that divides people's opinion, but that character has added flavour to the A-League for over a decade. It's a shame to see him bow out this way, but the veteran retires with an impressive resume, including scoring 66 goals in 288 league games. It will be interesting to see how the Mariners fill his void this season.
But, one last quick question. Who wins the title this season? I'm leaning towards Melbourne City. I just think they have too much quality and will be disappointed about how their last campaign ended.
WARREN: I'll go Corica to get Sydney back up top.
Joshua Bartlett
A sporting fanatic who is keen to promote all codes in the Illawarra and abroad. Mercury's chief football reporter.
A sporting fanatic who is keen to promote all codes in the Illawarra and abroad. Mercury's chief football reporter.
Jordan Warren
Illawarra Mercury sports journalist. Feel free to get in touch jordan.warren@austcommunitymedia.com.au.
Illawarra Mercury sports journalist. Feel free to get in touch jordan.warren@austcommunitymedia.com.au.
