HillsWanderer

From https://www.a-league.com.au/news/signing-news-risdon-becomes-western-melbourne-groups-first-australian-player Caltex Socceroos defender Josh Risdon has become Western Melbourne Group's second signing and first Australian player. Risdon penned terms on a two-year deal ahead of the club's maiden Hyundai A-League 2019/20 campaign. The 26-year-old right back of 170 Hyundai A-League appearances has also emerged as key player for the national team, shining on the FIFA World Cup stage in Russia 2018, and earning 14 caps in total for the Caltex Socceroos. The Western Sydney Wanderers man is the second player to join the newly-formed outfit following the signature of Greece international Panagiotis Kone earlier this month. “I’m absolutely stoked to be the first Australian player to join Western Melbourne," he told the club's website. "With the signing of Panagiotis as the marquee, I can see the club has big ambitions both on the park and off it. “With their own boutique stadium being built, which I think is a great idea, the club has an exciting future. “I’m a hard worker who understands that the fans in the west of Melbourne want players who’ll give absolutely 100% for the shirt. I can’t wait to start doing that."

If you get there before 5.30 it's free. The Western Sydney Wanderers will be opening the gates for their Foxtel Y-League Grand Final match against Brisbane Roar at ANZ Stadium on Friday afternoon. The Red & Black topped the Conference B table in extraordinary circumstances after defeating Sydney 2-1 in the final match of the regular season. Entry to the match will be FREE until 5:30pm through Gates E/K. Entry to the Wanderers Foxtel Y-League match also includes FREE entry to the Hyundai A-League fixture that follows after in the general admission area only.

We are terrible. Thankfully Brisbane are worse.

Duke is officially announced as a Wanderer.

Lost 5-1. Sam Kerr is class on the pitch and off it.

Do we have a squad spot open to sign Duke or are we letting someone go?

From The World Game website https://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/five-things-we-learned-from-a-league-round-14_2 VAR, what is it good for? If a software failure was blamed for the VAR no-show in last season’s A-League grand final, one can’t help but wonder what Football Federation Australia’s excuse for Friday’s disaster will be. With the Western Sydney Wanderers and Adelaide United level at one-apiece midway through the second half, Craig Goodwin’s driven strike was inexplicably awarded without review after Nikola Mileusnic appeared to have drifted offside in the build-up. Given that goals are one of the four types of calls that can be reviewed; Kris Griffiths-Jones – the official in the booth on the night – has no excuse, he flat out failed to do his job. Was it the cricket; was it Alex de Minaur’s spirited straight sets defeat to Rafael Nadal; what on Earth was he watching? Roly Bonevacia’s fine free-kick minutes into the second half seemed to give life to a defensively woeful Wanderers outfit, but it all mattered for naught in the end as poor officiating again left its mark. What’s worse, Markus Babbel’s men were again denied by the VAR no less than 10 minutes later, after Ryan Strain’s challenge on Mathieu Cordier inside the box was deemed legal. Fox Sports’ Robbie Slater lamented the two incorrect decisions during his live coverage of the match, further fuelling the viewers’ disdain for A-League officials this season. Such errors have left little room for denial; the nation’s standard of officiating is just not good enough and, as such, so is the VAR.

One positive from tonight. I spoke to Kosta Grozos before the match. He should be back for next weekends NYL game.

W League jerseys are on sale at ANZ tomorrow night.

I feel depressed this morning. Will I be there Saturday and Tuesday? Yes. Will I judge others for not going? No.

No Nizic. Western Sydney Wanderers FC: 4.Josh RISDON, 5.Brendan HAMILL, 7.Nick FITZGERALD, 8.Jordan O’DOHERTY, 9.Oriol RIERA, 10.Alex BAUMJOHANN, 11.Bruce KAMAU, 13. Tass MOURDOUKOUTAS, 14. Mathieu CORDIER, 17.Keanu BACCUS, 21.Tarek ELRICH, 22.Rashid MAHAZI, 24.Raul LLORENTE, 28.Roly BONEVACIA, 34.Patrick ZIEGLER, 40. Nicholas SUMAN (GK), 49.Abraham MAJOK, 50. Jack GREENWOOD (GK). Ins: 13. Tass MOURDOUKOUTAS, 14. Mathieu CORDIER, 40. Nicholas SUMAN, 50. Jack GREENWOOD. Outs: 1.Danijel NIZIC (GK),18.Marc TOKICH N/A: 16.Jaushua SOTIRIO (injury – three weeks), 19.Mark BRIDGE (injury – two weeks), 20.Vedran JANJETOVIC (GK, 1 match suspension)

I'm all for a bigger competition but we're going to have a 12 team competition (eventually) with exactly half the teams coming from just 2 cities.

I still don't think there is room for a 3rd team in Sydney. The current 2 teams have less than 30000 members combined.

From SMH. Few migrant groups have provided more to the Socceroos than the Croatians and there is set to be one more in the national team very soon. Fullback Josh Risdon is understood to be in the process of gaining his Croatian passport having applied on the grounds of his ancestry. The Wanderers defender has Croatian heritage through his mother's side to the Balkan nation and has explored gaining his citizenship in hope of gaining a move to Europe. With Croatia recently admitted into the European Union, a passport would open doors for Risdon to move freely to almost any club on the continent. It's understood Risdon was close to sealing a move to a British club during the off-season but hadn't played enough games for Australia over the past two years to gain a work permit. Should he be included in the Socceroos' squad for the Asian Cup, it's likely he will be free to play in the UK and Europe by the end of the season.

Western Sydney Wanderers FC: 1.Danijel NIZIC, 4.Josh RISDON, 5.Brendan HAMILL, 7.Nick FITZGERALD, 8.Jordan O’DOHERTY, 9.Oriol RIERA, 10.Alexander BAUMJOHANN, 11.Bruce KAMAU, 16.Jaushua SOTIRIO, 17.Keanu BACCUS, 18.Marc TOKICH, 20.Vedran JANJETOVIC, 21.Tarek ELRICH, 22.Rashid MAHAZI, 24.Raul LLORENTE, 28.Roly BONEVACIA, 33.Tate RUSSELL, 49.Abraham MAJOK Ins: 18.Marc TOKICH (promoted), 28.Roly BONEVACIA (promoted), 33.Tate RUSSELL (promoted) Outs: 13.Tass MOURDOUKOUTAS Unavailable: 6.Kosta GROZOS (injury - two weeks), 12.Ruon TONGYIK (injury – three weeks), 19.Mark Bridge (injury – four weeks) , 34.Patrick ZIEGLER (injury – one week)