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2026 Australia Cup final rounds thread

How's the CCM squad looking these days?
Central Coast Mariners have been bolstering their playing list quite a bit over the course of the A-League Men offseason but Sydney United 58 should still be able to spring a cupset in the first round of the Hahn Australia Cup competition proper as they have done previously on many occasions.
 
Preston vs Jets.
Should be good viewing for a Tuesday night in July. Niche as fark in the scheme of things, but for mine these games are of more interest than many of the World Cup matches were or any given English premier league game. Something so much more tangible/relatable about Strayan sokkah/football at this level
 
Should be good viewing for a Tuesday night in July. Niche as fark in the scheme of things, but for mine these games are of more interest than many of the World Cup matches were or any given English premier league game. Something so much more tangible/relatable about Strayan sokkah/football at this level
Mate if I can grab you while you're here if you had 90 seconds to talk to a football fan who doesn't follow Australian football what would you tell them about tonight
 
Central Coast Mariners have been bolstering their playing list quite a bit over the course of the A-League Men offseason but Sydney United 58 should still be able to spring a cupset in the first round of the Hahn Australia Cup competition proper as they have done previously on many occasions.
Mariners have lost a lot - but can still put together 10 out of a starting 11 that played notable minutes in the ALM last year together. Most of the new playing list are rebuilding the academy. Still a long way short of the October team.
 
Mate if I can grab you while you're here if you had 90 seconds to talk to a football fan who doesn't follow Australian football what would you tell them about tonight
Disillusioned with the corrupt, manufactured, over regulated, over commercialised state of modern life/modern football at the elite level? Get down to a local ground, partake in the cuisine/a beverage, lean up against the fence and immerse yourself for 90 minutes and see what wonders it’ll do for you. Also stop with this “oh they’re shit, they’re not as good as premier league”. A soccer game at any level can be entertaining if you’re willing to get into it. Just because the level is higher doesn’t mean the game is more entertaining. You know who never says “oh I can’t watch coz they’re shit” ..people who have played the game or actually been involved in the game at any level. The only people who say that are armchair critics who wouldn’t have even been able to make their high school team. As a side note, imo the problem some of the a league clubs face is that by playing in the wrong venue and sanitising the experience within an inch of its life is that it falls into this category where it’s no longer local feeling or relatable, but it’s also not the elite level. Not all a league clubs, some do it better than others and provide value/fill a niche within the “market”. One of the advantages the traditional clubs/npl clubs have is that they don’t take themselves so seriously, so it’s a more accessible casual, relatable atmosphere. My 2c.
 
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Mate if I can grab you while you're here if you had 90 seconds to talk to a football fan who doesn't follow Australian football what would you tell them about tonight
Watched the final with a mate from Europe last year & told him

You know [cup comp from your country] it's like that & if [2nd division team] was playing [top tier team]
 
Imo Australian football is best experienced live. It’s like the comparison between listening to an International music act on the radio/on your phone through headphones v going to see a local band with your mates. Different experience, like comparing apples with oranges. That’s why the venue and matchday experience is so important. You’re never gonna compete with the elite level as a tv experience, increasingly that’s audience that level of the game is catering towards anyway.
 
Disillusioned with the corrupt, manufactured, over regulated, over commercialised state of modern life/modern football at the elite level? Get down to a local ground, partake in the cuisine/a beverage, lean up against the fence and immerse yourself for 90 minutes and see what wonders it’ll do for you. Also stop with this “oh they’re shit, they’re not as good as premier league”. A soccer game at any level can be entertaining if you’re willing to get into it. Just because the level is higher doesn’t mean the game is more entertaining. You know who never says “oh I can’t watch coz they’re shit” ..people who have played the game or actually been involved in the game at any level. The only people who say that are armchair critics who wouldn’t have even been able to make their high school team. As a side note, imo the problem some of the a league clubs face is that by playing in stadiums which are way too big for them and sanitising the experience within an inch of its life is that it falls into this category where it’s no longer local feeling or relatable, but it’s also not the elite level. Not all a league clubs, some do it better than others and provide value/fill a niche within the “market”. One of the advantages the traditional clubs/npl clubs have is that they don’t take themselves so seriously, so it’s a more accessible casual, relatable atmosphere. My 2c.
Very well said but some NPL clubs take themselves VERY seriously...
 
Very interested to see how jetties go tonight. No Lolley, so the younger boys will have a crack again like last year. The first test of Millzys coaching without almost all of the attacking weapons from last year.
Go the farkin fearsom squadron... Bomb those hairy tit loving mofos to smithereens.
 
Very well said but some NPL clubs take themselves VERY seriously...
As a wise man once said re the old sokkah v a league debate. “Yea it was shit, but atleast it was our shit”. Same reason people would take their family home over an objectively superior brand new soulless apartment. Again, to clarify, I think some a league clubs have done a better jobs than others. Some fill legitament niches in their respective cities. Some no one wants and no one ever asked for
 
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