When it comes down to it, footballers are in the entertainment business. And in the A-League Men right now, business is booming in Newcastle, because the Box Office Jets are back.
Originally coined at ESPN Towers to refer to Arthur Papas' sides from a few years ago, the phrase increasingly suits Mark Milligan's new-look outfit too, who moved back into the A-League's top six with a 2-0 win over high-flying Sydney FC on Saturday.
One of only three sides yet to draw a game in 2025-26, no team has brought a level of entertaining, chaotic unpredictability this season: following up an Australia Cup triumph with an F3 Derby defeat, a thumping win over Melbourne Victory, a three-game losing run in which they shipped nine goals, and now three wins in their last four.
All or nothing, their commitment to an entertaining brand of attacking and passing football sees them lead the competition, per FotMob, in both actual goals scored and expected goals (xG), as well as accurate passes per match and touches in opponents' penalty area, all while fielding its youngest side. Further, they rank second in big chances created, and win the ball back in the final, the third most of anyone. However, they also pace the competition in big chances missed, their 17 goals conceded are the most in the league, and their xG against (of 17.8) is the second worst in the top-flight.
Given they're one of the league's lesser heralded clubs, playing in a smaller market and operating on a more miserly budget than others, that they're embracing risk in a league with no relegation and trying to play is welcome.
Adelaide United
Stocks Up: Coming into the weekend off the back of three straight defeats, Adelaide really needed a win over Perth and, thanks to their skipper Craig Goodwin, that's what they got. Afforded all the time in the world to tee up an effort, the Socceroos star lasered in a long-range effort to secure his side a 1-0 win on Saturday; his saved penalty later in the half ultimately not coming back to haunt him as his side kept the pace in the battle for the six.
For Goodwin, the hope will be that the goal marks the start of a run of goal contributions. Returning to the A-League this season, the veteran had a few boxes to tick off to bolster his case for World Cup selection and, while he's hit one of those with his regular minutes, the goals and assists that have defined his domestic campaigns in recent times haven't quite been there yet. Saturday's goal was just his third contribution (two goals and an assist) this season. If they can start to flow, it'll boost not only the Reds' campaign but his own international aspirations.
Stocks Down: After clattering into Glory by debutant Gio de Abreu just past the hour mark, a potentially serious injury to Dylan Pierias definitely put a dampener on Adelaide's win. Covering his face in his hands, Pierias was stretchered off following the incident and taken to hospital. "I'm praying that it's nothing major, because he's also obviously a player that's part of our squad as a starter, and we just hope it's nothing too serious, but we have to wait and see," said Adelaide coach Airton Andrioli. "He was in a bit of pain. So obviously we tried to, as you do in those moments, just to stay close to him and stay strong, that we are thinking of him."
After something of a nomadic A-League career, Pierias has found a home at Adelaide in recent years, and while he hasn't quite hit the same heights as last season - when he even started generating Socceroos whispers as the best-performing right-back in the league for a while - he's become an important member of the Reds' setup. Any long-term absence, then, would be a significant blow not just for him at a personal level but also for his side, especially with right-sided depth Panashe Madanha receiving his marching orders late in that win over Perth.
Auckland FC
Stocks Up: Heading into the second season of their existence, we couldn't be quite sure what to expect from Auckland. Sure, they'd won the premiership in their debut campaign and possessed one of the league's best squads on paper, but, at the same time, could we really, being fair, expect a new entity to maintain the pace they'd set in year two?
Well, following their win over Western Sydney on Friday night, Steve Corica's side will wake up on Christmas morning top of the A-League table once more, with a two-point buffer over Sydney FC and a five-point gap already opened up between themselves and third-placed Brisbane Roar. They haven't proven quite as dominant as they did last season -- it took them five games to even concede in 2023-24, and they had a better win ratio at this point at the same time last year -- but they still bring a level of base competence that makes them a threat in every game and are well-placed to go hunting for back-to-back premierships.
Stocks Down: Admittedly, at this point last year, Auckland was coming off a 4-0 defeat to Western United -- a rather inglorious way to record the first loss in one's history. But flash forward, and this year's unit doesn't feel like it's hit its straps just yet. Some of this is down to injuries to key players, such as Hiroki Sakai, of course, and the departure of players such as Alex Paulsen is inevitably going to hit, too.
But despite pacing the competition in shots on target per game and big chances, as well as being second in the league in both goals per game and xG, they're yet to announce themselves as a class above by handing out a proper thumping to one of their opponents. With Sam Cosgrove and Lachlan Brooke starting to heat up, that may soon change, but for now we're waiting.
Brisbane Roar
Stocks Up: The good news for Brisbane is that despite their six-game unbeaten run coming to an end at the hands of Macarthur, the Roar had the best of the game despite the 2-1 defeat, and remain in third and within striking distance of Auckland. Further, in the aftermath of the game, some headlines were even referring to the result as an upset, and when one considers how far back the Roar are coming from after some of their recent abject seasons, that they're even in a position to be upset on the road is something of a win.
Of the game itself, when removing penalties from the equation, Michael Valkanis' side restricted the Bulls to just 0.45 xG on six shots, and while they only created 1.04 xG of their own up the other end, they did have 13 attempts of their own. Despite having the fewest touches of any player to log 90 minutes, Justin Vidic grabbed his fourth goal involvement of the campaign when he assisted Matthew Dench's first goal in orange.
Stocks Down: Valkanis became the latest in a string of coaches whose post-game press conferences have provided social media fodder in recent weeks -- the Roar gaffer focusing on a perceived imbalance of VAR adjudication for and against his side, something the official A-League accounts are more than happy to clip given refereeing remains the jurisdiction of Football Australia -- but more pressing for the coach should be eliminating the two silly penalties that allowed the Bulls to steal three points from a game they really shouldn't have been allowed to.
Further, while the Roar field the league's most miserly defence this season with just five goals conceded, their xG conceded of 10.7 does suggest that, even if it's made to look worse by the two penalties they allowed on Friday, there's a danger of reversion to the mean at some point -- especially if Dean Bouzanis, who paces the league with six clean sheets and an 81.5% save rate can't maintain his strong form.
Central Coast Mariners
Stocks Up: It's not unfair to say that Sabit Ngor's A-League career stood at the crossroads heading into this campaign. After being rarely sighted during the Mariners' campaign in 2024-25, the winger was sent back out on loan to NPLM Victoria side Heidelberg United during the offseason and, while he once again starred at a lower level, his recall to Gosford carried an air of last-chance saloon about it. One wonders if the Mariners weren't being forced to operate off the idea of a sniff of an oily rag due to a farcical ownership situation that is rapidly running the club into the ground, he would have got the chance at all.
But nine weeks into the new season, Ngor has become a regular for interim-coach Warren Moon, starting his seventh game of the season in Sunday's loss to Wellington and netting his second goal when he was in the right place at the right time to follow up Miguel Di Pizio's saved attempt and, at that point, make it 1-1. A player who has worked hard for his opportunities, here's hoping the Ngor's start to the season augurs good things to come.
Stocks Down: Remember when Andrew Redmayne inspired the Mariners to an upset win over their F3 Rivals Newcastle in Round One? Good times ... good times that feel like a long time ago now. Sunday's 3-1 defeat against a struggling Wellington made it five games without a win for the Mariners and ensured they'll spend Christmas propping up the foot of the A-League table. Only Brisbane has created fewer xG, big chances, and touches in their opponent's penalty area than the Mariners have this season, but whereas Valkanis' side at least has a stout defence to reinforce their attack, Moon's unit has shipped the equal second-most actual goals of any side in the league this season. Their xG conceded of 15.6 suggests this isn't an aberration, either, and if not for some Redmayne heroics, they'd have shipped plenty more.
With Bluetongue Stadium feeling increasingly cavernous as their home crowds fall 33% year-on-year, the on-field seems to have finally been dragged down by the off-field uncertainty that has been allowed to fester.
Macarthur FC
Stocks Up: Harrison Sawyer might not be the bloke you want to help out with your history homework -- Troy was an ancient Anatolian city-state, not some fella trying to sneak his horse in -- but if you need a penalty converted, then you'd probably be taking the big man over pretty much anyone else in the A-League right now.
Coming off the bench and playing a role in winning both of his side's spot kicks, the 28-year-old calmly finished past Bouzanis twice to lift the Bulls to a 2-1 win over the Roar, a result that sent them within a point of the top six and snapped a two-game winless league run. Those two penalties came hot off the striker converting from the spot to secure a 2-1 win over Beijing Guoan in the Asian Champions League Two, a result that also secured progression to the knockout stages. As one of the league's highest scoring players on the Good Bloke Index™, it's good to see Sawyer kicking on.
Stocks Down: Of course, as mentioned in the Roar section, the Bulls' win over Brisbane did go against the general flow of the game, which the visitors controlled even without dominating. And the hosts aren't going to be able to rely on feasting on silly penalties as a long-term solution to their goalscoring troubles.
With six goals to their name after name games, Mile Sterjvoski's side stands alongside Western Sydney as the most profligate side in the A-League season, underperforming their xG of 10.3, which itself is still third-lowest in the league. As one might expect from a side with two Brobdingnagians up top in Sawyer and Ji Dong-Won, the Bulls rank second in the league for accurate crosses per game over the first nine weeks of the season, while they're ranked third for accurate long balls, but we're yet to see them start to really zero in on their opponents' goal.
Melbourne City
Stocks Up: There's no real good way to lose a Derby, let alone a Christmas Derby, but shipping a 91st-minute, long-range rocket in front of your opponent's supporters probably has to be up there. Unfortunately for City, that's exactly what happened to them on Saturday, with Matthew Grimaldi's late strike consigning them to a defeat that prevented them from moving into third on the table.
Better for Vidmar's side, they won't be forced to stew on the result for long, with their Asian commitments (as well as the Bulls) meaning they'll play one final game before Christmas -- meeting Macarthur this Tuesday evening at AAMI Park. "They'll be hurting, and they're absolutely hurting in the change room now," coach Aurelio Vidmar reflected post-game. "Sometimes, when it hurts like that, you just [need] to bounce back very, very quickly. And the quick turnaround is probably a blessing in disguise."
Stocks Down: That City remains well-placed in both the league and Asian play is a credit to Vidmar, given that once again he's had to deal with injuries to multiple key players and fielded the league's third-youngest team. However, Saturday's derby defeat marked the latest game in which the defending champions looked stodgy in front of goal.
Averaging 1.1 goals per game thus far in 2025-26, City are far from the bluntest side in the competition, but it's still an area that, Max Caputo's emergence notwithstanding, they'll know they need to improve if they want to challenge for a premiership and title once more. Though they average. With more possession than any other side -- helping to suffocate opponents and providing the platform that comfortably leads the league in xG conceded -- that dominance of the ball has only led to the sixth-most touches in opponents' penalty areas this season, while ranking eighth in the competition for xG with 11, and their 17 big chances created is ninth.
Melbourne Victory
Stocks Up: It's almost certain that, had Victory lost against Adelaide and City across their past two games, Arthur Diles would have spent his Christmas being relieved of his duties and a new, interim gaffer would have been in place for Wellington's visit on the 29th. Instead, wins over the Reds and City have served to provide the Vuck with some much-needed breathing room, vaulting them off the table and, remarkably, to just a point off the top six.
Without question, there's still plenty of time for things to go pear-shaped for the heavyweights. Saturday's win, by Diles' own admission, was hardly a display of decisive, inspired football, while their shot conversion rate of just 4.8% is easily the worst in the league -- highlighting ongoing questions looming over their ninth position heading into a January window in which Mitchell Duke and Kusini Yengi are available. But heading into the Yuletide, there's calm at AAMI Park.
Stocks Down: Grimaldi got to live out a childhood dream in Saturday's win: the childhood Victory fan smashing in a 91st-minute rocket to win the Christmas Derby in front of the North Terrace. Add to this that the 22-year-old was left at a crossroads just a few months ago when he was amongst the players left scrambling when Western United was placed into hibernation, and it feels like the kind of stuff that feels like it's ripped straight from a script.
Unfortunately for Grimaldi, so enraptured was he in soaking up the moment post-game, he arrived back in the dressing room too late to meet Victory (and Australian football) royalty Ange Postecoglou and Kevin Muscat, who had both made their way down to congratulate the squad on their win after being guests of former Victory chairman Anthony Di Pietro.
"I came in, and the boys were saying, Ange was in here. And I was absolutely gutted," Grimaldi said. "I was asking, is he still around? Is he still around? And everyone said, 'No'. So I just missed him. So I'm gutted."
Newcastle Jets
Stocks Up: Admittedly, Xavier Bertoncello's clever cut inside and thunderbolt of a long-range attempt did a lot of the heavy lifting for his assist against Sydney, but Alex Badolato had himself another day against the Sky Blues: leading all players in shot attempts, duels won, chances created, and tackles, as well ranking second in touches in the opponent's penalty area. Sharing the lead on both the goalscoring and assist charts nine weeks into what is shaping as a massive breakout season, the reigning Asian Young Player of the Year's creativity is backed up by the underlying numbers, too: ranking first in the A-League for expected assists (xA) and trailing only Joe Lolley and Juan Mata for chances created.
Stocks Down: As entertaining as the Jets' up-and-down nature can be for the neutrals, devotees in the Hunter would undoubtedly appreciate it if their side could perhaps tighten things up at the back a bit more and find a greater level of consistency. Nine weeks in, we know the Jets can play good football and score goals. And if they can find a way to leave themselves a little less exposed up the other end without losing that, who knows what they can do?
Perth Glory
Stocks Up: A 23-time Wales international who arrived from Rangers, Tom Lawrence took a while to build up to playing after landing in Perth late in the preseason, but, after making his fifth straight start in their 1-0 loss to Adelaide, appears to be finding his sea legs out West. The 31-year-old led his team in dribbles and shots in the defeat, while his five chances created were the most of any player on the park.
Stocks Down: Now installed as the coach of the Glory until the end of the season, Adam Griffiths is another A-League gaffer who has wielded the power of the press conference this season. But lions and goats aside, back-to-back defeats marked by fresh fitness concerns and a bluntness in front of goal have laid bare the challenges he faces that can't be defeated by quirky soundbites.
For the second straight game, Perth shipped an early home goal on the weekend and while they'd subsequently go on to have more of the ball and more shots than their opponents, couldn't find a way to force their way back into game and find an equaliser -- their 31 combined attempts on goal against Sydney and Adelaide across the past fortnight producing a total of four shots on target. At least Adam Taggart's imminent return should help here.
Sydney FC
Stocks Up: Let's face it, between the men's 2-0 loss to the Jets and whatever the hell happened at Porirua Park that saw their women's side lose 7-0 to Wellington, it hasn't been a good week to be a Sydney fan. But while their A-League Women campaign may appear on shaky ground, Ufuk Talay's side, despite some wobbles in the past couple of weeks, remains second on the table heading into Christmas and given that they host top-of-the-tree Auckland this weekend, they could still yet end 2025 atop the A-League Men table.
Possessing the league's best goal difference, with the second-most goals scored and the third-most xG (which, at 15, doesn't suggest their goals scored are an aberration), they, like Auckland, have promising underlying numbers, too. And they could build on that ... assuming that they're not about to lose one of their key pieces for an extended period...
Stocks Down: Absent from the Sky Blues' win over Perth last week after hurting his hamstring, Joe Lolley returned off the bench against the Jets, only to go down very late in the contest after seemingly re-aggravating the injury. The English winger has had issues with soft-tissue injuries, and though he'll need scans to determine the severity of this malady, any extended absence could prove disastrous for this side.
Lolley leads Sydney in both goals and assists across the opening months of the season, as well as pacing the entire competition in chances created, sitting second in shots per game, and is fourth in successful dribbles per 90. In other words, he's pretty much the engine that makes the Sydney attack go.
Wellington Phoenix
Stocks Up: Finishing off a super team move to make it two goals in eight second-half minutes and kill the game off, Carlo Armiento netted for the first time since round two in the Nix's 3-1 win over the Mariners, adding to a strong season in which he's started every game and played 97% of available match minutes.
Sunday's goal, in addition, was the first he's scored since he shared with the world that he had been diagnosed with stage two Hodgkin's lymphoma last season after an X-ray revealed a nine-centimetre mass in his lung. After a course of chemotherapy and radiation, the flanker was thankful to be given the all-clear and time in Italy with Turis before returning to join Wellington this season.
That the 26-year-old was able to go through all of that and return to an elite level of football speaks not only to the skill and care of his medical team (as well as the advances that investment in research into cancer treatment has borne in recent years) but also his perseverance and mindset -- an example and inspiration to other young people experiencing cancer that not only does a diagnosis not prevent them from living their life, it doesn't prevent them from thriving, either.
Stocks Down: As important as the win was for Wellington's season, ensuring that they wouldn't enter Christmas at the foot of the table, it did come with a sting in the tail: goalkeeper Josh Oluwayemi suffering an ankle injury and forced off after just 10 minutes and replaced by 18-year-old academy goalkeeper Eamonn McCarron.
One of the Phoenix's better players this season, despite their early-season struggles, tests will be needed to determine the severity of the keeper's injury, but an extended absence is the last thing that coach Giancarlo Italiano needs as he attempts to ease the pressure on his side and his own job.
"Doesn't look good, to be fair," Italiano said of the injury. "He's in the boot, so we'll have to reassess for tomorrow and see where he's at. But I haven't spoken to the physios yet, so I won't know until later."
Western Sydney Wanderers
Stocks Up: Alen Stajcic would observe post his side's 2-0 defeat against Auckland that the Wanderers did have their moments that could have changed the game, and he's not wrong.
Previously unbeaten in their four home games in 2025-25, WSW outshot Auckland six to three across the opening 45 minutes, with four of their attempts being on target. Had Michael Woud been unable to keep out Kosta Barbarouses' early attempt, for instance, or Bozhidar Kraev had got his shot on the right side of the woodwork, or Brandon Borrello's radar had been just slightly more attuned, things maybe turn out differently.
Stocks Down: Now winless and goalless in three games and sitting second-bottom of the table heading into Christmas, the season is in danger of slipping away from a Western Sydney that has netted the fewest goals in the league. And with a trip to face Adelaide and then a derby against Macarthur on the horizon -- both games that, for a side with that entered the season with the kind aspirations the Wanderers did, they'd be hoping to win -- that has placed the spotlight firmly on Stajcic.
The coach may have used his bully pulpit to extol the virtues of Australian football following the Sydney Derby but while that got him plenty of praise outside the tent, it's not really moved Red and Black faithful: a desire to see a change in the dugout being voiced with increasing volume and hostility across social media and, in the real world, just 5,029 in attendance on Friday for their loss to Auckland amid, per Ultimate A-League, a 9% attendance drop.
Needless to say, entering 2026 bottom of the league and off a derby defeat against the Bulls, at a club the size of the Wanderers, would place the coach's tenure in jeopardy. And the recent return of Paul Lederer to the club's chairmanship -- who reportedly stepped down a year-and-a-half ago after disagreeing over the appointment of Stajcic -- adds a further dimension here.
Socceroos World Cup bolter watch
Stocks Up: Heracles Almelo's season in the Eredivisie continues to leave a lot to be desired -- only kept off the foot of the table by Max Balard's NAC Breda -- but Socceroos observers will take heart from Ajdin Hrustic continuing to play regularly and play well since the midseason ousting of Bas Sibum. The attacker netted a goal and an assist in a KNVB Beker win over fourth-tier side VV Hoogeveen last week and has now logged 90 minutes in 12 straight league games -- ticking off the consistent football box he desperately needed to achieve ahead of a World Cup.
The 29-year-old has been playing as a deeper-lying midfielder during this run, but with Jackson Irvine well-established and plenty of competition for the midfield spot in Tony Popovic's setup -- in addition to the side's relative dearth of players with his creative capabilities -- Hrustić still shapes as being more likely to fill an inverted winger role in the Socceroos.
Stocks Down: Riley McGree's morning routine must involve waking up, walking under a ladder, crossing a black cat, and then smashing a few mirrors. At this point, it feels like it's as likely an explanation as any as to why the perennially snakebit attacker was forced off early in Middlesbrough's 2-0 loss to Bristol City over the weekend.
"I actually don't know yet. I think it's not too dangerous, but I don't have a good answer for you yet. We will see," new Boro boss Kim Hellberg said post-game.
"I just spoke to him at half-time a little bit, and hopefully it isn't too serious. Riley is an unbelievable player for us. It's a tough blow, but we have such a big squad and a lot of good players. So we just keep going, and hopefully he is back soon. He didn't think it was such a big thing at half-time. He's a good person as well as a player that we need in the squad."
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