The A-League Men is back! And no, you're not hallucinating; after one of the most remarkable endings to an F3 Derby -- or any fixture -- that you're ever likely to see, the Central Coast Mariners are top of the league.
With just seconds remaining in the seven minutes of additional time signalled for in their clash with bitter foes the Newcastle Jets, a fortnight to forget for the Mariners looked nailed on to get even worse: Christian Theoharous clumsily brought down Thomas Aquilina in the penalty area to give the Jets a chance to win Sunday's game from the spot.
Eli Adams, however, subsequently kept his penalty far too close to Andrew Redmayne. A long goal kick then moved the ball into the Jets' half, where their inability to clear their lines saw it loop up, keeper James Delianov collide with Theoharous -- of all people -- and see the ball drop for Nicholas Duarte to send home. Despair to delight in an instant, a 3-2 derby win, and Redmayne raises his stock in adding another memorable spot kick save to his collection
Elsewhere, it looks like the kids might be alright at Adelaide United, Melbourne Victory may have signed a potential World Cup bolter; and Ufuk Talay could already be in a bit of strife.
Adelaide United
Stocks Up: Adelaide United have developed a reputation as a talent factory in recent years, but this was always paired with a layer of caution in the engine room. In their opening round 2-1 win over Sydney, however, new coach Airton Andrioli handed the midfield keys to Ethan Alagich (21), Luke Duzel (23), Jonny Yull (20), and Yaya Dukuly (22) and was rewarded with a well-deserved victory, with the quartet demonstrating why they have carried so much hype over the years. It's a long season, and the investment of a three-year contract in Juan Muñiz means he'll likely come into the starting XI when able, but the Reds' youth brigade delivered in round one.
Stocks Down: In the end, Joe Lolley's 91st-minute strike wasn't enough to spark any kind of late Sky Blue revival but the Adelaide faithful would have had a much less stressful conclusion to the game if their side had netted a few of their gilt-edged first-half chances; Craig Goodwin and Panagiotis Kikianis were both denied by Harrison Devenish-Meares from close-range in the seventh and 10th minutes. It's round one, so some level of rust is inevitable, but Adelaide's finishing needs to be better moving forward.
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Auckland FC
Stocks Up: As the replacement for Alex Paulsen in the Auckland goal, there's going to be plenty riding on Michael Woud's form this season. The 26-year-old has been tasked with filling the void left by the league's most effective goalkeeper across the past two seasons. And while he only needed to make two saves in his side's 0-0 draw with Melbourne Victory on Saturday, the first was a big one: superbly getting down low to deny Keegan Jelacic's 40th-minute volley to deny a dagger just before half-time and keep scores level.
Stocks Down: Much of Auckland's success last season came from their ability to feast on set pieces, as well as a willingness to hurl themselves into every challenge, be it in attack or defence, to secure a result. On Saturday, a 29th-minute Marlee Francois' corner ricocheted off the back of Jake Girdwood-Reich and fell to Jesse Randall amid a goalmouth scramble, only for the 23-year-old to send his close-range shot wide. "I'm a little bit disappointed that we didn't get the three points," Corica said. "But I think all in all, we had a couple of good chances to score. They got blocked, or we didn't put our body on the line to get in those areas and be a little bit more clinical."
Brisbane Roar
Stocks Up: It wasn't pretty by any stretch of the imagination, but after an offseason in which their fans have started to get excited, perhaps despite their better judgment, 10-player Brisbane was able to hold off Macarthur on Friday evening to secure a 1-0 win and ensure that the good vibes in Queensland will continue for at least another week. Not only is it the Roar's first opening round home victory since 2011-12, but it also creates an important, symbolic break with the woes of last season, where it took them until April to record a first home win.
Stocks Down: Rightly or wrongly, there's going to be a significant spotlight on young defender Dimitri Valkanis this season, with the inevitable cynicism that follows any player in a side being coached by their father. From reports, the youngster has shown promise during the preseason, but after being tapped to start by new Roar coach Michael Valkanis, Dimitri's opening round send-off for two yellow cards was not the most auspicious of starts.
Central Coast Mariners
Stocks Up: Have rumours of Central Coast's potential demise been greatly exaggerated? Well, no. This is still a club whose future remains questionable until they provide a good reason to think otherwise. But in the wake of a challenging offseason, lowlighted by coach Mark Jackson quitting the club on the eve of the campaign amid reports of an internal power struggle, finding the intestinal fortitude to come from a goal behind and win Sunday's F3 Derby was big for the Mariners. Back where his professional career began 15 years ago, Redmayne's gigantic save of Adams' stoppage-time penalty, setting the table for Duarte to win it with the last shot of the game a minute later, is what the fabled Gossy Good Times are all about.
Stocks Down: Sunday's result was desperately needed for the Mariners; a big win over the local rivals that offers a potential rally around the flag moment at a challenging time for the club. The question is, are they even in a position to capitalise? As more and more staff head for the exit, the club's website was only updated twice in the past three weeks heading into Sunday's game. It's a symptom of what appears to be a rapidly deteriorating situation behind the scenes at the Mariners.
Macarthur FC
Stocks Up: Former South Melbourne striker Harrison Sawyer had to bide his time in his first season with the Bulls but, after finishing the last campaign strongly and starting regularly during the Australia Cup, the towering attacker was tapped to start in round one and popped up with a couple of decent headed chances and was the recipient of the foul that saw Valkanis dismissed. With South Korea international Ji Dong-won on the books, Sawyer faces an uphill challenge to retain his starting role week-in-and-week-out, but he's got the ability to contribute.
Stocks Down: Macarthur have quietly put together what is, on paper, one of the most well-credentialled squads in the league this season, one that, if it fires on all cylinders, should be capable of making noise come the end of the campaign. However, the Bulls attack were unable to break down a 10-man Brisbane for over 30 minutes of football, leading to a 1-0 loss against one of the worst sides in the league last season. It isn't the start that Mile Sterjovski and Co. would have been hoping for.
Melbourne City
Stocks Up: Such is the belief that City has in Max Caputo, the 20-year-old was tapped to replace the A-League's all-time leading scorer Jamie Maclaren when he departed for India last season, only for a syndesmosis injury to put him on the shelf for the season's opening three months. Thankfully, there's no such injury troubles dragging the striker down at the start of this campaign, and he popped up with a well-taken equaliser in his side's 1-1 draw with Western Sydney on Saturday afternoon.
Stocks Down: Heading into half-time locked up at a goal apiece after surviving a couple of late Wanderer chances, City would have 68% of the ball and outshoot the hosts seven to two across the second 45 minutes. Despite being mostly comfortable, Melbourne City didn't create much of anything in the way of chances that would quicken the pulse of WSW keeper Lawrence Thomas. City's style is well established; they always walk a line between purposeful possession and possession for possession's sake and will need to ensure it's more of the former as the campaign progresses.
Melbourne Victory
Stocks Up: In his first game back in the A-League after four years in Europe, Denis Genreau put in a best-on-ground performance in Victory's -- admittedly austere -- draw with Auckland; starting as their lone No. 10 and having a hand in pretty much every navy blue attack that looked remotely promising, as well as demonstrating a deftness of touch, vision, and game intelligence that speaks to his rare profile. In the prime of his career, the 27-year-old is hopeful that a strong season with Victory will thrust him into consideration for a spot in Tony Popovic's World Cup squad, and while that's a significant mountain to climb, Saturday was a good start.
Stocks Down: We're just one round in, but Victory already seems to be dealing with something of a rash of injuries. Skipper Roderick Miranda and Louis D'Arrigo were surprise absences when the teamsheets were delivered ahead of Saturday's game, joining Nishan Velupillay, Reno Piscopo, Franco Lino, Luka Kolic, and Brendan Hamill on the injured list. On paper, Victory has the depth to cover for these absences for a while -- Sebastian Esposito might make it very difficult for Miranda to get back into the side -- but it's hardly ideal.
Newcastle Jets
Stocks Up: Fresh off becoming the first-ever Australian to be awarded the AFC men's Youth Player of the Year award, Alex Badolato's sizzling opener in the Jets' 3-2 loss to Central Coast on Sunday afternoon, just months on from him netting in his competitive debut in the Australia Cup, continued to add to the burgeoning résumé of one of Australia's brightest young talents.
WHAT A HIT 💥 💢
— Paramount+ Australia (@ParamountPlusAU) October 19, 2025
Alexander Badolato may have just scored the goal of the season in week 1 🤯
Watch #CCMvNEW in the #F3Derby live on Paramount+ 📺 pic.twitter.com/4mZuVeI8UE
Stocks Down: There's been a lot of excitement around what the Jets have done in the build-up to this season, with the hopium reaching its crescendo with their triumph in the Australia Cup and the end of the long trophy drought that came with it. Sunday's loss to the Mariners -- an outfit that had lost its coach just over a week ago and which, from the outside, looked to be in freefall -- certainly did its best to burst that bubble, even if there remains signs of hope through the likes of Badolato and Max Burgess.
Perth Glory
Stocks Up: Count Perth Glory as one of the immediate beneficiaries of Western United's troubles (as well as Sydney's management of its youth), with Jaiden Kucharski making an instant first impression on his new side by firing in the opening goal of the 2-2 draw with Wellington on Saturday evening before then playing a key role in the build-up to Adam Taggart's second. It's still very early, but it looks like the 23-year-old could be primed for a big season across the Nullarbor.
Stocks Down: Up two goals after only 26 minutes and looking comfortable, everything looked to be going Perth's way against the Nix. And then they just kind of melted away, barely able to muster anything close to extended possession for vast periods as Wellington overloaded the midfield, and only able to watch on as Ifeanyi Eze cut the deficit before Carlo Armiento equalised with 20 minutes to go. When you've been as bad as the Glory have been in recent years, and you're playing another side expected to struggle this season, at home, you can't be throwing away 2-0 leads.
Sydney FC
Stocks Up: On a night where not a lot went right for Sydney FC, Joe Lolley's class shone through in patches, with the 33-year-old popping up with a late goal to cut the deficit to 2-1 that threatened to make the game interesting. With early indications that the Sky Blues are going to massively miss Patryk Klimala and Douglas Costa, the veteran Englishman will need to shoulder a significant attacking load this season, definitely until potential reinforcements can be recruited in January, if Sydney's season isn't to go off the rails.
Stocks Down: There was a contingent of Sydney fans who were vocally unhappy that Ufuk Talay was retained as coach despite missing finals with last year's well-credentialled side, and they've quickly found their voice again in the wake of the Sky Blues' disappointing performance at Hindmarsh Stadium. Sydney has proven ruthless in the past with managers, most recently Steve Corica, and in the wake of chief executive Mark Aubrey's departure and replacement with a board-led governance structure -- the former executive was the face of the decision to re-sign Talay during the offseason -- it suddenly feels like a lot is riding on the coming weeks for the coach, especially the three-game run that will see Sydney face rivals Macarthur, Victory, and Western Sydney back-to-back.
Wellington Phoenix
Stocks Up: Wellington was widely envisioned as being one of the league's battlers this season, so the Nix's ability to drag themselves off the canvas and secure a point after going down 2-0, especially when they've had to complete the massive trek from Wellington to Perth in the season's opening round, is a good result. With a lot of their fortunes in the months ahead likely resting on the goalscoring form of Eze, that the Nigerian was able to get off the mark in round one -- netting a crucial first-half stoppage-time goal to cut the deficit to one and give them a ton of momentum heading into the second half -- bodes well.
Stocks Down: Of course, you can only come from two goals down if you fall into that hole in the first place, and Saturday night's early deficit would have been far from what coach Giancarlo Italiano would have envisioned when he sent his charges out onto Perth Oval. And in truth, it could have easily been a three- or even four-goal deficit they would have been confronting had Kucharski been able to prod home a breakaway effort in the 10th minute, or Taggart's effort towards an open goal after Josh Oluwayemi was caught in no-man's land not been desperately cleared away at the last by Alby Kelly-Heald.
Western Sydney Wanderers
Stocks Up: Fresh off being named a starter in the PFA's team of the A-League's second decade, Kosta Barbarouses made a perfect start to life at Wanderland by netting his first goal for the club inside the opening 10 minutes of their draw with City -- getting on the end of a slick pass from Brandon Borrello and deftly finishing past Patrick Beach from close range. The assist, meanwhile, was a positive start to the season for Borrello, who is suddenly facing significant competition in the Socceroos striking society after the emergence of Mo Toure, Noah Botic, former Wanderers teammate Zac Sapsford, as well as the return to the fold of Nicholas D'Agostino.
Stocks Down: At home, in front of a rocking Red and Black Bloc, and fielding a squad that should be capable of challenging for silverware this season, shipping an equalising goal just moments after taking the lead shouldn't have been on the Wanderers' agenda. WSW's passive defence allowed City to be far too comfortable in controlling the possession and territory battles as the second half progressed. Coach Alen Stajcic said that his side were perhaps too tentative, and he'll be seeking to avoid a repeat scenario of City completing 257 passes in the Wanderers' half, compared to the 237 they did in that side of the park, let alone the 81 they completed in City territory, in future weeks.
Socceroos World Cup bolter watch
Stocks Up: While conventional wisdom often paints Craig Goodwin as being one of the frontrunners for Popovic's World Cup squad, injuries during his time at the tail end of Al Wehda's Saudi Pro League campaign, and the long A-League offseason meant that the newly returned Adelaide winger hasn't actually featured for the national team since March. And with Nestory Irankunda, Marco Tilio, and Samuel Silvera -- among plenty of others -- emerging to challenge for a Socceroos wing position, there's plenty of competition for a spot on the plane. But after a strong return to Hindmarsh in week one, getting into good areas, creating a series of chances, and whipping in the corner for Ryan Kitto's opener, Goodwin has made a strong start to his push for North America 2026.
Stocks Down: Nathaniel Atkinson didn't necessarily have a bad game against Western Sydney, but in the wake of an international window which saw Jacob Italiano start his first two international appearances, another obstacle has been placed in front of the Melbourne City right-back and a second World Cup. Adaptable and comfortable in possession, the Tasmanian has the tools to challenge for a spot, but he's going to need a big season.
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