With the regular season done in Australia, it’s now time for the play-offs. The first legs of the two semi-finals are on this weekend, with still plenty of questions about who will win the grand final.

It is important to understand the set-up in Australia. The regular season of 21 rounds determines the four teams for the play-offs. The minor semi-final is a straight knock-out between the third and fourth teams, while the teams who finished first and second at the end of the season contest the major semi-final – the winner of that game advances straight to the grand final. The loser plays the victorious team from the minor semi-final for the other place in the grand final. With that out of the way let’s get to the matches.

Sydney FC v Queensland Roar – Minor Semi-Final First Leg
This match was supposed to be played in Queensland, however the FFA have deemed that Suncorp Stadium (Queensland’s home ground) would be unfit for play, after a police concert on Tuesday night. So Sydney now host the first leg, a move that coach John Kosmina has warmed to, seeing the benefit in not flying this week.

‘Mile Jedinak is not banned ... the confusion may be attributed to a mistake in the match-day programme. It even confused the Newcastle coach’


It was a disappointing week for both clubs last week, as they not only fumbled the premiership plate but also dropped out of the top two. That makes this match all the more important as the loser of this tie is eliminated. These matches do not have the greatest history of producing a lot of goals and are generally tense affairs.

Both teams have suffered big losses to their playing staff, with Sydney losing Michael Bridges, who has to return to Hull City after his loan spell ended, leaving Kosmina with a struggle to pick his starting strike pairing. Queensland will be without Danny Tiatto for both legs after his two-match suspension for punching Travis Dodd last week. Liam Reddy is also still out for Queensland and his continued absence with a thumb injury is bound to be of concern for Frank Farina whose team have not won a match since Griffin McMaster filled in for their starting keeper.

The returns for Queensland are good, however, Hyuk-Su Seo is back after a lengthy injury and youngster Mitch Nichols is called back into the squad. In an odd twist Queensland have signed former Sydney FC back-up goalkeeper Justin Pasfield on a contract for this week, however he will likely sit on the bench.

Sydney FC got the season’s best crowd last week and will be hoping to get an even bigger crowd for this match.

Newcastle Jets v Central Coast Mariners – Major Semi-Final First Leg
These two teams played the Minor Semi-Final two years ago and the F3 derby is always a fierce match. Newcastle have signed a Korean for the finals in the form of Song Jin Hyung, who will be keen to impress in his short stint and provides Newcastle with that unknown factor. In other good news, defender Adam Griffiths returns from suspension. The Newcastle team will be buzzing with seven of their players called up into Pim Verbeek’s squad and they’ll be keen to impress and prove that playing in the A-League is better than training for a Bundesliga club.

The Central Coast Mariners will have a solid midfield for this match as they welcome back Greg Owens who has proved to be a decent player for the side. On top of this, Mile Jedinak is not banned, despite a number of media outlets believing that his yellow card last week was enough for his suspension. The confusion may be attributed to a mistake in the match-day programme last week – it even confused the Newcastle coach who has spent the week training as if Jedinak – a lethal member of the Mariners midfield throughout the season – was not a part of the side.

Newcastle had a good crowd last week as well and will no doubt be hoping to do better for this match.