Glory ALM Head Coach Adam Griffiths has demanded more from his charges ahead of Saturday’s home showdown with reigning Premiers Newcastle Jets (kick-off at 6:45pm, following Glory Women v Canberra United at 4pm – tickets available HERE).
Click HERE to watch his full pre-match media conference.
The men in purple will head into the Round 4 fixture at HBF Park bolstered by last weekend’s emphatic and eye-catching 4-0 home victory over Adelaide United in which Jaiden Kucharski, Tadi Kuzamba, Stefan Colakovski and Matt Ellis all found the net.
But Griffiths insisted that he believes his side have plenty more to give.
“It’s been a really positive week of training again which is what we wanted,” he said
“We wanted to stay grounded and focused on the next game against the Premiers.
“The boys have been training really well and we’re expecting another big performance.
“We just need to stick to our process and look at what we can improve and making sure the players know where we need to improve.
“We did that last week and we did exactly the same this week; focusing on how do we get better as a team because we’re still a mile off where we need to be and as we play more games, we’ll learn more about ourselves and continue to improve.”
The Head Coach went on to claim that the Jets, who are yet to win a game in either the A-League or the AFC Champions League so far this term, are a much better side than their recent form suggests.
“They are a quality team who have been a bit unlucky in their early games in the A-League,” he said.
“They’ve got [Nikos] Vergos, they’ve got [Joe] Lolley, they’ve got a lot quality in that front third, so we’ve got to make sure that we restrict them, but at the same time, stick to our playing our own game.”
Glory will be forced to take on the Jets without Tom Lawrence as her serves a one-match suspension, but Griffiths feels that the squad can adapt successfully to the skipper’s enforced absence.
“Tom is a big part of what we do,” he said, “but at the same time, we’ve been building a squad so that we’re not reliant on one particular player.
“In saying that, he’s a quality player that we do have to replace, but I feel that the leadership within the group and the expectation of the group and of individuals needs to step up and make space for someone else to shine and that excites me.”
In other early team news, Trent Ostler is set to come into the selection frame this weekend after recovering from injury and although none of the club’s other sidelined players will be available, Griffiths confirmed that he is hopeful Charbel Shamoon could be back shortly.
He concluded by acknowledging the role the club’s Members and fans will have to play once again at HBF Park.
“They make a massive difference,” he said.
“We play for them and we want that excitement and we want that energy at HBF.
“They are everything about the club and we appreciate their support.”
The Jets will make the long trip west still searching for a first win of the season having drawn with the Mariners and Macarthur FC in the opening two rounds before being downed 3-0 at home by Wellington last time out.
Mark Milligan’s side have also found life tough in the AFC Champions League, suffering four defeats so far against admittedly very high-quality opposition in the form of Gamba Osaka, Shanghai Port, Kyoto Sanga and Kashima Antlers.
In addition to ex-Sydney FC dangerman Lolley, who is poised to make his 100th ALM appearance and combative Greek striker Vergos, other payers to look out for in the opposition’s ranks include English midfield creator Zach Clough and former Glory defender Alex Grant.
Saturday will mark the 61st meeting between the two sides, with Glory having enjoyed 29 wins to the Jets’ 13.
16 of those victories for the WA side have come at home where they have outscored the Jets by 56 goals to 36.
Match Details
A-League 2026/27 Season – Round 4
Perth Glory v Newcastle Jets
HBF Park
Saturday 7 November 2026
Kick-off: 6:45pm
Perth Glory: 1.Matt SUTTON (GK), 3.Sam SUTTON, 5.Lachie JACKSON, 7.Stefan COLAKOVSKI, 8.Jay O’SHEA, 9.Jaiden KUCHARSKI, 11.Sebastian KUKUCKA, 16.Lucas SCICLUNA, 17.Pieter JACOBSZ, 18.Cher DENG, 20.Trent OSTLER, 21.Matt ELLIS, 24.Andriano LEBIB, 25.Sebastian DESPOTOVSKI, 27.Will FRENEY, 29.Daniel SOLSKY (GK), 30.Tadi KUZAMBA, 39.Giovanni DE ABREU, 44.Riley FOXE
(One to be omitted)
Ins: 20.Trent OSTLER
Outs: 10.Tom LAWRENCE
Unavailable: 2.Charbel SHAMOON, 10.Tom LAWRENCE, 12.Matt DENCH, 13.Henry HORE, 28.Calem NIEUWENHOF, 45.Brian KALTAK
Newcastle Jets: 1. James DELIANOV, 2. Alexander GRANT, 5. Joseph SHAUGHNESSY, 6. Zane SCHREIBER 8. Patrick WOOD, 9. Nikolaos VERGOS, 10. Zach CLOUGH, 11. Joe LOLLEY, 14. Max BURGESS, 17. Ethan DEBONO, 19. Alexander BADOLATO, 22. Joel BERTOLISSIO, 23. Daniel WILMERING, 24. Alexandro Nunes, 27. Julian RECCHIA, 28. Will DOBSON, 39. Thomas AQUILINA, 40. Jordan BAYLIS, 43. Xavier BERTONCELLO, 52. Nicholas Badolato
(Two to be omitted)
Ins: 6. Zane SCHREIBER
Outs: 64. Jesse HILL
Unavailable: 16. Will KENNEDY (Foot), 20. Alex NASSIEP, 25. Oscar FRYER (ACL), 26. Oscar GONZALEZ, 34. Angus REID, 37. Oliver COCKLE, 42. Max COOPER (Foot), 54. Jake GOODWIN, 62. Archie BRIDESON, 63. Callan PRESTWIDGE, 64. Jesse Hill, 65. Kaiden WALSHE
(photo courtesy of TomMcCarthy)
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ALM Match Preview: Griff demands more as Glory look to down reigning Premiers
