Perth Glory Men and Women will be out to round off their respective pre-season campaigns in style when they take on the WA State Team at Madman Arena (Kingsway Reserve) on Saturday (Women at 5pm, Men at 7pm, admission FREE).
The annual Challenge Cup clash will be the first public outing for Stephen Peters’ side who have played a series of behind-closed-doors games against local opposition, while the Men will be in action for a fourth consecutive weekend having previously played Melbourne City and twice taken on Adelaide United in Regional Roadie fixtures.
Both teams will be on the road in Round One of the 2026/27 A-League Season, with the Men visiting Macarthur FC and the Women heading to Newcastle and Peters is keen to warm up for that match-up with the Jets by avenging the 2-0 defeat his charges suffered in last year’s corresponding fixture at Dorrien Gardens.
Click HERE to watch Stephen’s full pre-match interview.
“We’d definitely like to do that,” he said, “but equally, I know they’ll want to stick it to us again.
“I watched a lot of the NPLW WA this season and by all reports they’ve got quite a good side and an experienced side, so we’re looking forward to the challenge.
“Both myself and the players are keen to put that result from last year right.”
Peters went on to confirm that he will be giving his team selection for Saturday plenty of thought.
“You definitely want to give the players that are earmarked for Round One an opportunity to be out there together,” he said, “but equally you want to give everyone an opportunity to be selected for Round One.
“So it is a bit of a balancing act, it’ll be a bit of a mix, but we don’t want to give too much away.”
A number of Glory’s off-season recruits are set to make their debut in purple, including striker Maggie Jenkins and defender Ella Buchanan, while the returning Baxter Thew will make her second appearance for the club in this particular fixture.
As for the State Team, Head Coach Carlos Vega Mena has named 18 players, more than half of whom are drawn from NPL champions Perth Azzurri and Top Four Cup winners Fremantle City.
Izzy Foletta has been appointed as Mena’s Assistant and there are a number of other former Glory representatives in the squad, including Caitlin Doeglas, Ella Mastrantonio, Tanika Lala, Dayle Schroeder and Ischia Brooking.
Adam Griffiths’ men, meanwhile, will face a similarly strong State Team squad which will be led by former Glory Academy coach Ivan Zuvela and is set to contain plenty of other familiar faces.
The club’s all-time A-League record appearances holder, Josh Risdon, is expected to feature, along with the likes of Jack Clisby, Riley Warland, Luke Bodnar, Aryn Williams and Mitch Oxborrow, while David Williams and Brad Jones are the Assistant and Goalkeeping Coaches respectively.
The State Team will be looking for back-to-back wins having downed Tasmania last month courtesy of a late header from Olympic Kingsway frontman Liam Boland.
In terms of Glory’s early team news, Jaiden Kucharski and Tom Lawrence are likely to see more gametime having been introduced from the bench against Adelaide in Northam on Saturday and Sam Sutton may return having been away on international duty with New Zealand.
Defender Lachie Jackson is looking forward to the hit-out which signals the end of a long pre-season campaign.
Click HERE to watch Lachie’s full pre-match interview.
“One more game to go,” he said, “and it’s another chance for boys who haven’t had substantial minutes to get those.
“We need to put on a dominant performance and show all the stuff we’ve been working on and the way we want to be aggressive off the ball and winning the ball back.
“And we need to punish at the other end… we’ve been working on that all week and it’s another good chance to put it into practice.”
Match Details
Challenge Cup Double-Header
Kingsway Reserve
Saturday 10 October 2026
WA State Team v Perth Glory Women
Kick-off at 5pm
WA State Team v Perth Glory Men
Kick-off at 7pm
#ONEGlory
Double-Header Preview: Glory Men and Women seeking to end pre-season campaign in style
