Thomas Waddingham’s stocks continue to rise as the young gun spearheads Brisbane Roar’s attack. aleagues.com.au looks at the numbers behind the in-form striker amid interest from Europe.
Before the start of the 2024-25 Isuzu UTE A-League season, Brisbane Roar head coach Ruben Zadkovich said that Thomas Waddingham “has the ability to go to the highest level.”
All eyes have been on the highly-rated young gun after his breakout season in 2023-24. The Queenslander scored a joint club-high seven goals in his maiden campaign, and he has continued to impress this term amid European interest.
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Waddingham has 10 career goals in the A-Leagues – the second-most of any player before turning 20 in competition history – only behind Nestory Irankunda (16), who moved to German juggernaut Bayern Munich at the end of last season.
“We don’t make players like Tommy Waddingham anymore. He’s that old school, proper number nine,” Roar head coach Ruben Zadkovich has said previously.
A striker with speed, physicality and tremendous work rate, Waddingham has been saddled by some as the possible heir apparent to arguably Australia’s greatest ever player Mark Viduka.
“Viduka? Hopefully. It would be great for Australian football if he can take that next jump,” former Melbourne City and Premier League star Thomas Sorensen said on A-Leagues Download this week.
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There is a lot of water to flow in that regard, although the Aussie youth international – who told aleagues.com.au previously he has tried to build his game around A-Leagues legend Besart Berisha and Manchester City superstar Erling Haaland – is certainly making a case to be considered one of the most exciting talents in the Isuzu UTE A-League.
“I feel like with the right development and environment, he has the ability to go to the highest level,” Zadkovich said before the start of the season.
“… Here we put as much pressure and stress on him as we can and see how he copes. Keep him in the deep end with bricks on his feet and struggling to stay afloat.
“We want him to go to the highest level, and he has to handle himself in tough situations. He did that well last year and I have high hopes he can do it again this season.”
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All of Waddingham’s 10 goals to date have come inside the penalty area, with a shooting accuracy of 62.5%.
Waddingham’s 10 goals up until this point have been from an expected goals (xG) of 9.49 – placing him 10th among players aged 23 or under in the history of the A-Leagues.
If you filter that down to players 20 or below, he is second behind Irankunda (9.88) and ahead of the likes of Adelaide United duo Archie Goodwin (9.34) and Luka Jovanovic (8.57), and Newcastle Jets’ Clayton Taylor (7.17).
If you exclude penalties, his xG among that group of players aged 20 or younger in the league’s history, Waddingham ranks first.
Waddingham is also scoring a goal every 182.3 minutes – a number better than the likes of Alou Kuol (236.8) – who played for Stuttgart before returning to Central Coast Mariners – Western United’s Noah Botic (213.5),Sydney FC’s Patrick Wood (198.5), former Wellington Phoenix star Ben Waine (186.9) and Melbourne City’s Socceroo Marco Tilio (247.8).
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His shot conversion rate stands at 25% – superior to that of Western Sydney Wanderers’ 23-year-old Socceroos hopeful and Golden Boot leader Nicolas Milanovic (24.1) among forwards under 23 in Isuzu UTE A-League history.
Jovanovic (23.7), experienced Mariners forward Ryan Edmondson (23.5), Goodwin (22.2), Botic (21.4), Irankunda (16.5), Kuol (15.4) and Melbourne Victory’s Nishan Velupillay (14.7) are also behind Waddingham.
What makes him so appealing also is the fact he can score on both feet.
While he has bagged two with his right, he has scored seven goals with his left – which is the third-highest amount among players under 23 in the league’s history while he is first when you look at players 20 and below.
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If you look at this season alone, Waddingham’s three goals have come from an xG of 1.98 – ninth across the entire Isuzu UTE A-League. His xG on his left foot is 1.34, only behind Milanovic.
Among forwards this season, Waddingham is also 10th for goals per 90 minutes (0.66), ahead of experienced stars like Hiroshi Ibusuki of Western United (0.52), Velupillay (0.52), Macarthur Bulls captain and former Monaco gun Valere Germain (0.51) and ex-Panathinaikos and Olympiacos striker Nikos Vergos of Victory (0.48).
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Waddingham came into 2024-25 with plenty of interest. Before the campaign got underway, Zadkovich revealed Brisbane had offers from some of the “biggest leagues in the world” following reports Bayern Munich and Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham had their sights set on the teenage sensation.
“I’m sure he wants to play overseas like all aspiring Australian footballers,” Zadkovich said.
“The key is to go at the right time to the right club because you can find yourself in some deep water over there and you can find yourself back here pretty quickly if you don’t find the right move.
There’s obviously the right move for Tommy and then there’s the right business deal for our club. We’ve had plenty of offers and interest from some of the biggest leagues in the world, but it’s about the right price as well.
“We know what type of asset we have. We know what type of character we have, we know what type of person he is and we know where his ceiling is. That’s the nice thing for us. We’re going to keep developing him and I’m sure he’ll get the move at the right time.”
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Based on his current form and trajectory, a European switch looks set to happen sooner rather than later. Being a genuine Socceroos candidate might not be too far away either.
“I was at a talent ID game for the U20s in Sydney towards the end of last year when Graham Arnold was still the Socceroos head coach,” Zadkovich previously.
“Arnie is someone I’ve had a lot of dealings with, so my relationship is strong with him.
“He watched that game and shared some views on Tommy about what a great player we have on our hands, and what a great kid – just the way he handles himself.
