Jed Drew is enjoying a breakout season with Macarthur Bulls. aleagues.com.au looks at the numbers behind the in-form attacker amid calls for him to be called up by the Subway Socceroos.
Could Jed Drew be the next young gun plucked from the Isuzu UTE A-League to make their Socceroos debut?
International football returns in March, with the Subway Socceroos resuming their 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup qualifying campaign against Indonesia and China and there could be some new faces when Tony Popovic’s men reconvene in two months.
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You just have to look at Popovic’s willingness to give chances to A-Leagues players since the former Melbourne Victory, Western Sydney Wanderers and Perth Glory boss replaced Graham Arnold in September.
Hayden Matthews (Sydney FC), Anthony Caceres (Sydney FC), Luke Brattan (Macarthur Bulls) and Nishan Velupillay (Melbourne Victory) have debuted under the watchful eye of the former Socceroos defender.
Drew is certainly making a case for himself in 2024-25. The 21-year-old attacker has scored five goals – from an expected goals (xG) of 3.62 – and supplied five assists in a breakout season with Mile Sterjovski’s Bulls. Four of those goals have come in his last three games, surpassing the four goals he bagged across the previous two A-Leagues campaigns.
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“Definitely. I still think he has a long way to go but in the form he’s in, I think he should be looked at,” retired Socceroo Sterjovski told reporters recently when asked if Drew should be considered by Australia.
“I definitely think he has the potential to do it. He has the qualities to do it, it’s just about being consistent. To play at the top level, whether it’s here, for the Socceroos or overseas, you need to be consistent and do those things week in and week out.
“The form he’s in at the moment, deserves for him to have a look in.”
Drew himself played down talk of a potential Socceroos call-up on this week’s episode of Total A-Leagues but his numbers are certainly hard to ignore as Popovic considers his next squad, with Martin Boyle (Hibernian), Western Sydney Wanderers captain Brandon Borrello and Adelaide United legend Craig Goodwin (Al-Wehda) among his attacking options previously.
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No player in the Isuzu UTE A-League has more goal contributions than Drew in 2024-25, with the in-form Macarthur talent’s combined 10 goals and assists level with Borrello, Sydney FC star Joe Lolley and Bulls teammate Marin Jakolis.
He is also scoring every 128 minutes in the league this season, a number better than the likes of another Socceroos bolter Nicolas Milanovic (140.2) of the Wanderers, Wellington Phoenix star Kosta Barbarouses (146.2), Australia international Borrello (179.2), Sydney FC’s former Celtic striker Patryk Klimala (191.5) and Western United’s Hiroshi Ibusuki (196.2).
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Victory forward Velupillay, who was handed his Socceroos debut by Popovic last year, has endured some fitness issues since his last international appearance but the attacker is scoring every 210.5 minutes.
The winger has been integral to Macarthur’s transition play this term, with his five total fast breaks only eclipsed by teammate Jakolis and Perth Glory’s Socceroo Adam Taggart (both six).
Drew and Lolley are the only two players to have scored multiple braces (two) this season. He is in the top 10 among forwards for total carries (10th – 106) and total carry distance (seventh, 1,376.8), while he ranks fifth for average carry distance with take-on (13.6).
“I think the last year and a half I’ve shown my potential to have these stats but the stats haven’t showed it,” Drew said on this week’s Total A-Leagues. “I’ve created a lot of chances in the league and haven’t been able to score as many.
“I think the way we play this season, it makes me show myself more. We’re very direct and transitional, and it helps my game.”
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