“We love the A-League, absolutely love it.” Those were the words of Portsmouth head coach John Mousinho in England.
Mousinho spoke glowingly of the A-Leagues in relation to Thomas Waddingham, who has exceeded expectations since joining the EFL Championship club from Brisbane Roar in January.
The 20-year-old striker scored on his Portsmouth debut at the start of the year.
Waddingham’s arrival continued Portsmouth’s A-Leagues trend, having also signed young gun Hayden Matthews from Sydney FC and Jacob Farrell via Central Coast Mariners. They also prised Kusini Yengi from Western Sydney Wanderers in 2023 before departing at the end of 2024-25.
Matthews hit the ground running at Portsmouth before an ankle injury ended his season, while Farrell’s time at Fratton Park has been derailed by fitness issues.
“We love the A-League, absolutely love it. Clearly the A-League is played at a different tempo, the climate is different,” Mousinho told the News when discussing Waddingham’s development.
“Living and playing, operating out of Australia is very, very different to what Tom has experienced coming over here, but he has adjusted really well.
“The training load is something we need to get him used to because, when we stick Tom out on the training pitch, he doesn’t hold back, he is all-action, he is at it, every second of every minute of training.
“We’ve had to adjust that a couple of times, he’s had a couple of issues with his groin and then hamstring, which is more overload than anything else, that is not an action issue. Once he gets used to the training levels, he will be fine.
“He’s made an impact, ended up playing games, scored against West Brom and is way ahead of where we thought he would be.
“Physically, Tom now has a big summer ahead of him, so he needs to make sure he’s fully prepped for that and come back and challenge pre-season.”
