The Ninja A-League 2025-26 campaign gets underway on Friday, October 31 and before the first game of Round 1, aleagues.com.au answers the burning question facing each club this season.
KEY READING: Your club-by-club guide to the Ninja A-League 2025-26 season
Adelaide United: Will the Reds cope with a target on their back?
Adelaide United were the surprise package of the Ninja A-League last season, soaring from a wooden-spoon finish in 2023-24 all the way up to third off the back of a club-record points haul of 45.
The Reds flew up the table before the rest of the league knew what had hit them last season – but you can count on Adelaide’s 10 Ninja A-League rivals being well aware of their threats in 2025-26.
The Reds have a new head coach, Theo Tsiounis, after five years under the watchful eye of Adrian Stenta. That change, coupled with raised expectations, means it will be no easy feat for the Reds to pick up where they left off in the new campaign.
Brisbane Roar: Can Brisbane leave their inconsistencies behind?
Brisbane should have reached the Finals Series last term – that much is a given. But a late-season collapse denied Alex Smith’s side a place in the top six. The equation this season is simple: find the consistency that was lacking in 2024-25, and cruise into the post-season.
Brisbane won seven of their first 10 games and, after smashing Newcastle Jets and Western United 6-1 and 8-2 respectively in back-to-back games, looked a certainty for finals and a contender for silverware.
But it all fell apart for Brisbane through the second half of the season, with just one win from 13 games seeing Smith’s side tumble out of the top six. Addressing the unexpected form dive will be objective number one for Smith in 2025-26.
Canberra United: Who will help Heyman in the final third?
Last season, Michelle Heyman (eight goals) was the only Canberra United player to have scored more than five times in the 2025-26 season.
The Ninja A-League and CommBank Matildas legend is the competition’s all-time leading scorer and her presence on the pitch guarantees goals but at 37 years of age, Heyman needs support in the final third.
Young forward Kiara Di Domizio could be the answer; the 24-year-old joined the club from Western United in the off-season, after scoring two goals and two assists last season in just 391 match minutes in 2024-25.
Central Coast Mariners: Can a team in transition pull off a Championship defence?
Central Coast Mariners star Izzy Gomez said it herself in the lead-up to the 2024-25 campaign:
“People might not know what to expect from us,” Gomez told aleagues.com.au. “And honestly, we’re not totally sure yet either!
The Mariners surged from a fourth-place finish to clinch the Ninja A-League Championship last season, but since Grand Final day, the Mariners have lost star midfielders Bianca Galic and Taylor Ray, along with Matildas centre-back Jessika Nash – not to mention head coach Emily Husband, who has joined the Matildas coaching staff.
New head coach Kory Babington has an immense task on his hands to keep the Mariners on the hunt for silverware; the situation is reminiscent of the Mariners’ Isuzu UTE A-League squad in 2023-24; after a Championship triumph under Nick Montgomery, several first-team stars and Montgomery himself departed the club. In came Mark Jackson who, with a string of new signings, orchestrated not only a Championship repeat, but a Premiership title and AFC Cup triumph in an unprecedented trophy treble.
The club will be hoping for more of the same in the Ninja A-League under Babington this season.
Melbourne City: Did last season’s heartbreak awaken a juggernaut?
You can’t help but feel as though the Mariners poked the bear last season when they dumped Melbourne City out of Championship contention in the Semi-Finals.
Up until then, City had been perfect under Michael Matricciani. No defeats in the Ninja A-League or the AFC Women’s Champions League had City on track for three trophies but their 2024-25 campaign ultimately ended with the Premiership title and nothing more.
City were imperious for so much of last season and with the added motivation of atoning for their shortcomings at the pointy end of 2024-25 makes the Holly McNamara-led reigning Champions a seriously dangerous proposition heading forward.
Melbourne Victory: Big signings and big departures – which will have a bigger impact?
Melbourne Victory got their off-season recruitment bang on – but it remains to be seen whether the new arrivals mitigate the departures from a squad that fell just short of the Championship and Premiership in 2024-25.
Matildas veterans Alex Chidiac and Emily Gielnik have both left the club this off-season, as has recent Matildas debutant Alana Murphy. Last season, Gielnik finished second in the league’s Golden Boot race with 13 goals from 22 games, and Chidiac won the Julie Dolan Medal as the competition’s best player.
The Matildas trio weren’t the only player departures this off-season; Sara D’Appolonia, Ellie Wilson, Paige Zois, Ava Briedis and Geo Candy all bid farewell to the club, while Lydia williams and Lia Privitelli both retired.
Victory’s new recruits, however, are an exceptional group of players.
Taylor Ray joined from the Champions Central Coast, and Rhianna Pollicina departed Melbourne City to join their bitter rivals in a stunning move, while Sienna Saveska, Chelsea Blissett, Grace Maher and Zoe McMeeken all bring immense experience to the club.
Victory may lack the Matildas star power but if their new signings hit the ground running the new-look squad should go deep into the post-season once again.
Newcastle Jets: Can Melina Ayres fire the Jets back into the top six?
Newcastle Jets are eager to return to the Finals Series after a one-season absence and having four-time Ninja A-League Champion Melina Ayres back in their ranks is a tremendous boost for the Novocastrians.
Ayres had a one-season break from football after bagging six goals in 14 games for the Jets in 2023-24; her goals were pivotal to Newcastle reaching the Finals Series that season but her presence was sorely missed last season.
READ MORE: Star striker fulfils special pledge to Jets upon return to football
Perth Glory: Can Perth find their desperately-needed road form?
Perth Glory have one main objective heading into the Ninja A-League 2025-26 season – and that’s to travel better, and pick up a lot more points on the road after a 10th-place finish last term.
Glory picked up 22 points from 23 games in 2024-25. Nineteen of those points were collected at home. The remaining three came from three draws on the road; Stephen Peters’ side didn’t win a single game interstate last season.
Sydney FC: Where will the goals come from?
Sydney FC have an entirely new-look frontline this season after the departure of Shea Connors, Millie Farrow, Princess Ibini and Kyah Simon, and if the Sky Blues hope to break back into the top six after last season’s disappointment, they’ll need a host of new signings to shine in front of goal.
Midfielder Mackenzie Hawkesby was Sydney’s top scorer last season with six goals – that’s not good enough for a club that, up until last seaso,n had never missed a Ninja A-League Finals Series.
Panama international Riley Tanner, American Jodi Ulkekul and Haitian forward Laurie-Ann Moïse have strengthened the Sky Blues’ attacking stocks – as has 17-year-old Skye Halmarick, one of the most exciting young strikers in Australia. All eyes will be focused on these new Sky Blues heading into Round 1 and whether they can find form in the final third.
Wellington Phoenix: What can Bev Priestman achieve in her return to football?
Bev Priestman is the best-credentialed head coach in the Ninja A-League. She won Olympic Gold with Canada, has coached at four FIFA Women’s World Cups, and boasts the prestigious UEFA pro coaching licence.
Her arrival at Wellington Phoenix is an exciting appointment but stepping into club football could come with its teething issues for a coach back in action after a one-year ban from football-related activity for her role in the Canadian team’s misuse of drones at last year’s Paris Olympics.
Priestman has a star-studded Phoenix squad at her disposal and for the first time in the club’s history, a Ninja A-League Finals Series berth is a definite possibility; on paper, Priestman is the perfect coach to lead the way for the Phoenix this season and time will tell whether she manages to live up to the hype.
Western Sydney Wanderers: Who will replace a young gun’s attacking spark?
The Wanderers finished last in 2024-25 but one undeniable bright spot of an otherwise gloomy campaign was the breakout form of teenage attacking midfielder Sienna Saveska.
The 18-year-old’s seven goals and three assists saw her clinch the Wanderers’ Golden Boot but Saveska has since left the club for a new opportunity at Melbourne Victory. Replacing Saveska’s creativity and acumen for long-range goals is an unenviable task facing Wanderers head coach Geoff Abrahams heading into 2025-26.
