The Western Sydney Wanderers NPL 1 side returns for another season as they host last year’s grand finalists Rockdale Ilinden at Valentine Sports Park, in what shapes as a campaign of redemption after narrowly escaping relegation in 2025.
A fresh NPL NSW season bursts into life this weekend with a blockbuster opening round clash, as two ambitious sides set their sights on beginning the campaign with three points.
The Wanderers secured their top flight status on the final day last season, defeating the Central Coast Mariners Academy 3-0 in a coming of age performance for the young squad.
That result not only preserved their place in NPL 1, but provided a glimpse of the potential within the group when confidence and cohesion click.
Despite the loss of several key players over the off-season, the core of the squad has been retained. Another year together has strengthened understanding across the park, and the belief within the camp is that 2026 will deliver far greater consistency.
The addition of Jai Rose will add further threat in attack as the young gun will look to build on his breakout season, following a stellar NPL run with the Mariners’ Academy and his A-League debut earlier this season against the Macarthur Bulls. His pace in behind and composure in front of goal gives the Wanderers a player capable of troubling even the most experienced backlines.
Rockdale Ilinden will once again look to be a powerhouse in the competition, despite losing the services of Blake Ricciuto, Alec Urosevski, Isaac Danzo, Chris McStay and Ali Auglah. The Rockdale side, however, has built a culture that consistently regenerates, with smart recruitment and a clear playing identity ensuring they remain among the league’s elite.
The Key Decider: Lessons Learnt
If last season taught both clubs anything, it’s that NPL 1 offers no mercy to sides that fail to evolve. Talent alone doesn’t guarantee survival, and experience without hunger doesn’t deliver success. Saturday’s opener will be decided not simply by tactics, but by which team has truly learnt from their undoings in 2025.
The Wanderers were a young squad who discovered how unforgiving the competition can be, promising performances were often undone by lapses in concentration, missed chances or moments of inexperience. The final day victory over the Mariners’ Academy was more than just a result, it was proof that when structure, intensity and belief align, this group can compete with anyone.
Rockdale Ilinden’s lessons were of a different nature. For much of the 2025 season they set the
standard, leading the competition through long stretches and looking every bit the team to beat.
Week after week they found ways to win, but it was towards the back end of the season where they ultimately fell and found themselves climbing a mountain too high that meant they fell one step short of NPL glory.
Whichever team takes the lessons from last season’s undoings, will likely be the victor. The NPL has shown that a strong start to the season is invaluable to the successes that teams yearn for at the end of the thirty weeks.
Expect an enthralling affair between two sides looking to make their mark on a season that promises to be ever so competitive.
NPL NSW Round 1
Western Sydney Wanderers FC v Rockdale Ilinden
Saturday 7th February
5:30pm
Valentine Sports Park
