Canberra Croatia FC

Yep, we'll start right there.

So Group A has the current holders of the Australia Championship, South Melbourne FC, joined by City United 58, Canberra Croatia, and the Sutherland Sharks.

Um, do you wanna kickstart us off, David, in what you see out of this group?

Look, this to me is the absolute group of death.

Um, I was very excited to see these two matched up.

Um, that Croatian derby on that opening weekend is something that I'm very much looking forward to.

Let's first talk about Canberra Croatia, a team that, you know, kinda flies under the radar most of the time, uh, when it comes to the wider audience.

But I think they very much held their own in, um, the inaugural season of the Australia Championship.

So we're hoping to have a similar impact in Canberra.

Some of the biggest junior soccer clubs in the capital have already signed up, such as Majura FC, Canberra Olympic, Canberra Croatia and Bell South.

Navas credited former A-League star and Canberra Croatia junior Stephen Lushtitska for encouraging the ACT Youth Cup to be established.

Navas said there is no intention to replace the capital football-run Kanga Cup he wants the new event to complement it and allow rising soccer stars more opportunities to test their skills against teams from around the country and abroad.

Now based in Melbourne, Lushtitska will be entering teams representing his Victorian Junior Soccer Academy in the inaugural Canberra tournament too.

So first things first, let's talk about the NPL grand finals that happened over the weekend.

The first one we'll talk about is Canberra Croatia.

They were unable to defeat Tigers FC, who win back-to-back NPL ACT championships.

Um, Canberra Croatia obviously won the league, but unable to complete off in grand final format.

Adelaide City had a dramatic, um, South Australia grand final.

They were 2-1 down to West Torrens Balakalla- Um, but in the 92nd minute, West Torrens conceded an own goal, um, that brought City level, and then from there, City would actually go on to win on penalties five four.

And it'll be interesting to see like if that means more crowds come, especially with the less heat.

But we'll see what fixtures they go on to as we look further into these fixtures.

Yeah

... um, with the relationship they've built up with Canberra Croatia, and held with Canberra Croatia for quite a long time, it's gonna be so good to see those two together in the championship.

Um, it is unique to these clubs.

Uh, it, it ...

So in group a.

You have the current champions of the Australia Championship, South Melbourne, Sydney United 58, Canberra Croatia and Sutherland Sharks.

Group B, Avondale FC, West Apia, Adelaide City and Broadmeadow Magic.

Group C, Marconi Steyn, Sydney Olympic, Bayswater City and the Oakley Cannons.

You know, the one thing that really highlights to me is, you know, we talked about this a few weeks ago about how we wanted them to dive deeper into some of these derbies and rivalries that... need to be shown on a national stage.

Whether they're historic in the NSL or brand new, this group kind of encompasses both of those.

So the one that stands out to me is the City United 58 and Canberra Croatia clash.

That one is going to be bustling.