Newcastle Jets host Wellington Phoenix in A-League Matchday 3 clash
Web StoryWatch this story in 15 seconds →Key takeaways
- Unbeaten Wellington Phoenix sit top of the A-League after two wins. They visit McDonald Jones Stadium on Saturday.
- Newcastle Jets are last season's Premiers but have drawn both league games so far. This is their final home league match of 2026.
- The last meeting ended 4-1 to the Jets, with a goal after just 21 seconds. Kickoff is 3pm AEDT, or 5pm in New Zealand.
Newcastle Jets face Wellington Phoenix on Saturday afternoon. The game is at McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle. It kicks off at 3pm AEDT, which is 5pm in New Zealand.
This is the Jets' last home league fixture of 2026. That makes it a big one for the home fans.
Wellington arrive top of the table and unbeaten. Newcastle are the reigning Premiers, but they are still chasing a first league win.
What happened: a perfect start meets a winless one
Wellington Phoenix have won both of their A-League games this season. They beat Melbourne Victory 2-1 in their opener. Then they beat the Central Coast Mariners 2-0 at home last weekend.
Those two wins put the Phoenix top of the table with six points. They are the only team with a perfect record so far. They have scored four goals and let in only one.
The hero of the perfect start is Corban Piper. He has scored in both matches.
Rafael Duran also scored in the 2-0 win over the Mariners. The Jets face a team full of confidence.
Newcastle tell a different story. They have drawn both league games.
They drew 2-2 with the Mariners. Then they drew 1-1 with Macarthur.
The Jets also played midweek football in Asia. They lost 5-2 to Kyoto Sanga on Tuesday. A few weeks earlier they lost 3-1 to Gamba Osaka.
Those were AFC Champions League Elite games. Read our Kyoto Sanga vs Newcastle Jets preview for the background. The Newcastle Jets vs Gamba Osaka preview covers the earlier Asian game.
So the Jets have played four games this month and won none. But three of those four ended without a loss. The team is hard to beat, even if wins are missing.
Why it matters: the table and the trophy
Last season, the Newcastle Jets won the Premier's Plate. That makes them the defending champions of the regular season.
Their title defence has started slowly. A win on Saturday would change the mood fast.
Wellington have never started a season this well in the club's history. Head coach Chris Greenacre says he has not looked at the table much.
He is on a one-year deal. He wants his players to focus on training each day.
"I'll be really honest," Greenacre told the media. "I've not spent a lot of time looking."
"I don't even know who's in second place," he said. "That's how focused I am on what we're doing."
Greenacre respects the home team. He called Newcastle "a very good team, a team that cause a lot of problems." He also praised last season's Jets.
"One of the most exciting teams to watch," he said. "Goals galore."
A Phoenix win would stretch their lead at the top. A Jets win would lift the champions up the table. It would hand Wellington their first defeat.
The gap between the teams is only four points. Three points on Saturday would close it to one.
The key battle: Delianov against Piper
The Jets' club preview names the key duel clearly. It is James Delianov against Corban Piper.
One is the Jets' goalkeeper. The other is the Phoenix's in-form striker.
Delianov has had a busy month. He made ten saves against Kyoto Sanga on Tuesday. Nine of those were from shots inside the box.
Against Macarthur the week before, he completed 88 percent of his passes. That number is from the Jets' preview.
Piper is the man he must stop. The Phoenix striker has scored in both league games.
He also netted alongside Rafael Duran in the win over the Mariners. Stop Piper, and the Jets go a long way to stopping the Phoenix.
Duran is worth watching too. He joined from Macarthur in the off-season.
Greenacre has turned him from a wide player into a central striker. The pair scored together last weekend in a strong second half.
Team news: long injury lists on both sides
Newcastle have a long list of missing players. Will Kennedy is out with an ankle problem. Oscar Fryer has an ACL injury.
Max Cooper has a foot injury. The club preview lists around a dozen unavailable players.
Joe Lolley, Zach Clough, and Patrick Wood are all in the Jets squad. Alex Badolato is back after injury, according to earlier reports. The squad is stretched thin by the busy schedule.
Wellington are missing three players through injury. Fin Roa Conchie, Isaac Hughes, and Jayden Smith are all out. But there is good news for the visitors.
Captain Alex Rufer is back in the squad. He returned last weekend after a bout of illness.
His presence added strength to the midfield against the Mariners. Rufer plays alongside Scottish import Max Anderson in the middle of the park.
What happened last time
The last meeting between these teams was one-sided. Newcastle won 4-1 at home on January 23, 2026. That game started with a shock.
Lachlan Bayliss scored after just 21 seconds. It was a long-distance strike.
Clayton Taylor made it 2-0 in the 56th minute. Eli Adams added a third in the 70th minute.
Sander Kartum pulled one back for the Phoenix. But Xavier Bertoncello finished the scoring in the 89th minute. The final score was 4-1 to the Jets.
The all-time record tells a different story. Wellington have won 27 of the meetings. Newcastle have won 19.
Seven games ended level, according to Friends of Football. History favors the visitors.
How to watch
Fans in New Zealand can watch the game on Sky Sport 3. The match starts at 5pm NZ time. In Australia, the game is on Paramount+. Kickoff is 3pm AEDT.
The Phoenix have faced Auckland and the Melbourne clubs already this season. Their Melbourne Victory season form is strong. The 2-1 opener was no fluke.
What happens next
This is Wellington's first away game of the season. Both wins came at home.
Winning across the Tasman is a new test for Greenacre's team. An away win would make it three from three.
For the Jets, this is a chance to fix their home form. The year ends soon.
It is their last home league game of 2026. The fans will expect a performance worthy of the Premiers.
A draw would keep Wellington top and unbeaten. It would also keep the Jets winless in the league. But a draw at home against the leaders would not be a disaster.
Whatever happens, the title race picture will be clearer on Saturday night. The unbeaten visitors meet the champions who refuse to lose. Something has to give in Newcastle.
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