The National Curriculum

It's election season on TNC and Nick D'Urbano has won the popular vote - but will his internet hold out long enough for him to host the pod?

Joey Lynch, Josh Parish, Ante Jukic and Lachie 'Yung Boi' Flannigan are also in attendance to discuss elimination finals, commercial breaks, Dwight Yorke getting the Macarthur gig, and the APL's marquee list.

Strap in - it's a big one. 

Josh Parish, Joey Lynch, Nick D'Urbano and Ante Jukic discuss Ante Milicic's impending A-Liga detox on the Dalmatian Coast, and where it's all gone wrong for Macarthur.

There's Garang Kuol's second late winner in two weeks, Sturridge's less than Glorious return, Adelaide wrapping up a finals berth in less than inspiring fashion, reflections on the Bakrie Group's ownership of Brisbane Roar, VAR being slower than Nick's internet, and whether the APL should be crowing about match minutes for young players.

And not to get too deep for everyone, but the boys end with a conversation surrounding negativity against positivity in football coverage, the glass being half full vs half empty, when to take a win against when to dive a little deeper, and other matters of analysis, criticism, feelings and emotions. 

Nick D'Urbano, Nick Stoll and debutant Lachie 'Yung Boy' Flanagan are eventually joined by Joey Lynch and then later Josh Parish to answer the people's questions (3:00), discuss a brilliant F3 derby (16:00), break-down Daniel De Silva's play of the game (35:30) in Macarthur's 4-1 loss to Melbourne Victory - who are starting to look like one of the favourites to win the Grand Final. Adelaide v Perth (47:30), Wellington v Wanderers (1:16:30), and the potential of Brazil v Argentina at the MCG (1:27:30). 

Nick Stoll, Josh Parish and Nick D'Urbano are joined by the returning Taryn Heddo and stuff.co.nz journo Phillip Rollo to break down the Matildas' last-gasp win over the NZ Football Ferns (0:11:05).

Phil gives us an insight into the Nix's recent fortunes, and whether their long absence from NZ's shores has had an impact on their popularity and relevance (0:44:24). There's also some All Whites chat (0:57:49) - including if Marco Rojas' recent purple patch will see him recalled to the squad for the playoff against Costa Rica (1:07:30). 

Finally, there's our Melbourne Derby review (1:15:12), Steve Corica seeing the light at the end of the jobshare (1:33:41), "the worst game of the season" in Wanderland (1:46:32), the A-Liga All-Stars (1:54:03), and a surprising amount of North Queensland Fury content. 

Josh Parish, Joey Lynch, Nick D'Urbano & Ante Jukic have their guns drawn this week as they discuss Graham Arnold staying on as Socceroos boss until the end of the qualification cycle (0:01:23).

They debate the latest Matildas' squad, Ante's invitation to call up Tony G for a tactics chat, and their preferred Australian XIs (0:39:49), before analysing the 2022 World Cup draw, and predicting who will progress from each group (1:04:21). 

Finally, there's another A-League speed round, talking Sydney Derby, allegations of continued homophobic abuse in the Adelaide vs Victory game, and CAPPING THE CUMDAWGGG! (1:33:57)

Another week in Australian football, all in under two hours. What more could you ask? 

Don't worry, there are timestamps!

Nick Stoll has reclaimed the hosting chair this week, and is joined by Ante Jukic, Josh Parish and Joey Lynch for a Socceroos deep dive (0:02:16), as Thursday's loss to Japan leaves Australia missing out on automatic World Cup Qualification. Should Arnie stay or go for the playoffs? Who could you possibly replace him with? And where should the blame for this failure ultimately lie? 

Plus, we have an A-League Women's Grand Final to discuss, as Melbourne Victory upset the odds to win their second successive championship, despite finishing the regular season in 4th place. How did they pull this off? Having lost 4 out of the last 5 Grand Finals, what ingredient is Sydney FC missing? And what does the Dub need to change and improve next season? We chat to Radio Dub's Pokuah Frimpong (1:07:40) and AAP/The Far Post Podcast's Anna Harrington (1:40:18) to find out.

Plus, there's a quick aside on Nick D'Urbano's Italy missing out on the World Cup (1:36:50), and we speed through the weekend's A-League Men's games in record time (2:12:49).

Thank you all for your questions, memes, and enthusiasm for the show - we couldn't do it without you.

Join Josh Parish, Joey Lynch, Ante Jukic, Nick D'Urbano and special guest Ben Smith for an emergency deep dive into Perth Glory!

Ben gives us the view from WA as the Glory part ways with head coach Richard Garcia, and digs into the identity crisis at the club's core. 

Plus, our resident Cyberbully Pokuah Frimpong drops by to review Victory's dominant win in the Dub Derby Preliminary Final (0:42:38), Ante states his opposition to Bruno Fornaroli's Socceroos call-up (1:11:52), and we conduct a "lightning round" on the rest of the A-Liga Men's games (1:36:36), which of course means the podcast pushes well past the 2 hour mark. Sigh.

Oh, and Joey discovers he's had a secret nickname all along. 

The people have spoken and, with Josh Parish galivanting around Canberra, they have voted for Nick Stoll to host this week's show. So things predictably spiralled out of control.

This week, Stoll, Ante Jukić, and Joey Lynch get things going with a discussion on the mooted return of the A-Liga Men's All-Stars to take on Futbol Club Barcelona (8:50) before they're joined by very special guests and criminally underrated members of the A-Liga Women's coverage scene Taryn Heddo and Pokuah Frimpong to talk Dub finals. How did Sydney's comeback win over City go down and is Cortnee Vine underrated or overrated? (20:20) What went wrong for Adelaide United in their first-ever ALW final, how good is Melina Ayres, and do Victory function better without Kyra Cooney-Cross in their team (37:55)? Taryn and Pokuah also give their verdicts on doubleheaders (55:50).  

The boys then discuss if Macarthur can still be crap even if they're winning games (59:47), if the Wanderers are still carrying passengers (1:07:08), Perth's form not turning around after going home (1:09:30), and ask if Max Burgess is a better player than Lionel Messi (1:11:42).

Podcast victory cigar Nick D'Urbano then jumps to join in a discussion on Western United against Melbourne City and the validity of having fun at A-Liga games (1:21:53), Isuzu UTE Ante Brain favourite Brisbane Roar's win over the Phoenix (1:37:00), Sokkahroos BOLTAHS (1:43:50), and answer some of your questions (1:47:00). 

And hey, we're up to something. Don't sleep. 

We think the A-Liga might have finally broken Ante.

Josh Parish, Nick D'Urbano, Joey Lynch, Ante Jukic, and Nick Stoll are back to break down - or indeed, have a breakdown - while analysing another week in Australian football.

This week, the boys debate if Melbourne City should be held to a higher standard than the rest of the league (and if they're meeting these expectations), being gaslit in press conferences, Western Sydney Wanderers and Sydney FC's rebuilds (are the fans abandoning ship on Corica?), Brisbane Roar struggles, the Box Office Jets, the curious case of Western United, and much more.  

There's also a dive into the coming Dub finals, and a few of the boys come in off long run ups.

Language warning on this one!

Nick Stoll's back in the hosting chair so things are loose on this week's TNC.

This week, Stoll, Ante Jukic, Josh Parish, Nick D'Urbano, and Joey Lynch debate if Western United are actually for real or just real enough to beat the opposition that the A-Liga puts in front of them. Joey also goes full Australian Sokkah by unveiling a Good Bloke theory.

Melbourne City's predictability, Sydney FC being on the upswing, the Jets being box office (duh), and the A-League Women finals race are just some off this week's footy on the agenda, before the boys cast their eyes wide to discuss some of the big picture issues in Australian football such as the AAFC's National Second Division report and the APL's handling of the A-Leagues.

Oh and D'Urbano made everyone talk about Bielsa.

Josh Parish, Joey Lynch & Ante Jukic reflect on an existentially fraught week in Australian football. That is, more so than usual.

With the patience of fans - and even players - beginning to run out with the APL, the streaming platform and the broadcaster, we ponder whether the new era of independence is really all it's cracked up to be (0:14:42).

There's Ben Garuccio's scorpion kick (0:02:00), the box office Jets testing Melbourne City in "the best game of the season" (0:39:38), Victory's midfield scarcity and impactful substitutes (0:50:50), and other on-pitch A-League observations.

Plus, Nick D'Urbano comes off the bench to discuss Cristian Volpato's first Roma goal (1:03:58), and Nick Stoll jumps on to review the podcast while it's in progress, ironically ensuring its 90+ minute runtime (1:11:11). 

The Jets remain box office, one job-share in replaced by another, and TNC is under 60 mins if you listen on 2.0x speed. Josh Parish, Ante Jukic, Teo Pellizzeri, Nick D'Urbano and an inappropriately dressed Joey Lynch get together to discuss the biggest and smallest talking points in Australian football, including the future of a National Second Division.

Topics:
National Second Division (0:01:41)

Victory 1-2 Jets (0:30:05)
Sydney 1-1 WU (0:54:54)
WSW 1-3 City (1:04:26)
Wellington 1-1 Adelaide (1:11:30)
Mariners 1-1 Glory (1:20:29)
Brisbane 3-1 Macarthur (1:33:40)

A-League Women (1:39:46)

And you thought last week was bad. As Australian football continued to come to grips with the Matildas disastrous early exit from the Asian Cup, it was hit by a fresh blow this week when the Socceroos were held to a 2-2 draw with Oman in Muscat - effectively ending their hopes of automatic qualification. But was that really a surprise? Or more of an inevitability that should have been seen coming?

With a full TNC roster on hand, the Socceroos fate (21:25) was on the agenda this week, and brought in extra reinforcements in the form of Pokuah Frimpong to discuss the ongoing debate surrounding Tony Gustavsson’s tenure (38:20) - Operation: Narrative Shift and all - and one panellist makes their stance quite clear: #TonyOut!

An entertaining FFA Cup Final (1:11), at least off the field, was also on the agenda, as well as a look at this week’s A-Liga men’s action (59:15) and, inspired by a certain high school drama being afforded space in a major newspaper, a look at the media landscape surrounding Australian football (1:27:37). Sokkah coverage has never been more open, but there have never been fewer people being paid to provide it. Is that a good thing?

Well... that could have gone better. At least the Sokkahroos won?

With a 1-0 loss to South Korea, the Matildas have been bundled out of the Asian Cup. Wading through the discourse, The National Curriculum's Ante Jukic, Teo Pellizzeri, Josh Parish, and Joey Lynch are here to break to down what went wrong, why it went wrong, and what might come next. Can the Matildas' do damage in 2023? Are the right players being picked? Should Tony Gustavsson remain coach? (00:02:15)

There's also talk about the Arnie-less Roos running over the top of Vietnam mid-week, a breakdown of Tom Rogic's monsterclass and why, despite that, Ante might drop him for the Oman game. (00:42:17)

Though they tried to sneak it by us between the Roos and Tillies games, Western Sydney Wanderers decision to sack Carl Robinson and their continued air of calamity comes under the microscope (1:04:36), as does this week's A-Liga action and why Avondale's "bespoke" arbitration win over Football Victoria might have significant long-term ramifications around the country. (1:45:32)

Note: This episode was recorded on Sunday night, before the Western Sydney Wanderers announced Mark Rudan as their new head coach. 

Between A-League Men, A-League Women, The Matildas, the Socceroos and subtweeting, there’s a lot going on in Australian football, so The National Curriculum is bringing in reinforcements.

Debutant Pokuah Frimpong joins Ante Jukic, Nick Stoll, Nick D’Urbano, and Joey Lynch to discuss Brisbane Roar’s continued struggles (7:00), Sydney FC’s plan going off the rails (43:15), Melbourne City playing their best game of the season (19:00) – and why it won’t happen again – what exactly Aleksandar Prijović brings to Western Untied (1:50:30), and the contrast between Sydney FC and Western Sydney Wanderers in ALW (1:28:50)

The panel also debates the merits of crushing Indonesia 18-0 against playing the kids (59:35), discuss Sam Kerr’s legacy and future role in the Matildas, talk about who is in and out of the recently announced Socceroos squad (1:35:15), provide an #ArzaniWatch update, and much much more.

And yes… there’s also #CUMDOG discussion.

COVID continues to cause chaos, but that's not going to stop Joey Lynch, Josh Parish, Teo Pellizzeri, Nick Stoll, and Nick D'Urbano from returning to discuss another big week in Australian football.

This week, the boys look at City doing the same thing, but better; defend the honour of Elvis Kamsoba, explore the Sydney killbots malfunctioning, examine Sydney and Canberra going in opposite directions in ALW, debate Riley McGree's move to Boro over Celtic, wish Cristian Volpato good luck with his Italy call-up, discuss the reaction - or lack of reaction - to the homophobic abuse of Josh Cavallo, and much more.

Josh, Teo, Nick, Ante and Joey discuss the six-goal thriller between City and the Wanderers - an A-League game even Ante might be prepared to admit was good fun. 

Plus: the amazing goals that papered over the cracks for Victory & Adelaide, Josh Cavallo, the Matildas Asian Cup squad, and predictions for next week's matches. 

VAMOS! 

With COVID playing havoc with the A-Leagues seasons, Teo Pellizzeri, Nick D'Urbano, Ante Jukic, Nick Stoll & Joey Lynch return to cast their eyes across the limited football on offer across the past week, as well as anything else that caught their attention.
This week, the boys discuss Comrade Halloran defecting to Worst Korea, the Wellington Phoenix midfield conundrum, Katrina Gorry being goated, City emerging as ALW title contenders, the FFA Cup, the perils of commentary and the broader Australian media landscape (while trying not to get Teo fired), and much more.

After a big week in Australian football, Joey Lynch, Nick Stoll, Nick D'Urbano & Ante Jukic examine the Melbourne Derby, Victory fan's angst with City, the series of failures at WSW, a possible L for the TNC brand, Max Burgess' best position, how you should spend your money this Christmas, and much more.

Josh Parish, Teo Pellizzeri & Ante Jukic break down Round 4 of the A-League Men season - from the "bang crash opera" of Adelaide vs Victory, to Daniel Penha's curtain call; from Ante's Western Sydney mutual termination shortlist, to the SFC killbots in desperate need of a firmware update. 

Nick Stoll, Teo Pellizzeri, Josh Parish and Joey Lynch review Round 3 of the A-League Men, featuring the return of VAR, another Sturridge no-show, crypto ticket prices, and seagulls. 

The Jets are box office, the Wanderers aren't, Victory’s fans are up and about, and there might be a need for some international fraud watch.

Joey Lynch, Nick Stoll, Nick D'Urbano, Josh Parish, and debutant Teo Pellizzeri are back to take you through week that was in Australian sokkah.

Here comes the future: technical difficulties, underdone players, and unplayable pitches. The new A-League is beginning to look a whole lot like the old one...

Upon the triumphant return of The National Curriculum, podcast stalwarts Joey Lynch, Josh Parish & Ante Jukić are bolstered by new recruits Nick Stoll & Nick D'Urbano to analyse and overreact to Round 1 of the new A-League Men's season.