Macarthur FC 4-0 Wellington Phoenix
Mile Sterjovski (Macarthur FC):
"It was a fantastic way to finish the season. In some ways, it was very disappointing not to make the finals. It showed our inconsistencies throughout the season. Top performance today to score four goals and keep a clean sheet. I'm very happy for Damien Da Silva to finish his career that way. We did that for him tonight and I think we brought him a lot of joy. There was a great turnout from our fans and a great performance for them.
"In terms of preparing for next year, I think we're going to let this win soak in first. In the next couple of weeks, we'll have meetings and see what the future may look like.
"We have to earn the right for (the fans) to come back. We need to be consistent in our performances. Everybody wants to see winners. That was our problem this year. We were able to beat the top teams on many occasions, but we lost points against the teams that were below us. There are things to celebrate: we gave many players debut, experience in the Champions League, and there were some top performances at home and a lot to learn from as well."
Chris Greenacre (Wellington Phoenix):
"That was a game of two halves from our perspective. Really disappointed with the way that we conducted ourselves in the first half. We were nowhere near the pace, and fair play to Macarthur who took the game by the scruff of the neck. You saw when the first goal went in the body language of our guys was depleted, which is just really disappointing.
"I thought in the second half we took the game to Macarthur. In transition, we caused them a few problems without the final product. It's the first time I've probably questioned our group. They've been awesome for a number of weeks now. That was our blip but we're going to have to wait until next season to fix it.
"It is more difficult for players to get up for a game that means nothing, but ultimately you're a professional athlete and this is your job, so there should be no taking the foot off the gas in my opinion - and we did that. Overall, I've been really pleased with the group and everything that has got us to this position. At one point we were bottom of the league and our position is a lot different now."
Newcastle Jets 4-0 Central Coast Mariners
Mark Milligan (Newcastle Jets):
"It's a very special feeling. I'm extremely proud of this group of what we have achieved so far. We have asked a lot of them. The number one goal was to get this club back to what I knew it as many, many years ago. That has been a big part of everything we do, from how hard these players work to the football we play on the weekends.
"They go out every single day to earn the right to have the local people of Newcastle come to love and enjoy watching football again. The mentality that they have had from day one in terms of their work ethic, their ruthless nature and their bravery. It starts again on Monday.
"This is where we wanted to be. It was always hard to put a timeframe on it. It's down to the players' application, because from the first day that we stepped in, we made it difficult for them. We put them in a lot of situations where we expected them to fail and they just kept raising that bar. The football that we play is not easy. I'm not surprised that this has happened, because their desire and their application has always pushed us as a coaching group."
Warren Moon (Central Coast Mariners):
"We wanted to come here and perform. In hindsight, we probably expended a little bit of energy last week. Apart from the first five or six minutes, where we absorbed a little bit of pressure, I thought we were the better team up until that penalty moment. It didn't go our way. We're really disappointed about our reaction after that moment, because one became two very quickly. It was soft from our perspective - we didn't defend that one well.
"Three-nil kills the game and it's just very difficult from there. I don't think it was as one-sided as the scoreline suggests. We probably got our arses kicked in clinical moments. They were ruthless when it mattered and we weren't.
"You could see once we started to gain players we showed our qualities. We've given it a good shake. There's a lot to be proud of. The boys have never given in. They worked hard, they took everything that has come before them and turned up every day with a great attitude and a smile on their face.
There are better days ahead for this football club, there's no doubt about it. There's a real DNA and culture at this club that can't be diminished. There are real challenges for this club, but the reason they have been successful is because it's in their DNA. Whilst this year wasn't what we wanted, I don't think many people thought we'd finish anywhere other than last."
Western Sydney Wanderers 0-2 Melbourne Victory
Gary van Egmond (Western Sydney Wanderers):
"It was extremely frustrating. If it can go wrong, it will go wrong. You've got to take your opportunities when you're on top to put the nail in the coffin. We didn't do that enough tonight. You've got to be able to nullify the times that the opposition get their chances and obviously we didn't do that.
"It's so important that we have a strong Western Sydney Wanderers, not just for our fans but for the football landscape in general. I think the club is on the right track in regards to the appointment of a football director. There are a couple more positions that can add onto the actual structure of the football club. The connection between the academy and the first grade squad can be stronger and I think that's something that will occur.
"It's the heartland of Australian football. I've enjoyed every moment of being here, being involved with such a big club. I apologise that I couldn't get them into the position where they rightly should be. Sometimes you've got to go through pain for joy and hopefully we've gone through enough pain."
Arthur Diles (Melbourne Victory):
"It was really important to get the result tonight, to do our part. It's pleasing to get that and now the pressure is on the others. Ultimately we have fallen short of where we would have liked, but it's not a given to make finals every year. You've seen many quality teams over the year that don't make finals and there are a lot of them this year also. It's a great occasion for us to be in another finals series and now the fun begins.
"It'll likely be a derby next week, and irrespective of that, it's a final, but derby finals are even bigger. We've got to make sure we're ready for that occasion and do the best that we can to keep progressing in this competition.
"Maybe I don't show it at time, but there's always excitement, but there's always a ceiling to that because you can't just rest on your previous performances. Along the way, there are up and downs, but we have had a great season in the end. That's one box that we've ticked, but now we've got to keep going."
Perth Glory 2-1 Brisbane Roar
Adam Griffiths (Perth Glory):
"I thought it was an end-to-end game. The stuff in the middle was not good enough from us but it showed a lot of our character, togetherness and fight. We created a lot of good chances.
"I feel that our two men in the middle have been doing a lot for the last eight games. We've been pushing them quite hard and that energy level wasn't quite there like it normally is. Our confidence to control the game was a little bit clunky. What was more important from my perspective was that we had the determination to stay resolute when the moments were tough and that was something this club hasn't had for a while.
"Yes, we want to have more ball possession, but we have played many a-game at home where we have had 64% possession, dominating teams, keeping them pinned in their own half without getting the goals. I think we have made a lot of progress in the last eight teams where we have been very difficult to grow. What we want to continue to do is bring in more players who have the same hunger and desire to push forward, and then the momentum will slowly shift."
Michael Valkanis (Brisbane Roar):
"Like always, another game I believe we should have won. We totally dominated the game. Whatever chances they had were our fault, not necessarily from the football played by Perth. We have dropped a lot of points and lost a lot of games to outstanding goals throughout the season.
"It has been a very disappointing 2026, no doubt about that. A lot of bad luck in situations where we could have finished things off and taken three points. We have to rectify that for next season, that's for sure.
"We were also victims to our own early success. We raised the bar and the expectations from everyone, and we've let down our supporters. That's how I feel. We pushed hard in the first ten games and we were surprising the league that we were playing for the top of the ladder. To be where we are now is really disappointing for our supporters, who we got extremely excited. We know what we have to do as a club to take those ten games and build on those as a club."
Sydney FC 2-2 Auckland FC
Patrick Kisnorbo (Sydney FC):
"Disappointed in the end. I thought we dominated the whole 90 minutes. In two key moments we let ourselves down. We've got to do better in those moments. We knew their strengths. We've got to go again and get ready for next week's game, whoever we play.
"We've been great so far with clean sheets so far but we need to learn from those mistakes and move on quickly. It's something we've got to get better at.
"I'm proud of the boys today because that's probably the best game I've seen them play, so we need to build on that and take it into next week. Before I came I don't think the club were high scorers, so that's an area we've been trying to work on with what we have."
Steve Corica (Auckland FC):
"I thought the first half they were definitely the better team. We weren't on the front foot. They were nice and sharp in closing things down. Much improved second half, obviously Guillermo (May) came on and scored two goals which was great.
"We worked hard but I think overall the team performance and what we spoke about at half-time was a big change from the first half. We started to get into the game and responded to conceding twice. It's great to see the character from the players to do that as that is going to be important come finals time.
"Especially (disappointing) to concede first. The week off would have helped us with a few injuries we have. It's a tough place to come here, though, so all-in-all I'm pretty pleased with a point."
Melbourne City 1-2 Adelaide United
Aurelio Vidmar (Melbourne City):
"It wasn't just the last 180 seconds. There were some big moments beforehand. We weren't good enough as a whole. We started off poorly and were chasing for most of the game. We really only had a slight period after an hour that we started to get a little bit of control, but for the majority it was a bit of a battle for us tonight.
"The melee kicked off when Barnett pushed Marcus' (Younis) face into the ground. I think he already had a yellow card and maybe that should have been a second yellow card. We were just naive in that moment as well. We could have dealt with the last seconds a bit better. You're always vulnerable in transition moments and that's one of their strengths as well.
"We weren't good on the ball. We turned it over a lot and were chasing the ball all the time. It's an opportunity lost (to host an elimination final) for sure. Auckland is not a place we've done well during our last two visits. We just have to go there with sleeves rolled up and ready to compete for every single ball."
Airton Andrioli (Adelaide United):
"That's why we all love football, isn't it? Football has got some tough moments but when moments like this happen, you just can't describe it. I'm extremely happy with everything that happened tonight and am extremely proud of the whole club. We just took the game today and in the end I think the best team got the result.
"It's such an incredible feeling when you work together for so long - I've known some of these guys from the age of ten. We won an NPL championship together and I think about 80-90% of those players were here tonight. They're growing and getting better every time. I like that we have a week off now because when we get time to prepare, we prepare well.
I want to thank all the people who did not believe in us, because I think that was a great advantage for us. We didn't have the spotlight and nobody was talking about us."