Newcastle Jets' courageous New Year's Day triumph has been brutally overshadowed by a suspected season-ending knee injury to the club's brightest young talent, Alex Badolato.
Victory Turns Sour as Badolato Goes Down
The Jets secured a remarkable 3-1 away win against Auckland at Go Stadium on January 1, playing the majority of the match with only ten men after a red card to defender Max Cooper. However, the celebration was cut short by a devastating early blow.
In just the fourth minute of the contest, 20-year-old attacking midfielder Alex Badolato's right knee buckled under a challenge from Auckland defender Callan Elliott. Scans conducted in Newcastle on Friday are expected to confirm a rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), sidelining the wonder boy for seven months to a year.
"It is a big concern," a sombre Jets coach Mark Milligan said post-match. "We obviously have to look into it more when we get home. The early signs aren't great."
A Cruel Blow for Jets and Rising Star
The injury represents a cruel twist for Badolato, whose star had been rapidly ascending. In October, he announced himself as one of the A-League's most exciting prospects with a stunning hat-trick in a 5-2 demolition of Melbourne Victory.
Although he hasn't scored since, the Asian Football Confederation's Young Player of the Year has been instrumental in the Jets' attack, which has scored a league-high 23 goals this campaign. A move overseas at the season's end seemed a near certainty; now, the focus shifts to a long and arduous rehabilitation.
In a further injury setback for the squad, substitute Christian Bracco also suffered a knee injury late in the Auckland match and will undergo scans on Monday. The 21-year-old had to be carried from the field, forcing the Jets to finish the game with just nine players.
Jets Forced to Adapt as Transfer Window Approaches
Instead of basking in one of the club's great backs-to-the-wall victories, Milligan is now grappling with the prospect of losing two more young players to serious injury, following teenage flyer Oscar Fryer's season-ending knee issue earlier in the campaign.
Under A-League regulations, clubs can only sign injury replacements for players on contracts worth $300,000 or more. The Jets do have one vacant roster spot after releasing defender Aleks Susnjar.
The Newcastle Herald understands the club's talks with former Adelaide United midfielder Zach Clough were already advanced prior to Badolato's injury. The 30-year-old English playmaker, currently with Malaysian side Selangor, is a known quantity to Milligan from their time together at Adelaide.
The Jets have one more fixture—an away trip to Melbourne City on January 11—before the A-League transfer window opens on January 14.
Despite the injury gloom, Milligan praised the immense character shown by his young squad in Auckland. "We had to show a different type of performance today," he said. "The boys really dug in and worked hard... They had not been put under that adversity before. I knew they had that in them; that resilience, that determination."
The hard-fought win, their second over Auckland this season, moves Newcastle to 15 competition points.
