“AUSSIE, Aussie, Aussie! Oi, oi, oi!”

Now, I’m not entirely referring to the tennis here. Although, it was great to see Bernard Tomic announce his arrival. Not sure on the headband and sunnies combo but he can certainly rip a backhand.

I’m talking about Pim’s A-League squad and the six Victory boys set to suit up.

Sure it’s just an Asian qualifier. And yeah it is only against Indonesia...but hey, it’s still a top effort and a testament to Victory’s general good form this season.

A big shout out has to go to Archie and Danny. They’ve been knocking on the door all season and it’s great to see Pim reward their striking partnership.

What’s more, they’ll probably start up front too, with Pim hinting “We will have no preparation, so it might be best to pick players who play together.”

Also, Theo gets his chance on the international stage and hopefully Roddy, Billy and Tom will be involved too. This should be a proud moment for all Victory supporters.

The thing that concerns me though is timing. Those boys are important members of our starting team and for them to travel to Indonesia and then play in tough conditions will really put pressure on our finals campaign.

Can the squad manage this interruption? I don’t know. Over the course of the season we’ve handled the injuries, suspensions and Ernie’s constant chopping and changing pretty well.

The finals are a vastly different story though. It’s all on the line from the get go and you don’t have twenty plus weeks to prove your worth.

Let’s hope the boys give it a fair crack but also come home injury free and not too stuffed from their efforts.

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The season culminates this week with a crucial match against Wellington.

Now I was going to do an elaborate spiel on all the different outcomes for the Premiership but it became way too complicated…

The simple equation is that we have to win and win handsomely (a three goal margin will probably be enough). This will give us the best chance of lifting the Premiership Plate anyway.

Sure Adelaide could still take the glory (even Queensland are a sneaky chance if results fall their way) but at the end of the day, we can only control the outcome of our game (and put pressure on the contenders by getting a good result).

Our record against Wellington this year is even.

However, both meetings were in New Zealand with the first match highlighted by a Danny brace resulted in a 4-2 win. The second encounter saw a Smeltz peach seal a come-from-behind victory for the Nix. It should be noted that Carlos did not start on this occasion and only had limited game time.

Friday night should be a different story. We’re at home and the Dome has been our fortress. Our defence is looking better, Carlos is up and flying and Danny and Archie should cause the Nix a massive headache.

The boys know what they have to do and I fully expect them to rise to the occasion and leave nothing in the tank. Come Sunday night, we’ll know if it’s enough…

Tristram is a Victory fan and wishes he could say that a knee injury curtailed his promising football career.