Western Sydney are back in the winners circle approaching their return to Wanderland. It's too late for finals, but it's just in the nick of time for the club hoping to draw their fans back to the club after a rough season away from home. 

With Mitch Duke, Alex Baumjohann, Oriol Riera (perhaps too late for his A-League future) and Kwame Yeboah finally hitting their stride, it will be an intimidating forward line heading into next season.

Fifth-placed Melbourne City are a different story. Finals or no, Warren Joyce is heaping the pressure on himself with a series of disappointing performances and a side lacking in confidence look to be making up the numbers heading into the business end. 

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Yeboah struts his stuff

The burly centreforward in many ways is the typical, storied Wanderer. A bolt out of the blue at Brisbane Roar, the acrobatic Yeboah sprung off to Borussia Mönchengladbach and the sky seemed the limit.

Fast forward a few years and - a desperate shot for a 2018 World Cup bolter aside - Yeboah had all but slipped from memory, toiling away in the German lower divisions. He’s had to bide his time upon his A-league return as a result, especially in a less natural attacking midfield position, but when he’s given the opportunity he can show another level.

It’s a contrasting, yet somehow similar story for Mitch Duke, who has rocketed back into the A-League after a successful spell at Shimizu S-Pulse. While Duke has perhaps found the transition a little easier, he was a similarly forgotten figure in the wide world outside the A-League. 

While everyone hopes to see our Aussies performing admirably on the world stage, it’s still nice to see the Wanderers reaping the rewards of welcoming these returning talents back home.