The Battle of the West returns for its third and final instalment of the season, with the Bulls set to take on the Western Sydney Wanderers in a classic Wild West showdown.
Ahead of the standoff, one of the Bulls’ newest additions, Mitchell Duke, spoke to the media as he prepares to face his former side for the first time since moving clubs.
“I’m really looking forward to it. This is the first time I’ll be playing against the Wanderers since I played for them. So it’s exciting, it’s going to be a good challenge and where we’re at as well, we need a result.”
“So it’s going to be an exciting game.”
As the 2025/26 season nears its conclusion, the Bulls are ramping up their push to secure a spot in the top six and lock in a finals campaign. With the league ladder uncomfortably tight, Duke acknowledged that the Wanderers will be particularly dangerous given their position.
“It’s quite entertaining to know that it’s so tight and I think anyone can get a result. And also being at the bottom of the table, it makes them more dangerous.”
“They’re desperate and a desperate team can be unpredictable and they can obviously put it like you in the game, it’s going to be very difficult. So we’ve got to be prepared for that.”
“They’re going to be begging for a result and we’ve got to make sure we match that and play to our best ability. And I know on our day we can beat anyone.”
Following the Bulls’ exit from the Asian Champions League Two, Duke believes the squad’s focus will now shift fully to domestic football.
“I think obviously we’ve got no distractions now. Not that the ACL2 was a distraction, it was just another thing that built up the schedule and it made it a bit tight. But now that we can put all our focus to the A-League, there’s no excuses at all.”
“We’re all fresh. We’ve got plenty of time in between games now to be at our best. And we’re confident that we can really finish strong in this season and put ourselves in the best position for finalist football and getting a trophy.”
