Brandon Borrello

Right Midfielder - Western Sydney Wanderers
27 Apr 2027
Tuesday
Process

Marked for Brandon Borrello

33 Edition

The Western Sydney Wanderers Chronicle

15 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Miguel Di Pizio leads the rout of Wellington Phoenix

3‑0, and Miguel Di Pizio took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Western Sydney Wanderers tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.

Squad

Miguel Di Pizio is the real thing at 21

A season average of 7.31 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Western Sydney Wanderers know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.

Squad

Ryan Fraser in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Western Sydney Wanderers this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

One of those days for Miguel Di Pizio

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.39, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Steven Ugarkovic

Defensive actions: 21. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Player ratings

Dylan Scicluna shuts the door

Defensive actions: 21, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

In brief

Back issues
31 Edition

The Western Sydney Wanderers Chronicle

1 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Western Sydney Wanderers refuse to drop out of the race

Position 1, 38 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.

Market

Lachlan Wales puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Western Sydney Wanderers, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Ryan Fraser in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Western Sydney Wanderers this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

6 unbeaten for Western Sydney Wanderers

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Western Sydney Wanderers did not have in the autumn.

Squad

Ryan Fraser is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.47 with 8 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Match

Western Sydney Wanderers see off Auckland FC

Three points for Western Sydney Wanderers, 3‑1 the final word against Auckland FC in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Ryan Fraser

Marked 9.22 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Player ratings

Miguel Di Pizio in the eights

A performance of 8.79 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

One of those days for Hiroshi Ibusuki

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.54, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

In brief

26 Edition

The Western Sydney Wanderers Chronicle

25 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Jordan Holmes keeps Western Sydney Wanderers in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Market

Anthony Pantazopoulos puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Western Sydney Wanderers, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Only the photograph left for Ben Mewett

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ben Mewett will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Western Sydney Wanderers the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Tempers go at Western Sydney Wanderers

Ryan Fraser was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

Brandon Borrello runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Player ratings

One of those days for Ryan Fraser

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.23, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Match

Ryan Fraser sends Western Sydney Wanderers past Macarthur FC

It finished 1‑0, and it was Ryan Fraser’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Western Sydney Wanderers.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Alex Gersbach

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Ezekiel Tamara

Defensive actions: 17. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

In brief

20 Edition

The Western Sydney Wanderers Chronicle

14 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Joey Garuccio is the real thing at 20

A season average of 7.08 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Western Sydney Wanderers know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.

Match

Whatever happens, Western Sydney Wanderers do not lose

7 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.

Squad

Tempers go at Western Sydney Wanderers

Ryan Fraser was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Jacob Farrell

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Player ratings

One of those days for Ryan Fraser

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.73, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

Brandon Borrello in the eights

A performance of 8.64 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

Miguel Di Pizio in the eights

A performance of 8.48 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

One of those days for Hiroshi Ibusuki

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.33, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Match

Ryan Fraser rescues a point for Western Sydney Wanderers

It needed Ryan Fraser to find the net to bring anything home at all: 3‑3 against Auckland FC, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

In brief

19 Edition

The Western Sydney Wanderers Chronicle

7 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Market

Angus Thurgate hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Western Sydney Wanderers can pretend not to have heard.

Match

Western Sydney Wanderers refuse to drop out of the race

Position 2, 15 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Lawrence Thomas

There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Squad

Ryan Fraser in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Western Sydney Wanderers this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Still nobody has beaten Western Sydney Wanderers

The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Brandon Borrello

Marked 9.16 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Player ratings

One of those days for Ryan Fraser

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.17, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Match

Ryan Fraser sends Western Sydney Wanderers past Newcastle Jets

It finished 2‑1, and it was Ryan Fraser’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Western Sydney Wanderers.

Player ratings

Miguel Di Pizio in the eights

A performance of 8.59 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

In brief

17 Edition

The Western Sydney Wanderers Chronicle

23 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Nobody wants to play Western Sydney Wanderers right now

3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.

Squad

Ryan Fraser in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Western Sydney Wanderers this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Western Sydney Wanderers see off Adelaide United

Three points for Western Sydney Wanderers, 2‑1 the final word against Adelaide United in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Player ratings

One of those days for Angus Thurgate

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.00, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

Brandon Borrello runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Ezekiel Tamara

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Player ratings

Joey Garuccio in the eights

A performance of 8.55 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

Ryan Fraser's mistake decides it

Ten men and a goalkeeper behind him, and it still finished in the net. He knew before anybody told him, and nobody at Western Sydney Wanderers needed to.

Squad

Angus Thurgate is off the mark for Western Sydney Wanderers

The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.

In brief

2 Edition

The Western Sydney Wanderers Chronicle

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Western Sydney Wanderers say no — this time

The offer from Melbourne City for Aydan Hammond was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Squad

Ryan Fraser in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Western Sydney Wanderers this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

Nobody at Western Sydney Wanderers has picked up the phone to Brandon Borrello

36 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.

Squad

Angus Thurgate knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Angus Thurgate trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Market

Still no ink between Western Sydney Wanderers and Josh Brillante

“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Western Sydney Wanderers, another week without a signature from Josh Brillante.

Market

Nathan Barrie is free to find somewhere else

“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Western Sydney Wanderers has been clear about where Nathan Barrie stands, which is more than many ever get.

In brief