Duke weighs future amidst fight for Socceroos minutes
Amidst a fierce battle for places in the Socceroos squad, Mitch Duke acknowledges he'll have some big decisions to make if his minutes at Machida Zelvia remain scarce.
Mitch Duke knows he has some big decisions on his future looming. His Machida Zelvia are the surprise J1 League leaders, the newly promoted side leading Kashima Antlers on goal difference 17 weeks into the 2024 campaign. Silverware could beckon. But Duke has been largely restricted to an off-the-bench role during this run, at the same time he’s in a battle to retain his place at the helm of the Socceroos striking society. And he knows minutes matter.
Duke, 33, had the most prolific season of his career as he helped Zelvia secure promotion to the Japanese top flight in 2023, registering ten goals and six assists as they finished the year 12 points clear at the top of the J2 League.
However, this season has seen the Australian relegated to the periphery of manager Go Kuroda, with Korean striker Se-hun Oh, newly signed for this season from Shimizu S-Pulse, and Shota Fujio receiving the majority of minutes up top. Duke opened his account for the season in a 3-0 win over Kyoto Sanga on May 6, before grabbing another in a 2-1 win over Cerezo Osaka on May 15. He also has two goals and an assist in the J.League Cup.
Currently paused for the international break – Zelvia will play J.League Cup and Emporer’s Cup fixtures during the break before resuming their league season against Harry Kewell’s Yokohama F Marinos on June 15 – the Japanese top flight’s transfer window is set to open on July 8 and run through to August 21. It’s something that’s given Duke pause for thought — if nothing else because even without Socceroos’ duty to think about, he wants to be playing.
“With my competitiveness, it's definitely starting to come through, where I'm going to have to make a big decision coming into this transfer window,” he said.
“I've had some conversations with my club, so we'll see what goes on from then. But for me, I'm just focusing on trying to take my chances when I get them and show myself. The last month has been really good. I've hit some goal-scoring form.
“The club's really happy with what I'm doing. We'll see what happens with more playing minutes. If not, Japan's window opens up in July, and I'll have to make a big decision coming at that point, when it gets to it.”
Duke was speaking from the Socceroos training camp in Thailand, amid a battle with the likes of Adam Taggart, Kusini Yengi, Apostolos Stamatelopoulos, and even Mat Leckie and Martin Boyle for minutes at the nine position in coming World Cup qualifiers against Bangladesh and Palestine.
The last player to arrive in camp – he came off the bench in Zelvia’s 3-1 loss to Thomas Deng’s Albirex Niigata on Saturday – Duke will only have a couple of days in Bangkok to press his case with coach Graham Arnold, with the team set to fly to Dhaka for their clash with Bangladesh tomorrow.
“I think the more competition, the better,” said Duke. “That's only going to improve our squad depth. Seeing who's who's ready to put their hand up and take that position, for sure.
“It's great to see how many more strikers we have at our disposal.
“We've got a lot of attacking power. For me, I love that competition. I welcome it.
“It will be interesting to see who can put their hand up and show themselves in training because that's where we get to show ourselves and see who gets selected for the Bangladesh game and the Palestine game.”