It's interesting as I've heard several people over recent years say Melbourne City are as good as a Championship team, and that the rest of the A-League is about League One. If Waine - who often looked better than most in the A-League, can't even make the bench (let alone get minutes), it might indicate City is more like League One level and rest of A-League is more like League Two level.
i think thats about right.
the top of the a-league is not anywhere near championship level or even the top of league one where the standard is much higher and the games are much quicker
like ryan said that ifill said, the typical a-league squad drops away pretty quickly. i would add that it also drops away pretty quickly in the first choice XI.