The Wanderer Grounds podcast: João Morelli is back—and he isn’t done scoring yet

When Brazilian forward João Morelli found the back of the net for the Halifax Wanderers on Sunday, July 30, not only did it mark his first goal for the club in 479 days, it also represented a triumphant return from an ACL injury the forward wasn’t sure he would ever fully recover from. You could see it in the way Morelli, the former 2021 Canadian Premier League Player of the Year, came to tears at the end of the Wanderers’ 2-0 win over York United.

“It was really hard. I thought [my career] was going to stop, I’m not going to lie,” he told CanPL.ca’s Kristian Jack after the match. “My wife and kid supported me a lot, man. It’s great to be back.”

Make no mistake: Morelli is, indeed, back. In his fourth appearance for the Wanderers in 2023, the 27-year-old nearly added a second goal to his tally after narrowly missing on a goal line cross from fullback Wesley Timoteo, and he might’ve had a pair of assists, too, if not for unlucky breaks from teammates Massimo Ferrin and Armaan Wilson.

With 20 career goals for the Wanderers between 2020-2023, Morelli has tied former teammate Akeem Garcia for the co-lead in franchise goals scored (all competitions), and now holds the edge for Wanderers goals in the Canadian Premier League. What’s more, Halifax still has another 11 regular season games to go.

In this week’s episode of The Wanderer Grounds, Coast reporter Martin Bauman recaps the Wanderers’ 2-0 victory over York United, Morelli’s return to form and the Matthew Baldisimo red card incident.

Plus, can Halifax secure its first three-game win streak this weekend when it hosts Pacific FC? And how has the club held up to the burning questions it faced entering the 2023 season?