Actually, Sydney had no rights, due to their poor contract handling. They completely stuffed up, Shimizu offered more than what they needed to legally offer to activate a still-active clause in Brosque's at-the-time-current contract, but Sydney decided to wrongfully pretend they were some caped crusader for the league and essentially leave a really bad taste in everyone's mouth regarding Australian clubs.Good on Sydney. He signed a contract with them, so they are well within their rights to hold onto him.
I dare say they'll let him go after the ACL.
Also, word on the street is that Smeltz to Perth is as good as done.