Sydney FC skipper gives grand final the thumbs up
ALEX Brosque’s call to ditch the A-league finals will never become reality because Australia loves a knockout too much, says new Sydney FC skipper Alex Wilkinson.
But Wilkinson does agree with his predecessor that premiers should get more plaudits, as they are in the world’s biggest leagues including the English Premier League.
Straight after second-placed Sydney beat runaway premiers Perthglory on penalties in last season’s grand final, the retiring Brosque used his final interview as captain to declare the finals series should be scrapped in favour of football’s traditional first-past-the-post format, arguing Australia’s fondness for a sudden-death showdown is now satisfied by the FFA Cup.
Five months later, on the eve of the Sky Blues’ title defence, Wilkinson said post-season action wasn’t going anywhere.
“They’re never going to scrap the finals, that’ll just never happen,” Wilkinson said.
“It’s just the Australian way, what’s done here in every sport.
“The Australian public love it, and I love a final series, I think it’s fantastic.
“Big games, big crowds and they’re the sort of games you want to play in as a player.
“It can be cruel at times, like it was a couple of years ago where you finish on top – we won the league by 14 points – and then all of a sudden you have a bad day at the office and you’re out.”
In 2017-18, Melbourne Victory finished the regular season in fourth but defeated premiers Sydney in the semi-finals to become the first club outside the top three to qualify for a grand final, which they went on to win in Newcastle in controversial circumstances.
“You need to give more credit to the team who finish on top throughout the season like they do in Europe,” Wilkinson said.
“Ineurope they’re called the champions, but up until two or three years ago the premiership winners didn’t even get a medal here in Australia.
“There needs to be a lot more focus on the end-ofleague winner because that is the most consistent team over the year and in most ways it’s harder to win the premiership than it is the final series.”
The Sky Blues kick off theaLeague season tonight against Adelaide United and are again among the pre-season favourites.
Sydney will, however, head to Adelaide without goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne and fullback Rhyan Grant after both were called into the Socceroos squad for World Cup qualifiers against Nepal and Taiwan.
A bid to get Redmayne released has failed, meaning 22year-old Thomas HewardBelle will make his A-league debut against the Reds.
The hosts, meanwhile, are out to begin their season by ending a run of nine matches against Sydney without a win.