The best of A-League local rivalries PT7M36S http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/action/externalEmbeddedPlayer?id=d-2zp3m 620 349 December 20, 2013 - 5:37PM In Australia, it sometimes seems we have A-League derbies for nearly everything. And if not a derby, then a rivalry match, or a fixture is deemed to be for some cup or trophy or other. Whenever Wellington plays Perth Glory it is, for example, known as the Distance Derby. Fair enough in one way, I suppose, given the enormous travelling involved, but really, what has "derby" got to do with it save for providing a memorable alliterative suffix to the word distance? This mania sometimes knows no bounds: when Adelaide, now under the tika-taka direction of Josep Gombau, met Brisbane recently it was being dubbed the "possession derby" - presumably because the Roar, too, have historically had a commitment to keeping the ball. But surely the genuine derbies can only really be about local rivalries, teams from the same town, city or, at a pinch, region, taking each other on. In that sense we probably have only three in this country. The oldest is the F3 derby, between two of the A-League's original eight member clubs, Central Coast Mariners and Newcastle Jets, so called because of the road that links them. But while that might have (relative) history on its side, it is these days dwarfed by the big-selling derbies in Sydney and Melbourne, both involving established clubs and interlopers given licences as the A-League developed through what has been a hit-and-miss expansion program. In Sydney, the expansion has been far more successful than in Melbourne. In just over a year, Western Sydney Wanderers have stamped themselves as one of the teams to beat and have eclipsed the established club, Sydney, in terms of supporters, members and impact. In Victoria, Melbourne Heart has struggled for traction against Melbourne Victory, which is the competition's powerhouse club. But, then, Heart has matched Victory in their derby matches. The red and blue halves of the city prepare to meet each other for the 11th time on Saturday evening, with Victory having won three, Heart three and four having been drawn. A handful of men have been involved in all three derbies around Australia and so are well-placed to give their perspective on the trio. Ante Milicic, Western Sydney Wanderers assistant coach, played for Newcastle against the Central Coast in the first F3 derby and put the Jets in front in the first half of what finished as a 1-1 draw. He then took part in half-a-dozen Melbourne derbies as John van't Schip's assistant at Melbourne Heart before getting a taste of the developing Sydney rivalry as Tony Popovic's No.2 at Wanderers. Matt Thompson, these days playing at Sydney on an injury replacement contract, also has had close-up views of all three clashes. Like Milicic he played for the Jets against the Mariners on several occasions before joining Heart as the start-up club's first signing. He skippered the red and whites and played, and scored, in Melbourne derbies before leaving Victoria at the end of last season. His sole experience of the Sydney derby was when he came off the bench for the Sky Blues in the 0-2 loss to the Wanderers early this season. Thompson has enjoyed all three, but says the Melbourne and Sydney derbies stand out: he believes the former might have the edge for on-field intensity (although he has only been involved in one Sydney clash so he hasn't had much to go on) but he thinks the NSW derby has it over Melbourne for atmosphere. The Jets v Mariners games at the start of the A-League were a little bit different. As the competition was just starting, it was like playing against your mates. Most of us in those teams were from Sydney and a lot of us had been in teams together earlier in our careers in the NSL. They weren't as feisty as the Heart v Victory matches. Back in the Newcastle games I remember I was living on the Central Coast, shared a house with Paul O'Grady (Mariners centre back) and I was hanging out with Dean Heffernan (Mariners wing back). The crowds used to be big - they would get maybe 22,000 to 23,000 - but as I said, they felt like games with your mates. Heart and Victory was another story, Thompson says. It felt like there was a lot more at stake, there was more feeling, they were feisty. We were always going to be the little brothers; they had all those advantages of being there first, more supporters and a proven history. The crowd really got into it, and maybe we always tried that bit harder. His experience of the Sydney derby has been only the opening match this season, but he was hugely impressed. I started on the bench for the Sydney v Wanderers game and I really got a chance to take it in. The atmosphere with the Wanderers fans was fantastic. I could sit there and have a real good look at what was going on, and it had a real European feel to it, all the red and black and sky blue. To be honest, I found myself watching them rather than the game. The Victory v Heart games were always great occasions too. You always worried about playing well and doing well. All these games were at different stages of my life, so I suppose that might have an effect on how I think of them. With the Jets, I was 24, 25, I didn't have any experience of playing in those sorts of games before, but like I said, it was like playing with your mates a bit like being in a back yard match. The Victory v Heart games were very intense. Heart, we always really wanted to beat Victory, we used to talk about it weeks before, it was the sort of match that: when the fixture list came out, you drew a circle around it on the calendar. I scored two in the game we won 3-2 and that just felt great. The atmosphere at AAMI was always brilliant too, it's the best stadium in the league. I thought, 'This does not get any better.' I think the Victory v Heart games were fantastic and intense, but I really can't wait for the next Sydney v Wanderers match. I would really love to start in it. Milicic has similar views, especially on the F3 games he played in at the start of the A-League when he was in the twilight of his career. I enjoyed playing in them for the Newcastle Jets but you can't compare those derbies with Heart and Victory or the Sydney matches. In those early games, there were only eight teams in the A-League and everyone seemed to know everyone else; sometimes they seemed quite friendly. But the Heart and Victory was different. Even now, as an opposition coach with the Wanderers, it's the sort of game you want to watch on television. Milicic acknowledged that for Heart, in those early years, the derby games mattered more than others. It was really important for us in those early seasons. Here was Victory, it had everything, a huge supporter base, big-name players like Kevin Muscat and Archie Thompson. They wore the navy blue, they had Victory in their name, it was like they were Victoria, and here we were, this new team trying to beat them and make a statement about ourselves. What helped us in those early games was that we had a lot of experienced players who knew how to cope with the atmosphere and the situation - Josip Skoko, Gerald Sibon, Johnny Aloisi, Clint Bolton, Simon Colosimo, those sort of guys didn't panic or worry. And John van't Schip was very calm and measured, he didn't panic and made us all confident and calm about it. Those matches were really important for us in season one, when we didn't have the best of years finishing eighth and missing the finals. Winning that first-ever derby was very memorable, then Matty Thompson scored two in another match and that was great. There were lots of memories. But Sydney is where Milicic is from, and the Wanderers are now what he cares about. His new side has the edge over Sydney FC with two wins and one defeat in four meetings, and Milicic is happy to see the rivalry grow and develop. For me, being from Sydney, it was a very different feeling. The atmosphere in Melbourne is very different. It had a very European feel to the whole game. The stadiums are well served by public transport, so people would come on trains and trams, wearing scarves and walk to the stadiums making noise, the colours were so distinct. The Sydney derbies are in their early stages, but they are wonderful events too. Here it's more of a geographical thing - our fans come from the west, they are proud of who they are and where they come from, and they want to beat the Sydney boys. For us, there are a lot of overlaps. Poppa's got history there; Shannon Cole, Nikolai Topor-Stanley, Michael Beauchamp, all have been there. Every player likes playing against their old team. And our fans just make it a brilliant atmosphere. Every game where we play in NSW they are there. No games ever feel like an away game. But which is better? I don't think it would be fair to either match really, they are both great occasions. You live in the moment, so for me now I am far more focused on the Sydney derby," says Milicic.