GRAHAM Arnold’s future has been much in discussion this week, but he could have been forgiven for reflecting on a moment in his past this week.
Three years ago it was his less-than-fancied Mariners side that ventured into Suncorp Stadium, and came within moments of besting the overwhelming favourites. It was an incredible finale, the sort to leave all those in attendance tingling as they walked out down the stadium concourses afterwards.
Done it before> Roar captain Matt McKay and team mates celebrate victory after the A-League Grand Final match between the Brisbane Roar and the Central Coast Mariners three years ago. Source: Getty Images
It was also — as Paul Keating might have said, if he’d loved football — the grand final we had to have. The season 2010-11 was not one to go down in history, the game still depressed by the outcome of the World Cup bid.
What that rip-roaring finish did was create a glow around the game that lingered through the off-season. A few months later, Harry Kewell and Brett Emerton were suddenly transported into the A-League, and the progress of the past couple of years was kick started.
At the end of a season of contradictory memories, it would be the perfect moment for Suncorp Stadium to be rocking to its foundations again on Sunday. If this campaign always faced a challenge in living up to its immediate predecessor — the advent of the Wanderers, ADP’s gang of marquees etc was a powerful narrative after all — then there have been times when a reality check has been required.
Maybe the football hasn’t kept pace with the year before — no great surprise when the two most tactical coaches in the league were ripped out in Ange Postecoglou and Arnold. Maybe the shock factor wasn’t there, when the three major marquees were all in their second year in the competition. Nor did any of them have anything like the playing impact of last year.
Maybe too there was a residual wash of negativity from the Socceroos, whose pummelling in Paris on the opening weekend of the A-League season prompted the extraordinary removal of a coach who had overseen qualification for the World Cup.
Yet there were also themes of positivity. The football of Brisbane and Adelaide for a start, a commitment to the game in its purest form — to see Roar back to the heights of recent seasons was a triumph for the home coach tomorrow, Mike Mulvey.
If the Wanderers’ football has been more prosaic — and their fans occasionally more problematic — their story has been remarkable in sustaining their success into year two. There are significant changes ahead of Tony Popovic in overhauling his squad, but the club are doing some powerfully impressive things off the pitch that speak of a club ready to assume a potent place in the Australian sporting landscape.
But with another Suncorp sellout ready to bring the curtain down on Sunday, those plotting the game’s development could do with a finale to leave a similarly powerful impression as three years ago. If football truly has slipped comfortably into the mainstream, it’s vital the casual fan tuning in tomorrow is left wanting more.
To that end, the best thing that could happen would be an early goal for Brisbane, forcing Western Sydney to be proactive in search of an equaliser. But then three years ago the grand final was a 0-0 draw after 90 minutes, and looked how that finished.
It’s a long off season in Australian football, but the fireworks of an ending to remember last for a long time. The fuses are ready to be lit.
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