The term “who would have thought” is so applicable to so many aspects about the Western Sydney Wanderers.
The latest one – who would have thought we’ve come to expect an occasion like last Sunday. Not hope. Expect. And so it followed, noise and colour blaring through our screens at Fox Sports HQ.
If you were there, more of it thanks.
So to the next “who would have thought”: on the eve of just the 4th version, the Sydney Derby has become the biggest annual club sporting fixture of the nation’s biggest city.
Think about that for a second… there is next to no history to lean back on here, but right away, there is a special vibe about these two coming together.
True, it follows a classic script – glamour boys of the East, working class of the West.
Those stereotypes might be stretched a bit here, Sydney FC train closer to Pirtek Stadium than the Wanderers do, but it’s not too far from the mark.
However back to that statement – there is no bigger club fixture across all codes than this one, when form of the two teams involved is irrelevant and there’s an enhanced sense of achievement for the winner, desolate sense of failure for the loser.
The NRL gets some great crowds, especially at each end of the season when it’s not so cold but rugby league’s marquee fixtures are more about who is in form rather than a tribal sentiment.
The Roosters-St George Illawarra ANZAC Day clash is a grand occasion which has grown exponentially, but it is more part of a day all about national commemoration.
Rugby Union – well it depends who the Waratahs play at home each season and how they are travelling.
As for AFL, GWS have to start being competitive – which might happen one day – before their duo of clashes with the Swans can be billed as a showdown of epic proportions.
The fervour from beyond the fence won’t be out of line with some of the other massive derbies around the world this weekend.
