Sydney FC star Rhyan Grant ‘disappointed’ by spat between Milos Ninkovic and Steve Corica

A Sydney FC star says it’s “hard” being “in the middle” of the bitter feud between an ex-teammate and his Sky Blues coach.

Sydney FC’s Rhyan Grant celebrates his team’s win over the Wanderers. Picture Brendon Thorne/Getty Images

Sydney FC star Rhyan Grant is finding it “hard” being “in the middle” of the bitter feud between his ex-teammate Milos Ninkovic and Sky Blues coach Steve Corica.

Tensions boiled over last Saturday night at CommBank Stadium when Ninkovic, now a Wanderers player, entered Sydney FC’s dressing room following the Sky Blues’ 2-1 elimination final over Western Sydney.

Footage was seen of Ninkovic congratulating Sydney players on their win before being forcibly removed from the room.

Post-match, Corica said Sydney “had issues” with their former star playmaker, who defected to the Wanderers last year following a dramatic falling out with the Sky Blues mentor, with the pair exchanging barbs publicly about the reasons for Ninkovic switching clubs.

“As someone that’s in the middle of it, being in between Milos and the club, it’s a little bit disappointing,” Grant said on Wednesday,

“He’s still got a very good relationship with a lot of the players.

“Obviously, what he said in the media about the club and about ‘Bimbi’ (Corica) isn’t great.

“From my personal view, I didn’t really like it, but at the same time, I would take it at face value.

“He’s never done anything wrong by me, but in saying that, I think there’s a line there.

“Whether he wanted to come into the change room to generally wish us all the best or to rile up ‘Bimbi’, I suppose you could only ask him.

“It’s a difficult one. It’s a hard one to be in the middle of.”

Wanderers star Milos Ninkovic (left) evades his former teammate Luke Brattan. Picture: Jason McCawley/Getty Images

Grant, who was still on the field when the incident took place in the dressing room, said Ninkovic had since messaged him.

“I didn’t get to see him after the game ... but he did give me a message after just to wish me all the best.” he said.

Grant was also involved in a post-match incident with Wanderers import Amor Layouni that quickly became a melee in front of the Western Sydney bench.

“I didn’t plan to do it. It was just one of those things, with the pure excitement, the passion around the game, after a big win at their home ground, it just overtook me,” he said.

“It’s probably not the best look but it was just one of those things. I didn’t have much control of ... that’s probably the main reason I carried on like a pork chop.”

Grant said it was essential he and his Sydney teammates kept their emotions in check on Friday night at Allianz Stadium in the first-leg of their semi-final against premiers Melbourne City.

“Coming off the back of that, we need to bring ourselves back down a little bit,” he said.

“We have to re-evaluate and go again this week and make sure we’re up for it but not get too carried away.

“We definitely have to approach it in a different way. There’s not as much emotional passion ... but it’s still got to be a massive game and we can’t wait to play in front of our fans and get a good start to this two-legger.”

Sydney’s active supporter group, The Cove, will be at the match after boycotting last Friday night’s game due to alleged “broken promises” made by the Australian Professional Leagues and Football Australia and stemming from the APL’s decision sell the grand final hosting rights to the NSW government.

“They’re always our 12th man ... so to have them back supporting us like they do, it’s going to make a big difference;” Grant said.

Originally published as Sydney FC star Rhyan Grant ‘disappointed’ by spat between Milos Ninkovic and Steve Corica