A-League: Sydney FC to use recent Jets loss as motivation in pursuit of historic grand final glory
Sydney FC are grateful to Newcastle for giving them ‘the wake call we needed’ last week as they focus on completing an A-League season for the ages in style.
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With a record fourth Premier’s Plate in their possession, Sydney FC now plan on using last week’s late meltdown against Newcastle Jets as motivation to secure a historic fifth championship by winning the double this season.
The Sky Blues were basking in the glow of their premiership triumph at training on Monday, but admit that without success on grand final day their dominant season will lose plenty of its sparkle.
Star right-back Rhyan Grant said the 2-1 defeat to Jets, in which they held a 1-0 halftime lead, was the “wake-up call” the team needed in the run to the finals.
“We didn’t play that great so we know if we don’t show up, we can’t just expect to win games,” Grant said.
“Obviously we’ve had a good season but it doesn’t mean anything if we don’t show up on the day.
“A couple of years ago we had a great year and lost in the semis so we know it’s definitely a possibility.
“We’ve ticked this goal off now and the next thing is winning that grand final.”
Becoming the first team to win back-to-back titles since Brisbane in 2011-12, and the first to do the double since they themselves did it three years ago, would elevate Steve Corica’s side into the top tier in A-League history.
But the young coach knows that anything short of grand final glory will kill off claims of them being the equal of the great sides.
“It’ll come down to if we win the grand final,” Corica said. “What you achieve as a group and how many trophies you win, that’s what it comes down to at the end of the day.
“They’ve got one trophy which we wanted, one piece of silverware. But there’s still one to go. And the grand final is the most important thing in Australia. We want to win that one as well.”
Corica is comfortable with his side being the hunted this year, having played the opposite role last season in pouncing in the finals to beat premiers Perth Glory and deliver a championship win in his first year as coach.
“It’s not the first time that’s happened at this club — it’s normally that way, that we’re the hunted ones,” he said.
“Last year Perth were the best team over the course of a season, and they get their credit for that. We were hunting them down, really.
“This year it’s a bit different but we’ve got a lot of experienced players that have been there, won premierships, won grand finals.”
Sydney has four regular season games still to play, starting with Saturday’s clash with third-placed Melbourne City, and they’ll be without Grant (groin) for at least the next two games.
Corica is hopeful the 29-year-old will be fit to face Brisbane in Sydney’s penultimate clash before the finals, but definitely expects him to be available for Western United on August 15 and the finals to follow.
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Sydney FC have set their sights on back-to-back grand final glory to cement their status as the greatest A-League side of all time, after securing a record fourth Premier’s Plate.
The Sky Blues notched their fourth premiership on Saturday night, with Wellington’s 1-1 draw against Adelaide United sealing the trophy for Steve Corica’s men.
It’s a third premiership in four seasons, and Sydney now have a chance to become just the second team, after Brisbane Roar in 2012-13, to win back-to-back championships.
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But there’s no questioning this team’s place in A-League history, considering their sustained success across the past four seasons.
For skipper Alex Wilkinson it’s a fifth premiership, having twice won with Central Coast Mariners, and the veteran defender wasn’t shy in singing the praises of the A-League juggernaut.
“It’s special what we’ve achieved in these last four seasons,” Wilkinson told The Daily Telegraph.
“There hasn’t been any team be this consistent or anywhere near this consistent in the A-League era.
“We’ve won three out of the last four Premier’s Plates and the other season we finished second with 50-something points and it was only because Perth had such an amazing season that we didn’t quite win it again.”
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Sydney had the chance to lift the trophy in front of their home fans on Tuesday, only to be denied by a late stunner from Newcastle’s Kosta Petratos – a loss which will be used as motivation in chasing more silverware this season.
With four games still to play, Sydney FC will now turn their attention to backing up last year’s championship glory.
But that’s not the only target they have in mind, with Wilkinson revealing pre-season marks for points tallied, as well as goals for and against, have yet to be reached.
“We set the goals pretty high at the start of the season. We haven’t achieved any of them,” he explained.
“We need a few more wins, goals and a few more cleansheets. That’s what’s going to be pushing us for the next four weeks now.”
And then, of course, is the grand final – where victory would give Sydney a record fifth championship, pulling them away from Melbourne Victory’s four.
“We’ve got the premier’s plate but we still want to back up with the grand final,” said Corica.
“That’s been our aim from the start of the season.
Originally published as A-League: Sydney FC to use recent Jets loss as motivation in pursuit of historic grand final glory