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As a keen viewer of almost every sport known to humanity, I sometimes find myself emotionally engaged in events to which I have no particular interest or allegiance.
The most recent example was a gymnastics competition in Doha that I stumbled across on Foxtel during the week. Australia had a couple of chances to win an overall World Cup title depending upon the success or failure of other competitors.
It appears the Aussies were already in the Commonwealth Games village preparing and unavailable; despite having a chance to round out the year on top of the points competition.
Kicking back on the lounge and waiting for the upcoming La Liga match on Bein Sports I was lured in. A Chinese fella produced a ripsnorter of a vault, stuck the landing and snared victory by the barest of margins and a petite Romanian girl shone on the uneven bars.
In short, I’ll watch anything and my wife’s opinion that I am a ‘sporting slut’ may be accurate despite its offensiveness.
The reasons for my ‘sluttiness’ are clear and when the game is on the line, watching the way competitors react to pressure situations intrigues me. Some lift, finding new ways to astound and defy logic and perception whereas others fall in a screaming heap, flailing away, directionless.
The beauty of football lies in the fact that the stage on which it is played is bigger than any other game. No other sport has as many organised participants and the universality of the game adds layers of meaning that are difficult to grasp for the unconverted.
Thus, the international footballer is placed in the most extreme of circumstances.
(Photo by Joan Cros Garcia/Corbis via Getty Images)
Comparatively, our microcosmic A-League might not play out on such a grand stage and I’m fairly sure much of mainland Europe missed the action in Round 25, however, our local competition is also building to a climax of triumph and tragedy.
After twenty five rounds, it is time to be counted and some of the on-field statements being made by teams over the last five weeks have been impressive and unanticipated.
An apparent gulf in class between the front running Sky Blues and Newcastle Jets and the rest of the finals contenders has all but evaporated and a couple of old stagers have shoved their foot firmly in the door and refused to budge.
Below are the points accumulated from the last five weeks of A-League football.
Melbourne Victory 12
Perth Glory 10
Brisbane Roar 10
Sydney FC 9
Newcastle Jets 9
Adelaide United 7
Melbourne City 7
Western Sydney 4
These numbers question some widely held beliefs and opinions. For all the adoration around the remarkable feats of Sydney FC over the last two seasons, they have stumbled badly and put doubt, gloom, glee and expectation into the minds of the fans, all dependent upon which side of the fence you sit.
Newcastle loomed as the most likely challenger a few months back yet after another loss, this time to City on Easter Sunday, they now look somewhat ‘gettable’ to the six teams hunting them from behind.
(AAP Image/Darren Pateman)
What is pleasing is the surge of the Victory and the Roar; a surge that has revitalised the competition and a highly competitive top four now looks likely.
It was, therefore, no surprise to see 12,019 people attend Suncorp on Saturday, far above the Roar’s season average of 9,093.
Similarly, 15,280 people found their way to AAMI Park to see the Victory put the cleaners through the Wanderers and Adelaide pulled an excellent 11,738, considering the opposition.
These figures stand to reason however, as form is everything. No matter how stacked with talent or expensive a squad might be, nor how promising the future looks, fans will flock in droves when the team is hot.
At this stage of the season, with the rewards within grasp, watching your team build momentum and start to loom into contention is the stuff of dreams for football fans.
Surprisingly, Perth could only rustle up 7,742 patrons, despite the fact that the Glory were and still are, within reach of a finals appearance.
Perth aside, the top contenders have continued to hold up their end of the bargain and the eleven and a half thousand who packed into McDonald Jones Stadium on Easter Sunday for the clash with Melbourne City, were further evidence.
The boon for the A-League has been the increase in the number of contenders and the strong interest in the final stages of the competition.
Criticism from early in the year failed to factor in a rather disturbing fact. With Sydney FC and Newcastle Jets as exceptions, no other team appeared to be in form. Perhaps an argument could be mounted for City who took all before them in the opening month, yet realistically, it has taken many teams quite some time to get rolling.
Now that they are, things look a lot brighter on the horizon.
Forget any ACL excuses for Sydney; Victory’s current run defies that logic and we have a juicy and competitive finish lined up. Six teams are jostling for four places and with the exception of Western Sydney, each one of them is in good enough form to threaten.
No wonder the tipping has proven so difficult.