Melbourne City fulfilling the promise of Australian women’s football, not stifling it
To the victor belongs the spoils and also the TV sideline reporters' microphone.
So as Melbourne City celebrated a third consecutive W-League championship and kept their perfect record alive, the cameras closed in on player-of-the-match Jess Fishlock far more quickly than the Sydney FC defence had done.
Fishlock performed the usual breathless ''thank youses'' expected in such moments of euphoria.
''I have nothing but pride and love for this football team,'' said the Welshwoman, who was the scorer of the first and author of the second of Melbourne City's two goals in a richly-deserved 2-0 victory.
And then, as adroitly as Fishlock had lost the Sydney FC defence, the 31-year-old "Welsh Wizard" veered away from the usual anodyne post-match victory cliches and mounted the political podium.
"I think you won't realise until five, 10 years, what Melbourne City has done for women's football in this country," Fishlock said.
"People won't accept or appreciate it. They're going be bitter, they're going hate us. But look what it's doing to the sport in your country.
"It's bringing the sport on tenfold. You don't have to like Melbourne City, but respect the girls. Respect what the girls have achieved, because it won't happen again."
Fishlock could have instead poked out her tongue or flexed her tattooed muscles and said: "We're Melbourne City. You can hate us. We don't care!"
But, in the current context of Australian football politics, her passionate and articulate defence of the success achieved with the backing of her club's oil rich Abu Dhabi owners was far more potent.
Melbourne City — call the club Melbourne $ity if you like — is resented by some because its wealth has supposedly given it an advantage over other clubs, even allowing for the confines of Australian football's unusual salary cap system.
In the case of Melbourne City's A-League team, wonderful training facilities, access to the City Football Group's global recruiting network, occasional guest appearances by the likes of Spanish superstar David Villa and the seemingly favourable treatment that allowed them to recruit Tim Cahill has not yet led to on-field success.
But, as Fishlock suggested, a third-straight victory for a W-League team replete with Matildas and other international superstars including Fishlock and Japan's World Cup winner Yukari Kinga is certain to arouse yet more jealousy and resentment from beaten rivals.
So rather than shove $ity's success in their faces, Fishlock instead asked rivals and fans to ponder how her club was raising the bar. How?
By assembling a team that is by any club standard genuinely world-class, Melbourne City was fulfilling the promise of women's football in Australia. Not stifling it.
Melbourne City's W-League success shows the way forward
The sharp edge to Fishlock's comments is because of the battle currently being waged between Australian club owners and the FFA. One in which Melbourne City, with its global connections, holds a powerful hand.
The achievements of Melbourne City's W-League team are symbolic of what A-League club owners hope they too can achieve in building stronger teams and maximising the potential of a domestic competition struggling to regain a foothold in the public consciousness.
At the same time, the modest stage on which the W-League grand final was played further represented the inability of football's struggling administration to build a stronger audience for the game at the top level.
A record W-League grand final crowd of 6,025 at the Sydney Football Stadium was hailed by most as a wonderful success. And in the context of average crowds for the W-League and most overseas competitions, you could make that case.
Average attendance for the American National Women's Soccer League is just over 5,000 and Melbourne City's sister club Manchester City last year became the only club in England to average crowds of more than 2,000 a game.
Yet the sight of so many empty seats in a cavernous stadium was slightly dispiriting given the quality of the game. Perhaps it is a matter of whether you considered the Sydney Football Stadium one-seventh empty, or one-seventh full.
Over Fishlock's shoulder, the victory podium was being prepared for the game's dignitaries to take part in the usual photo opportunity. FFA chairman Steven Lowy and chief executive David Gallop would present the medals and trophies and glory in the players' achievements.
You wonder what they would have made of the Melbourne City striker's decidedly off-script remarks given her club is effectively fighting for control of the game, and that her comments could be perceived as an endorsement of the potency of Club Power.
None of which detracted from what took place on the pitch. Melbourne City's victory was a wonderful achievement by a team that, just a few weeks ago, had to win its final regular season game just to make the finals.
There was, most memorably, Fishlock's thumping boot and the athleticism and bravery of City goalkeeper Lydia Williams, who made some wonderful saves and defied injury to remain on the pitch in the last 25 minutes.
All that was missing was a valedictory goal by Sydney FC striker and Matildas' stalwart Lisa De Vanna, who instead botched a chance to give the home team the lead in the early stages.
It was a memorable final with a familiar result, one that was testament to Melbourne City's ability to raise the standard but also redolent of the local administration's failure to keep pace.
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ABC .net
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