Brisbane coach Jeff Hopkins is confident his side’s experience in the inaugural Westfield W-League Grand Final will hold them in good stead to go back-to-back and down Sydney FC in this season’s decider at Shark Park on Saturday.
Sydney has won five matches on the trot and will start favourites this weekend after defeating Canberra United 3-0 in last weekend’s semi-final, but there are some factors that fall in the Roar’s advantage.
Brisbane has never lost to the Sky Blues since the formation of the Westfield W-League, including a stunning penalty shootout triumph in last season’s semi-final.
Hopkins cares little for the healthy head-to-head record, but did suggest that memories of the Roar’s 2-0 win over Canberra in last season’s grand final would be fresh in the minds of his players.
“We beat them twice last year and had a very tight game this year down in Sydney, but I don’t think that really counts for much,” Hopkins said on Thursday.
“What I will say is that after being in the final last year and having that experience there – that is definitely an advantage for us.”
“We’ve got a lot of character in the squad and we’ll be able to draw on the experience from last year.”
Roar captain Clare Polkinghorne echoed her mentor’s thoughts.
“The only pressure that we’re getting is from outside, we’re confident in ourselves and we’ve been through this before,” Polkinghorne said.
“We know what to expect and that will give us a bit of an advantage.”
Both sides were forced to play one short in their semi-finals after copping early red cards, and Polkinghorne was sure that with the stakes even higher, the aggression would not let up.
“No matter if it’s a grand final or just Round 1, there’s that little bit of rivalry with Sydney and Brisbane,” she said.
“Anytime we play Sydney it’s going to be physical … we love physical contests and that’s what a grand final should be.”
The Roar won eight of their 10 regular matches last season and proved impossible to beat at Ballymore Stadium.
Ballymore remained a fortress, but the women in orange were not as dominant and had to travel to the Central Coast for their semi-final after failing to take full points from four games this season.
Hopkins preferred to see the positives in his side’s inconsistent campaign.
“Last year things went a lot more to plan – a home semi-final and a home final, this year we’ve been tested a little bit more and I think that’s a good thing,” he said.
“I personally believe the league has improved this year, it’s been more of a challenge for us every week.”
“I think having those struggles for a few weeks has made us really look at ourselves as a team.”
