It has been a week with a bit more news than last, not necessarily what I thought it might be, but enough to cover my tracks! Thank you Venues NSW, or whoever decides what events take place and when, at McDonald Jones Stadium for providing me with my regular opportunity for an annual rant.
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Who could have foreseen the possible damage of the motorbikes and required heavy equipment, mounds of dirt etc required to stage such an event, on a playing surface that needs to be flat, safe and suitable for the venue's second-most regular tenants?
Only every football fan in the area who has witnessed the consistent embarrassment of substandard or unplayable conditions following such events. Is it because the A-League is staged in the summer months, or would other stronger organisations veto that happening on their watch?
Some will argue it doesn't matter, that the game has been transferred to the Mariners' home ground, but it leaves a problem of perception, that football always takes the back seat when decisions are made.
The Jets have remained relatively quiet, but I have no doubt that these events give their opponents in the F3 derby this week a significantly better chance of getting a result against the Jets than if they had to make the short trip north.
Statistics may possibly suggest otherwise (I don't know and don't really care). All I know is the Mariners, defending champions and all, are none from four, and more likely to regain form at home on the Central Coast. Time will tell. Will anything change? Doubt it.
Which leads quite nicely to the topic of the A-League second division, an eight-team competition comprising teams based entirely in NSW and Victoria. Hardly an advertisement for a national competition, but perhaps there will be applicants from parts wider before the expected launch in March/April of 2025?
Of the inaugural participants, seven clubs consist of those angry for the past 18 years of the restructuring of the game's premier club competition, to the current A-League, at the expense of their participation, on grounds of inclusivity, ethnicity, facilities etc, and one relative newcomer in Avondale FC.
You'd imagine that the perennial tyranny of distance, and the associated cost of participation, would have scuppered the best intentions of those from other states and territories.
It will be an interesting time when promotion and relegation becomes reality. Maybe Michael J Fox as CEO could provide the guidance?
That attempt at jocularity brings me nicely to the recognition of Craig Johnston by the Northern NSW Federation, by naming a building at the Speers Point Facility at Lake Macquarie in his honour. Long overdue, no doubt.
Described very modestly earlier in the week as one of the region's greatest ever players, I'm here to tell you that he is Australia's greatest ever player. Which Australian player would have played at Liverpool, during the era when they won five league championships, a European Cup, an FA Cup, and but for a high-class Flamengo side, and a footballing genius named Zico in his pomp, would have been widely recognised as the best team on the planet?
No one, that's who.
He's the most incredibly versatile and powerful athlete I've seen in person. He played at the absolute pinnacle of our game for much of his career.
A true champion, and a man who never forgets where he came from.
And neither should we.
