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| Credit: Melanie Dinjaski |
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But that wasn’t the only drama on the night. Here’s the rundown of the talking points after the 2011/12 Hyundai A-League Grand Final.
Shane Smeltz’s facial injury
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| Credit: Melanie Dinjaski |
Just fifteen minutes into the match Shane Smeltz was flattened by the stray arm of Roar captain Matt Smith. Immediate reactions were that it was serious, which was later confirmed by officials. Smeltz required more than fifty stitches to sew up his lip and nose which were severely torn from the impact. Temporarily able to play out three quarters of the game with his head bandaged up, Glory coach Ian Ferguson finally subbed the German-born striker to receive further medical attention. Ferguson later explained the difficulty Smeltz was having after the injury.
“We tried to keep him on as long as we could,” Ferguson explained.
“He was finding it tough to breathe, that was the most difficult thing. I was actually thinking about maybe bringing him off at halftime. He’s got a very, very bad cut inside the mouth, down the nose as well, it’s really split open.”
The Penalty
Was it an airswing? Did he fall? Was he put off balance? Did he dive or unfairly appeal? That’s what football fans everywhere will be asking.
Replays showed Besart Berisha had passed Liam Miller when he lost his footing in the box, having attempted a shot on goal. The arguments for the penalty were that Miller, who stuck out his boot, did enough to put the Albanian off balance and cause the fall. Those against the penalty say Miller was nowhere near Berisha when he went down, and the striker simply had an airswing and lost his footing. Further controversy then arises from the fact the controversial forward appealed for a penalty.
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| Credit: Melanie Dinjaski |
Ian Ferguson tried to repel questions which were trying to bait him into criticising referee Jared Gillett.
“I don’t mean to be rude, but I don’t want to talk about the referee. He’s made the mistake, given the decision and I don’t want to start going at referees,” the Scotsman said.
“You want to talk about the final, talk about the final. I’m not going to condemn the guy. To me he’s made a mistake, end of story.
“I thought it was an airswing and he got the penalty.
“Not much I can do, not much I can bring back or take back time. But that’s what’s happened and we’ve lost a grand final.”
Roar coach Ange Postecoglou was unsurprisingly philosophical about the penalty.
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| Credit: Melanie Dinjaski |
“As a team we’ve always been the one that takes the initiative and I’ve always believed that if you do that, that you’ll get rewarded more often than not,” he said.
“The number of occasions we won games late over the last two years is not a fluke, it’s not luck.
“If anyone thinks we’re undeserving of it, then I got an issue with that because I think we deserve to be champions. The rest is just good theatre.”
The result doesn’t change however. Brisbane Roar will go down as champions albeit it in controversial circumstances and it will remain a big talking point for years to come.
The Joe Marston Medal Presentation Stuff-Up
On the biggest day of the Hyundai A-League season, like a game of Chinese whispers, the wrong name was read out during the presentation of the Joe Marston Medal, resulting in Thomas Broich having to hand back the award for Jacob Burns to accept it, in an awkward post-match press conference.
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| Credit: Melanie Dinjaski |
In a long and sorry speech, head of the Hyundai A-League Lyall Gorman re-awarded the medal to the deflated Perth Glory captain.
“Unfortunately there’s been an administrative error with the awarding of the Joe Marston Medal tonight,” Gorman started.
“It’s one of those things that means that much to us and we want to honour the medal in that form, we have to undo it tonight and unpack it. We apologise to Brisbane Roar obviously, we apologise to Thomas Broich, we apologise to Perth Glory and to you Fergie. But most of all Jacob, we apologise to you. You were the proper and judged winner of the Joe Marston Medal. You were the most outstanding player on the field.”
The media were first given a sniff that something wasn’t right when Ferguson was questioned on the topic of whether Thomas Broich was a deserving winner.
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| Credit: Melanie Dinjaski |
“It was just a breakdown in the communication between the announcer and the judging panel. It’s one of those unfortunate things, it’s wrong and it shouldn’t happen,” Gorman said.
Roar coach Ange Postecoglou let his guard down to comment on the shocking news.
“You shouldn’t get that wrong as far as I’m concerned,” he said.
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| Credit: Melanie Dinjaski |
“I’m not into bashing the people that run our game, there’s enough people who do that anyway. I’ve always been the kind of person where I think, me, because I earn a living from the game should be an advocate for the positive things, but you can’t get that wrong.”
The forced smile from Jacob Burns was near painful to watch, as was Gorman who was desperately seeking a more sincere acceptance of the FFA’s apology. Though Burns’ body language said something very different, the Glory skipper’s words showed true character.
“It’s an absolute privilege to receive this medal. It’s something that I will cherish for the rest of my career and life. And look these things happen. Obviously I’ll share this with Thomas, he’s an unbelievable player. There could have been a number of people out there to get it,” Burns said.
No matter the graciousness in which Burns accepted the medal, the whole event was an embarrassingly farcical incident that will simply add fuel to the fire for those against the A-League and the body that runs it.
Ange’s Departure
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| Credit: Melanie Dinjaski |
Since arriving in Brisbane in 2009, Ange Postecoglou has built a formidable team to go back-to-back for the first time in A-League history. Let’s not forget last season there was a mass exodus of players, that included their then captain Matt McKay.
Still, the right players were selected to fill the void and here they are once again crowned champions.
“I’m going to enjoy the moment and enjoy us winning another championship,” Postecoglou said after the win.
“I think I deserve to at least bask in the celebrations that we’ll have over the next couple of days, and when the time is right and after I sit down and talk with the relevant people, the next move will be decided.”
So long Ange!
The Final Reaction
For Brisbane the victory in front of a packed Suncorp Stadium puts them into the mix as one of the best ever A-League clubs. Certainly as the first team to win the championship two seasons running, with or without Ange Postecoglou, they will go into next season as hot favourites.
“Just a ridiculous end again to a game and as much a testament to the spirit of these players. It was a real hard slog today,” Postecoglou said with orange glitter glistening off his hair.
“It was a battle. It wasn’t pretty. Perth to their credit made it really difficult for us.”
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| Credit: Melanie Dinjaski |
It may not have been the result Perth Glory and their purple-clad fans would have hoped for, but it was a season to be proud of for the visitors. They defied the odds to make the Grand Final, and were within reach of taking the title.
Ferguson was unashamedly proud of his team and their performance.
“I’m very proud of them and how they’ve played their season. Nobody’s given us a chance and they’ve come through, gotten over hurdle after hurdle,” he said.
“I thought the game plan went well and we were outstanding today.”
An emotional Jacob Burns was clearly devastated at how close they came to victory.
“I would love to have my hands on the trophy. I’ve been looking at it all week and dreaming about holding it. But it wasn’t to be tonight. I can’t fault anyone from the staff to all our players, our whole travelling squad, it’s been a fantastic year for us,” he said.
“But you got to take your hat off to Brisbane. You just can’t take your eye off them for even a second. They’re true champions.”