Wanderers cage one time kings of the jungle

A leopard never changes its spots, a tiger never changes its stripes and Brisbane Roar never beat Western Sydney Wanderers – that is the lesson following the hooped side’s third consecutive win against the twice champion club.

The 2-1 come-from-behind win on Sunday afternoon means Wanderers have now collected the maximum nine points from their three regular season fixtures against Roar this season.

More impressively, two of those wins came on the road, including the club’s famous first A-League victory back in October.

The last time one club had so successfully caged Roar in a season was 2009 when then newboys Gold Coast United took all the points from the first three ‘M1 Derby’ matches and coincided with the club's turbulent transition from Frank Farina to Ange Postecoglou.

Like in 2009 Roar’s recent hiccups have been myriad and well-documented but it was perhaps the Wanderers that earlier this season first pointed out the all-too-obvious against the defending champions – the only thing any team really has to fear is fear itself.

Tony Popovic approached the orange juggernaut without first-hand experience of their previous two seasons and ably set about dismantling them as he would any other A-League franchise.

That Popovic managed to do it on three separate occasions - with his burgeoning side in a different stage of development and his opponents in a different stage of decline each time - is testament to the lack of fear his side held at the start of the season, and continues to hold now.

For Brisbane fans around the country it is also another indication of Roar’s rapid unravelling. 

Brisbane Roar may proudly display a lion on the club crest but when stared down by a metaphorical babe in the woods like Wanderers this season the supposed king of the jungle has proved as toothless and kickable as any scruffy suburban moggy.

Like a cat in a bag waiting to drown, the Roar simply don't work against Wanderers. Fans of a certain disposition might even suggest that Wanderers have shown up Brisbane Roar for mere pussies with near impunity.

After all, it’s the red and black that now have the purr-fect record to prove it; while those in orange once again can do little other than lick their wounds.