After Heidelberg United won the battle against Sydney United on the pitch on Wednesday night, a mini war of words emerged in the press room between respective coaches George Katsakis and Mark Rudan.
Rudan took a parting shot at the quality of Victorian football, claiming “there’s not too much football being played” down south.
Katsakis responded by saying “Victoria is a little bit better at the moment.”
It started with an assessment by the Sydney United coach that his side was more impressive after conceding the first goal in the opening stages of their FFA Cup Round of 16 encounter.
“Second half I thought we were excellent, there was only one team in the game,” Rudan said.
“But you’ve got to give Heidelberg some credit too, because they stuck it out.
“You’ve got to get through those tough periods too, they did that under a lot of pressure and they got their second.
The Fox Sports pundit used his club’s annual encounters in the Friendship Cup – along with a recent scouting mission of Heidelberg in the lead up to the game – as the basis of his opinion.
“Every year we play a Friendship Cup against the Melbourne Knights and every year they pose the same challenge, which is very physical, there’s not too much football being played I’ll be honest,” he said.
“I got to watch Heidelberg play their last five games, and I’m not being biased, I think the Sydney teams try to play a lot more.
“You can see with us, even when we’re 1-0 down we still try and play out from the back, we’re still trying to play and for me, that’s the way forward.
“In Melbourne the teams are very physical, different type of league, I’m not saying there aren’t good players, there certainly are good players, but they play to their strengths.
“That’s my assessment of watching five different teams against Heidelberg the last six weeks. I think it’s a different type of game, but then again you’ve got good and bad from every league and even our bottom teams in New South Wales are like that, but the top half teams really try and play.”
Katsakis hit back, saying the Warriors’ ability to defeat two NSW teams in the Cup – both at home and on the road – was testament to the strength of football in the state.
“I personally think that Victorian football has been showcased once again. I think that was a convincing win in my opinion, and yes they did come at us in the second half but I think Victoria is a little bit greater at the moment,” he said.
“Getting that nice early goal allowed us to express ourselves in that first half an hour. Undoubtedly, I think we played some good football in that first 30 minutes that was second to none.
“Those early goals allow you to do that sometimes. On the contrary, it can also have a negative effect, but to the boys’ credit, they just stood tall, grafted the result until that late second goal.
“No doubt everyone will protect their state and back themselves but our two results are over two fairly strong [NPL] teams.
“Broadmeadows Magic was a game where we showed our immense class, whereas today we grafted a result but showed those signs of quality football as well.
“If that’s one of the better teams of the NPL in New South Wales, then I think at the moment that Victoria may be slightly ahead.”
Following Heidelberg’s victory, one Victorian NPL side has qualified for the quarter-finals with two more to compete in the Round of 16, while only two NPL clubs from NSW remain in the competition.
The Bergers still also have finals football to play, while Sydney United begin their off-season now after missing out on a top five spot in the NSW NPL 1 by finishing seventh.