Every decent electrician understands the lethal dangers of arcing, when electricity leaps across a gap between wires and has the potential to set a house on fire.
As Milos Ninkovic took his seat for the pre-derby press conference, positioned at a table barely a metre from his old boss Steve Corica, the space between the two seemed to have similarly combustible qualities.
Enmity was in the air, and none of it confected. Ninkovic’s defection across town to Western Sydney – leaving behind a full trophy cabinet at Sydney FC – meant this derby would always have a special edge. But for the first time that Ninkovic and Corica were reunited, on the turf of the rebuilt Allianz Stadium, there was talk of “disrespect” and “the enemy”. Ninkovic in particular looked genuinely displeased.
The exact nature of his departure from the club is still a matter of acrimonious disagreement – Sydney say a contract was put on the table, Ninkovic that its conditions were way too onerous, including the requirement to gain citizenship and not be a visa player.
Either way, Western Sydney were happy to allow their rival’s magnificent Serb the chance to continue his career elsewhere, the perfect narrative for those of us who just want to enjoy the drama. Ninkovic shook the hand of Luke Brattan, his former teammate, with apparent warmth and a spoken greeting – as he moved to briefly acknowledge Corica, the smile had gone and there was nothing said.
Ninkovic was genuinely irritated by Sydney’s offer to their fans to swap ther old Ninkovic shirts for a bag of sweets and a $10 merchandise voucher, though seems to have missed the fact that the donated shirts will end up with Football United, a refugee charity. Either way, as he surveyed the rebuilt stadium on the turf where his feet produced so much magic, the veteran made clear how little he will need motivation in the derby.
“I spent seven years here, won six trophies and I thought – I still think – I deserved a little bit more respect,” he said. “The fans will react as they will, but my aim is just to help my teammates.
“This club gave me a chance to do for at least one more year the thing I love, and I’m going to give everything I have to help this group do something big this season.
“I saw something the other day about my jersey… I was a big part of the club’s success, and I have many jerseys from Sydney FC grand finals and I’m going to keep everyone of them for all of my life, even the awards that I have.
I don’t need to prove who I am to anyone. Everyone says that my legacy is destroyed by leaving Sydney FC but my legacy is going to be here in all the trophies I won.
Corica smilingly corrected a question asking if he regretted “letting Ninkovic go” – noting that the club had tabled an offer for him to stay and “we didn’t let him go”. But after duly praising both Ninkovic’s standing in the game and his form this season, he added sharply: “He’s the enemy on Saturday, he has to be.”
No wonder Marko Rudan, Western Sydney’s head coach, wanted to intercede. Complaining that Ninkovic had been kicked so often in last week’s loss to the Mariners that he had a swollen ankle by halftime, Rudan laid an unsubtle request at the door of referee Alex King, who will have the role of keeping the powderkeg from blowing up on Saturday night.
“Quality players get kicked a lot and it certainly happened to him last week,” Rudan said. “We reported it to the referee and these type of players need to be looked after. We’re just hoping the referees do their job properly this time and look after players like Ninko.”
Soon the questions were over and Brattan and Ninkovic strolled onto the main field for photos, while Rudan slipped away for his final preparations. Somehow it feels like the electricity will still be hanging in the air around Allianz Stadium come Saturday night.
