Comrades,
Never have I been as angry and disgusted as I am now. The Wolves got
themselves a 3-0 win at Perth Oval, and in the process lost whatever
respect and dignity they may have possessed. They collected six yellows
and a red, but that wasn't the worst of it. What they did was come very
close to inciting a riot amongst the most amiable supporters in the
land.
It began with their first goal. Their whole team ran over to The Shed and put their fingers up at it. Only Perinich was booked. After the second goal a gloating piece of over-celebration resulted in the fans throwing plastic bottles onto the field. Later Reda taunted the crowd from the bench until a police officer ordered him to stop it (Theodorakopolis made no attempt to stop him). The fourth official (McCaffery) complained to Theodorakopoulos, who still did nothing. Next Chipperfield scored and taunted The Shed (no booking). Finally came the tour de grace. In injury time Connolly punched Miller in the face in retaliation for a foul, sparking an onfield ruckus. Not surprisingly Connolly was shown a red card, and Theodorakopoulos actually complained! As Connolly came off he put his finger up to the crowd with a predictable reaction. It could have got very nasty with the crowd now in a brutal mood, and the Wolves bench was evacuated (Reda sprinting down the players' tunnel). After the final whistle the Wolves players clustered in the middle of the field, apprehensive about walking beneath the fans that they themselves had riled up. In the end they left the field unmolested, and could consider themselves fortunate.
Disgraceful behaviour from the Wolves. The Glory club will have to back the fans on this one, as we've copped worse hidings at home than this without a hint of violence. But gratuitous level of incitement was way over the top and will almost certainly earn the Wolves a fine (quite honestly Bosnich's nazi salute was mild by comparision). The best word I can find for the Wolves' behaviour was ungracious. They made the Knights look charitable.
None of this should detract from the fact that Glory were utter shite and deserved to lose by more than three. But worse than the result are the consequences. Despotovski was sent off for two stupid (but not malicious) yellow cards, and the other two Glory players booked, Buljubasic and Miller, will now be suspended. Also Carbone limped off with a hamstring injury. With Tapai and Strudwick also unavailable, next week's team will be severely depleted.
All in all this afternoon was a darker nightmare than Eraserhead. And I now hate the Wolves as much (if not more) than the Knights. To think that in the list survey I voted for them as the team I'd like to see win the championship ... well no more.