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Western Sydney Wanderers coach Alen Stajcic has used his side’s 1-0 Sydney derby win as a platform for a passionate plea for unity across Australian football, comparing it to the NRL, and urging the game to “celebrate the good stuff” instead of tearing itself apart.
Speaking after Alou Kuol’s second-half strike sealed the Wanderers’ first derby victory in two years, Stajcic launched into a passionate defence of the A-League.
“Let’s talk about the spectacle. How good a spectacle is it?” Stajcic said.
“So often we’ve got infighting in football in Australia and we put ourselves down and we say all the things that are wrong. The criticism of our own game by our own people is just over the top.”
Stajcic said he had “truly believed” that the Sydney derby remained the best event in the domestic sporting calendar. What he couldn’t understand was why football people seemed determined to criticise their sport.
“I love the NRL and I don’t want to give any other sports stick because I watch six or seven NRL games every weekend,” Stajcic said.
“But ever since I was a little kid in the mid-80s and 90s, all I hear is ‘the greatest game of all’. NRL people pump up their own sport all the time.
“I see Peter V’landys at every single press conference telling the whole world how good his sport is. He’s an advocate for his game. He’s passionate. He’s an advocate for his product. And we don’t do any of that. We’re infighting all the time. We’re like two seagulls fighting over one chip. We’ve got nothing and we fight over it.
“We’ve got an amazing product here, amazing fan groups.
“The Sydney FC end was full. Our end was full. It’s a great spectacle. I don’t know why we always put ourselves down.”
“Let’s talk about a spectacle, how good of a spectacle is it (the Sydney Derby).”
A ????????????????-???????????????????? press conference snippet from head coach Alen Stajcic ???? #WSW pic.twitter.com/SD1rpfqEnL
— WS Wanderers FC (@wswanderersfc) November 29, 2025
Stajcic said the sport had potential and achievements its rivals could only dream of.
“Of course there’s things we need to critique and do better because it’s a global game,” Stajcic said.
“We’re not the NRL that’s just popular in two states of the whole world. We’re the global game and we’re competing.
“The Matildas are in the top few in the world. The Socceroos made the round of 16. Twenty thousand people came to watch an amazing spectacle and sing their hearts out. At some point you’ve got to be grateful and celebrate the good parts of your game while trying to improve others.”
What bothered Stajcic most was the tone of the conversation, and how quickly the knives come out.
“I go down to Melbourne and it’s just AFL, AFL, AFL. You come here and there’s five or six pages of NRL. You guys are lucky to get a column,” he said, addressing the football media in his press conference.
“And then I read a column and it’s all negative. Which coach is going to get sacked? Which player is playing crap? Which club is going under?
“Why don’t we talk about the positives? Why don’t we talk about all the young talent coming through? Why don’t we talk about the Joeys winning? Why don’t we talk about the young Socceroos, the young Matildas, the Matildas?
“[Melbourne Victory coach] Arthur Diles loses two games and suddenly he’s a shit coach.
“He made the grand final last year. He was the second-best coach in the league three months ago. And he loses two games? I don’t hear that in the NRL. Ever.”
Stajcic said the sport’s constant internal battles had damaged its collective voice.
“Ever since FFA and APL separated, we’ve got even less. Less of a voice,” Stajcic said.
“Unless we’re unified throughout the whole member federation, stakeholders, A-League clubs… unless we’re all united and support each other, the game’s going to keep doing the same vicious cycle forever. I’ve seen it for 40 years.”
Asked how to break that cycle, he didn’t hesitate.
“Yeah, we just have to be positive and promote the good stuff,” he said. “Honestly, you watch NRL. The amount of times Andrew Voss commentates a game and at the end of it I’m buzzing.
“When do you hear him criticising the NRL? Phil Gould will have a bit of a go, but most of it is positive. They’ll find solutions and talk about how to make the game better.
“But we don’t. We just fight each other all the time. We want to put each other down at every possible moment.
“We’ve actually got a lot to celebrate. And it starts with us.”