Leaderboard

And that win was for you Judith…I am sure you were watching down from the RBB terrace in the sky..RIP. A fitting performance to her memory.

Just love the "get ****ed you're not getting anything off us" attitude on display. Especially from players like Cleur, who has often been shat on for mistakes, and Milanovic who i've shat on for seemingly being too selfish. We've clearly got belief which is priceless really.

It was with much sadness I heard the passing of Red. She will be farewelled today and it’s with even greater sadness that I can’t attend. When I first met Red and Michael they just epitomised to me everything this club and supporter base was about. Hard working, down to earth, cultured, fierce, intelligent and above all else, extremely proud of being a Westie. Red quickly became known as Grandma RBB. After all match days were a family occasion for her and Michael, along with her son Gavin and Grandson Dylan. It didn’t help that she would distribute lozenges amongst us to ensure our throats stayed lubricated to fulfill 90 minutes of singing. Red was such a respected member by the club that she went on to be a volunteer and assist with establishing the school programs. She was after all a retired school principal. But at heart she was RBB through and through. Always amongst it with the March and the terrace, chanting and supporting the team as best she can. You’d even see her at the pub pre match. Red has now joined her husband Michael on the terrace in the sky. Well done Red. You played a hard but fair game. We will miss you greatly.

I enjoyed that so ******* much. It’s a reminder of why fell in love with the Wanderers in those early days. Fight for everything, for every ball, for each other. Run through the wall and leave it all out there for the team. It really is great to watch after years of absolute shite. All credit to Staj and co…he really has them humming along. We are set for the finals AND look like a team that is not just making up the numbers..You have permission to be excited!

I honestly think that if 12 weeks ago, we would have been promised an 11 game unbeaten streak, we all would have taken it. Not every performance has been perfect, nor even convincing. Like tonight. Yet, we keep getting the job done. Yes, we've had some luck along the way. We've also had some very impressive performances. And there's been games that with a bit of luck or better discipline, we should have won. It still kills me that being up 3-1 against the east at their home ground with 8 minutes to play, we let them back into the game and dropped two vital points. What's done is done now. Without doubt, we actually have the team and the capacity to win our first title. It will need some luck on any particular day, like the ACL win in Saudi Arabia, but we are in this comp with a massive shot. I'm very excited. First time in a ******* decade tbh.

This sort of thing has been the missing piece. We've always been a threat going forward, but when opponents get their inevitable periods of control we would defend like turnstiles and concede at least one dumb goal that made our job so much harder. If this happened in the first half of the season either this chance or the Ibusuki one goes in and it's 1-1. Instead we keep them out, go down the other end of the field, 2-0 and WU are completely demoralised. Staj was asked about Panta post game and mentioned that he'd had a discussion with the back line a couple of weeks ago. He said he needs leaders at the back and he doesn't care how old you are, if you're playing at the back you need to be a leader. Panta has absolutely taken that on. There were a few times in the first half where we were playing a relatively high line and Panta was the one setting the line, telling the others when to push up. He's also making the kinds of passes out from the back that most young players wouldn't feel established enough to attempt. Sometimes it doesn't work but he has the confidence to back himself. Also the shirt tucked in and the old timey style front on goal kick technique is pretty cool.

I did say this in the match thread but that legitimately felt like season 1, especially because of how loud and how much energy and how packed the RBB was and how amazing they are at getting the crowd involved, almost bought a tear to my eye Obviously a win also helped but full credit to the RBB

Panta is a boss. Bonetig made a cool trap on the goal line as if there was no pressure. Thomas pumped after his extension. Cleur has been solid this year. Gersbasch showing us what we'll be getting for the next couple years. Our defence is sorted for a few years. Finally.

The turn around this year on your two to three previous years is a huge credit to all involved especially Staj. For me arguably the biggest change and he did it at the Mariners..... he turned the Mariners from a side that fouled a lot and were a bit hot headed.... today your play as hard as hard can be but you give away very few fouls and that helps heaps.... Its building as each game passes you are starting to gel... and play for each other.... its like players know the weakness of each other and play to the teams strengths and not place players under pressure by not playing to their weakness... It takes time to build this... As an aside you are a joy to watch rather than a drag as in recent season, you play clean, fast, and as a team....

😭😭😭😭 Lovely tributes last night by the RBB, and by the Wanderers.

My son (and I) got to walk around the field at halftime as part of the grass-roots football promo. He turned 5 during the week and has just started playing in the Under 5s at Penrith. He had the best night of his life and hi-fived about 1000 people hanging over the fence. He was buzzing. My wife said it's best night she's ever had at a Wanderers game - granted she wasn't around when the old Parramatta stadium was at it's best. That was the first time the new stadium felt like the old stadium.

Can't fault that display.....well played lads.......

The most hungry and motivated I have seen the team play as a whole for a very long time! Great to watch, the next few weeks are going to be fun!

Without doubt, far and away our best performance of the season. So determined and fought for every ball, particularly in defence. Yet, also in attack. I haven't seen determination like that since the Popa years. We are starting to peak at the right time, and every win will build our confidence further. I'm excited, because the lads seriously look massively committed. 13000 in attendance made a massive difference. We are building. Thank you Staj.

Staj thanking all those that attended the game tonight:

To think that we are getting results with two kids in central defence, a makeshift defensive midfield, and 1.5 imports seemed impossible to me at the start of the season.

Alright i'm sold, get Staj a new contract. He's turned what appeared to be a mediocre squad at the start of the season into a proper team

At this point Im half expecting some descendent of homer to be commission to write the Iliad 2. Achilles looks like soy boy next to the greek god Anthony Pantazopolous. Except when Thetis dipped Panta in the River Styx, she wasnt holding his ankles, she held the boy under for a full minute. They boy is unbreakable The death of Wookies career has been the best thing that could have happened for Panta and Wanderers. Not much more I can say other than I've never been happier to be wrong about this squad and Staj. 4th is a pass mark but we have every chance of winning our last 3 and roosting in second place.

Great performance by all. Panta reminds me of the grit and passion showed by players in season 1 & 2.

We’ve become accustomed to either winning by slaughter or coming from behind, all in very open games. We don’t like grinding out contests so to win that tonight impressed me.

We need to time our passes better. We invite way too much pressure on the ball. We need to be much stronger than that performance But... at the risk of sounding negative when we're actually winning... I'll add that we're unbeaten, we did the job and kept a clean sheet, so onwards into the finals we go

Really need a big convincing win next weekend to go into finals with momentum. Weird to say on an 11 game unbeaten run but the last month hasn't been convincing.

Brillante was badly missed in midfield this evening. Many may not agree with me, but his absence in midfield tonight was really noticeable. He's been really good over the last 2-3 months for us.

10 undefeated not bad but fmd Kearsey had a shocker! We really should have put them away early when we had our feet on their necks but jeeez

Harper: Sailors by name but they fought like lions this evening. They're the Lion City Sailors. They're literally lions by name.

Just in awe of the commitment being shown by the whole team tonight. Talk about up for it!

ban for backseat moderating

Yes. But you have to take a long cold shower straight after.

Ugly win.....which is better than a glorious loss. Onwards.

Paramount is barely available in Australia pubs, getting it in Cambodia would be a miracle

"Now decide how much effort you want to put in. I suggest enthusiastic drive to make finals. You have chosen not giving a ****".

Exactly. Brillante Clisby Antonsson have been playing at the limit all season while the young guys have been gradually picking up, and Kraev even played himself back into the Bulgarian NT. Carluccio and Al-Taay were signed as squaddies/utilities for depth, and Cleur Gersbach are a very solid FB combo. Very different to flops like Llorente Risdon and whatever CR sent out. Overall Mata has been a non event, he is not in the same league as Ono. @StringerBellendkeeps reminding us that the S4 side reached orgasmic heights in football sexiness. At the same time they were guilty, by the players own admission, of premature ejaculation and letting the title slip away. They were unable to defend a lead in Brisbane, didn't show up in Melbourne, and let Adelaide off the hook at Parra. In contrast, Stajcic's team has promised nothing, but they are delivering. I don't think that anyone would have put money on a ten game unbeaten run.

Very worrying signs for finals - if you go 2 up, it must be game over. Inexperience in the backline still costing us, something the abundant passion Panta has cannot cover. Regardless Kersey is a FLOG

That first half before City scored was like 1970 Brazil, it was breathtaking And then Vidmar did something to nullify us completely in the second half, it was a real chess game. Refereeing was… interesting. I don’t agree at all with calling full time in the middle of a counter attack - you call it as soon as the corner is cleared or you let that attack go on. It left a sour taste in the mouth.

Thats nothing but an amazing tackle. What an utterly ******* **** call

A mate at cricket a few months back informed me that Sydney apparently should have a star above their crest because the won the Oceania Champions league. Especially they were the first aussie club to do it... He was less confident after I reminded him Wolves, South Melbourne and Adelaide CIty all won it first.

Behave or I'm turning this place into a rugby union forum.

Gotta give Staj the credit where it's due. You could really see the changes in the Syd derby, even though we let in those late goals... the signs were there... You can really see the belief building...it's fantastic to see. We talk about typical peak Wanderers in a bad way. Yesterday was absolute vintage Wanderers in a great way, not since Popa have we seen the likes.

Just watched the whole game again, Ben Abraham is a **** referee

We’re the real deal boys

If someone isnt waiting in the tunnel with Cleur's contract extension ill be pissed. He's been so bloody good this season and tonight has been one of his best sans that ICBM of a goal he scored

This legit feels like season 1 in terms of the crowd

We're on 36 points after 22 games. That's the third highest in our history for this point in the season, behind only the premiership winning first season (44 points after 22 games) and the 2015-16 season where we finished second by one point (38 points after 22 games). We have more points at this stage of the season than 2013-14, when we finished second and made the grand final (34 points). Staj is the first manager since Popa to get over 34 points after 22 games. We've also improved as the season has gone on. Our first 11 games were 4W, 3D, 4L, 26F, 22A, +4GD. The next 11 games were 6W, 3D, 2L, 24F, 15A, +9GD. The wheels could fall off, but that would be a change in form rather than more of the same.

Landed back in Sydney over 1 hour ago First of all **** those Once Were Warriors pricks! They have to be up there with the Smurfs as the most vile fans in the league. I was sitting on the other side of where the away support was with my relatives who live in NZ and I was wondering why some fans got dispersed at halftime until I heard about a dog shot to one of our fans there. Secondly, Mt Smart Stadium has to be up there as the shittest stadium in the league, smack bang in the middle of the ghetto in Auckland with little to no public transport access and very **** parking area. The food there are both **** and expensive, security are pathetic. And I thought NSW Cops were bad racists but cops in NZ take it to the next level targeting every Maori or Polynesian with a patch they come across in the stadium assuming they are criminals and try to find reasons to arrest them. So **** that place. Never returning to that shithole ever again. As for the game, we played much better than last week, we had a bit more energy, Kraev was very unlucky as he could've scored a Hattrick. I think his goal should have stood, I don't think Sapsford was in anyway offside. From where I was sitting, when Lawrence was playing out from the back, he slipped and was very unlucky to give that ball away which led to their goal. I wanted to see a bit more of Milanovic as he was quiet in the first half, he got more involved in the 2nd half and scored a great goal. Borello (bless him) works very hard but he at times is very ineffective and adds nothing to our attack other than wasting our chances. He should have been subbed earlier and brought Hammond on as we needed a bit more spark and energy to our attack. Mata needs more minutes than just coming on the 75th or 80th minute.

Out of those scenarios, a begrudging 1 because finishing second gets us playing in Asia again

Errmmmm...so I am gonna be in a place called White Cliffs outback NSW..Do you reckon the miners and hard outback dudes will mind if I take over the pub TV and put our game on like?... Can't see any issues with that?*... *I will send my wife in to ask

With 1 more win Staj will better what Rudan achieved with a more stacked team. Its on course for the best season since popa left. I don't know how many people stayed for the post match interview with Staj we finally got some answers regarding his team picks. He singled out Simmons that in training he has been doing really well in normal circumstances he would be in his team. But because of how well the first 11 is playing he hasn't been able to put Simmons into his match day squad. Its the same with our defensive pairing both Gersbach and Staj mentioned Bonetig and Panta as having raised their levels, that Staj has confidence in them now that he challenged both to start leading the backline. Staj responded to Harper's question regarding Panta and Staj mentioned Panta has risen to that leadership role and because he gets fired up over every block and last ditch tackle it spreads amongst the team. I mean you have Milanovic doing last ditch clearances and getting chest bumps from the defense. Last bit I thought worth mentioning was Hammond. Where he played well against Perth with his first 90 minutes and was rewarded with a start again but against Victory it wasn't the same and Milanovic took his place back. Staj has been complimentary of the squad how stacked it actually is and there competition for places all over the park and it makes it difficult to make everyone happy but he looks to have settled on his 11 heading into the finals but hasn't closed the door on anyone coming in. If anyone drops in performance he will make changes to the squad.

Great day out solid crowd rbb pumping and we outplayed the hottest team in the league easily. Apart from that 2 mins where we had the goal mouth scramble and then Thomas’s outstanding save WU were kept at bay. Brillante has shaken off his early season shitness and is performing well again borello apart from that criminal miss off Sapsford heroic run is also looking better, gone is the touch of an elephant he was having for 2 months. We look good, pleasantly optimistic!