Two or three years ago a mate of mine called me after attending his first Wanderers match at Parramatta.
Now this fellow is a rugby league man through and through.
He even makes his living from the game.
But that night he spoke about the passion of the Western Sydney fans and the incredible atmosphere they produced at the game.
“This kills league for atmosphere,’’ he told me.
On Tuesday night at Campbelltown Stadium the Red & Black Bloc (RBB) were again at their very best.
A smaller number than usual, they nonetheless managed to create a pulsating atmosphere that did not end until the final whistle.
Even with the Wanderers down 4-0, the RBB proudly sang and chanted and sang again.
There were fewer than 6,000 fans in attendance, but the RBB, with a little help from their counterparts, the fans of Urawa Red Diamonds, made it sounds like there were double that number for the Asian Champions League opener.
I was covering the game from the opposite side where the RBB were, but looking around the western stand you could see many other Wanderers fans joining in the singing.
My mate was right – the RBB make every Wanderers match special.
Yesterday, just a few hours after the Campbelltown match, the Wanderers announced they had come down like a ton of bricks on the RBB members who had displayed a disgusting banner at the Sydney derby on Saturday night.
I don’t know what these people were thinking when they put the banner up at ANZ Stadium.
Surely between them, you’d think, there was one with enough brains to say, hey fellas, maybe this is crossing a line.
But obviously not.
It did cross the line, it was a disgrace, it was unAustralian and the club is 100 per cent right to ban these people for 18 months.
Some people think that they should have been banned for life to send an even stronger message.
Here in Campbelltown, Macarthur and the south west region we have welcomed the Wanderers – and the RBB – with open arms.
The council rolled out the red carpet and popped the champagne corks to announce the ACL matches here and fair enough.
Would they continue to do so if the Wanderers failed to act?
As a ratepayer I would object to having a team with such fans using our local stadium in the future.
But with the club having shown some ticker, the benefit of the doubt must apply for now.
