PREMIER John Brumby once described Adelaide as a “backwater”.

Now, I’ve never been to Adelaide but I hear there’s a tram that goes to the beach and there’s a church for every person. I think it sounds quite nice.

Also, if backwater is what the Adelaide United boys have been drinking this season then I was hoping they’d run out of it come last Tuesday’s game.

Thankfully, they had as they sat back and watched the Nick Ward show.

Nick relished his starting role and appeared to be everywhere. By the half, he’d created a decent chance for Danny before having a couple of cracks himself.

In the engine room, he was doing all the right things without the ball. Be it applying pressure on Adelaide’s passing game or running to space to create an option for a team mate.

Defensively, he was solid too – tracking back to whisk the ball away from an Adelaide attacker after he seemed destined to score.

It was only fitting then that Nick would rise highest to head home a Billy corner for what would turn out to be the match winner and in doing so, cement his place in Victory’s starting eleven.

Watching Victory triumph over bitter rival Adelaide was sweet – kind of like how I felt after beating Sydney the week before.

This got me thinking about Victory’s biggest rival – is it Adelaide or Sydney?

Victory have shared some cracking moments with both teams over the A-League journey.

Who could forget the Kossie (Adelaide) strangle on Muscat? The Danny bump on Kossie (Sydney)? Hang on a second, maybe our biggest rival is Kossie?

How about those red cards? Aloisi for being a knob and Ney for clearing his throat. Then there’s the classic matches and infamous wins. Ahh, the memories…

I guess it depends on who you ask.

The media love fuelling the Melbourne-Sydney fire. Be it in sport, major events, even Monopoly!

However, most of my Victory mates would say Adelaide, as Hindmarsh is the only stadium they’ve experienced a police escort to and from a game.

For me, it’s definitely Sydney.

It’s the bling, star signings and Hollywood detectives that I can’t stand. From the outside looking in, it all just seems a little soulless.

I reckon Lord Mayor Robert Doyle summed up my view best when he said: “Sydney is a city with a wallet and inside that wallet is a credit card."

* What do you think – is it Adelaide or Sydney?

++++

Three games in nine days will test Victory’s fitness levels as they travel to Perth on Sunday.

I reckon the weather will play a massive factor as it’s likely to be a stinker and our boys have been playing in relatively mild conditions over the festive period.

Perth will be fresher too as they haven’t played since New Year's Eve and will look to shape the finals with an upset in their final home game.

I think Victory will look to make amends for the last trip out West but whoever handles the conditions best will win this one. The last half hour will be decisive.

Tristram is a Victory fan and wishes he could say that a knee injury curtailed his promising football career.