“A lot of people don’t get that many opportunities to be in these sorts of game. They’re not the same as these league matches where 90 minutes is done and you’ve got next week.

“This is it; this is the big game, and this is what you play for all year. These are the games where you make those memories.”

As a former key cog within it, Brillante is also well aware of the ins and outs of Sydney’s system, but that doesn’t exactly make him a rare figure in A-League circles.

Developed under Graham Arnold and continued under Steve Corica, the Harboursiders’ Arnieball approach is a widely known feature of their game these days but the league, to now, has been unable to consistently figure out a way to break the machine-like efficiency the Sky Blues go about their game.

Ostensibly, it’s simultaneously Sydney’s biggest strength and greatest weakness heading into Sunday, and Brillante believes his side has what it takes to break through.

“I don’t think they’ve been secretive about the way they’ve played,” he said. “They’ve played the same style year in and year out.

“It comes down to executing on the game day.

“If you’re up for the battle and physicality, you want to get in their faces you can match it with them and beat them like we did last game [City defeated Sydney 2-0 in their first game post-pandemic break].

“We’ve come a long way with the new playing style this year and I think we’ve developed really well.

“[Miloš Ninković is] quite a smooth player, so we’ll be planning on getting in his face, not let him get his confidence up and run the show. That will be a big part of us not letting him do his thing.”