Do Sydney FC need to win the A-League Women Grand Final to be considered successful

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The word "dynasty" is misused in sports, but there is an undeniable pull to use the word when looking ahead to Saturday's A-League Women Grand Final.

Melbourne City booked their first Grand Final berth since 2020 with a 6-0 aggregate win over the Newcastle Jets. With six different goal-scorers across the two legs, the Melbourne side will look to emulate the success of that 2020 team by securing the double.

Meanwhile, Sydney FC ground out a 2-1 aggregate win over the Central Coast Mariners to secure a remarkable seventh straight Grand Final appearance. A Mackenzie Hawkesby goal in both games was enough to keep Ante Juric's team's near-perfect attendance record in the final game of the season intact.

But back to dynasties.

When talking about Melbourne City's dominance, the words flow freely. In March 2020 at AAMI Park, one of Australia's greatest club sides etched its name onto the then W-League trophy for the very last time.

A lone Steph Catley goal was enough to defeat Sydney FC and ensure Melbourne City would win a fourth title in five seasons. This little piece of history would happen in front of the empty green seats of the behind-closed-doors final as the world came to grips with the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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As with most dynasties, much like dark years, you don't know the end has happened until after the fact. After their inaugural season, City were literally unbeatable; going through the entire campaign undefeated, demolishing all before them. They forced the rest of the competition to raise their standards. But even when they became fallible -- something that was necessary for the health and growth of the league -- City still found a way to win. They claimed three straight championships. A muscle flexed. A statement of authority.

During their five-season dynasty, they missed finals only once. And even then, it was only on goal difference.

Melbourne City's success until that point, fearsome and awe inspiring, was built on being so far ahead of their rivals both on and off the park. City's facilities were like no other and, in turn, they attracted the best of the best. Their setup allowed players to be just players in an era where juggling multiple jobs was all but a necessity.

It's no coincidence the end of City's dynasty coincided with the end of an era in the league. The Matildas exodus irrevocably changed the top flight of women's football in Australia and City were the team that was hit hardest. The important thing to recognise is they lost these players to clubs and leagues where they could settle in one place, be paid and treated as professionals year-round. There would be no need to participate in the annual migration to the United States to play in the NWSL to supplement their football.

That 2020 Grand Final was littered with current Matildas wearing both shades of blue; Ellie Carpenter, Kyah Simon, Emily van Egmond, Chloe Logarzo, Lydia Williams, Alanna Kennedy and the aforementioned Catley. Every single one of them would leave for Europe in the offseason. To complement the very best Australian talent were the likes of Scotland's Claire Emslie, Japanese World Cup winner Yukari Kinga, and Football Fern Rebekah Stott. The trio would also depart, Emslie and Stott to Europe, Kinga back to Japan.

With all of that talent gone, City began the rebuild. They missed finals the following season and, while they have returned to finals on numerous occasions, they only claimed their first trophy since 2020 earlier this year. This current City team retains only two links to the 2020 dynasty: the evergreen Melissa Barbieri and captain Stott, who returned to Melbourne after a cancer diagnosis in 2021. For the team, this Grand Final represents the potential start of a new era.

Theirs is a straightforward story. Sydney FC's is not.

By basic definitions, Sydney aren't in a dynasty, nor have they ever had a dynasty. But rattling through the stats has you searching for a word that doesn't quite mean dynasty but somehow still acknowledges their remarkable record.

In 16 seasons of A-League Women, the Sky Blues have never missed the finals. With their win over the Mariners, the reigning champions qualified for a seventh consecutive Grand Final. They've made it to 11 Grand Finals in the 17-year history of the competition. That record -- in a salary-capped competition -- is almost unheard of. Sydney's record of actual results once making the decider, however, leaves a bit to be desired.

From their last six Grand Finals, the Sky Blues have only won twice. Funnily enough they have played Melbourne City three times in this run and have yet to record a win against them, a stat they'll be hoping to change come Saturday.

They should have more championship trophies to add to their impressive collection of premiership trophies. But leaving the discussion at that feels dismissive and wrong.

The impact of Juric and his team will be felt in the future, particularly as the club continues to succeed with the youngest lineup in the competition. But it may not be as revered as the Melbourne City dynasty for a lack of Grand Final wins.

It's a disconnect that calls to mind the viral Giannis Antetokounmpo press conference when he challenged a reporter's line of questioning about success and failure.

After his Milwaukee Bucks were eliminated from last season's NBA playoffs he was asked if the season was a failure. Clearly frustrated by the premise of the question, Antetokounmpo threw it back asking if every year without a promotion was a failure in a normal person's job?

"Michael Jordan played 15 years," he said. "Won six championships. The other nine years was a failure? That's what you're telling me?

"There's no failure in sports. There's good days, bad days; some days you are able to be successful, some days you are not. Some days it is your turn, some days it's not. That's what sports is about. You don't always win."

Of course, more than a few people will always believe a championship is a success and everything else is a failure. It's also unsurprising that a professional athlete has a different mindset when approaching success and failure than the general population. But the sentiment is one worth exploring, nonetheless.

Is Sydney FC's remarkable record but lack of trophies a failure? Is there room for a broader, less rigid definition of success? Do we need a new word in order to adequately acknowledge what the Sky Blues have achieved? Are shades of grey allowed in a conversation about sports? Do dynasties, an objective rarity, skew our perceptions of success?

A Grand Final win on the weekend may well yet twist this conversation in a new direction. After all, three in seven sounds a little better than two in six.

But either way a champion will be crowned on Saturday. With both teams currently sitting on four championships, an outright leader will emerge.

One team will look to start a new dynasty, built on the principles of the old one but forged in a new era with a new look. The other will look to claim their dynasty, to evolve from the great team they are to the best team with a trophy cabinet befitting their longevity.