Source: Radio New Zealand
Auckland FC coach Steve Corica. Shane Wenzlick / Photosport.nz
Steve Corica has won the biggest prize in the A-League five times before and should he do it a sixth time it will be a piece of history that brings his journey in the competition full circle.
The Auckland FC coach has been unwaveringly positive in public as the side navigated the long way to the A-League grand final to be played against Sydney FC on Saturday.
Having won a grand final as recently as 2020, Corica knew the mindset and the skillset it took for a club to be crowned the best in the competition.
Corica did not want to claim the “favourites” tag for the first A-League grand final to be played in New Zealand, maybe because the underdogs tag has served the side well at the business end of the competition, but two days before the biggest game in Auckland FC’s history Corica was steadfast in his belief he had the right group to lift the silverware.
“I know my players and what they can produce,” Corica said.
“We’ve been going two years and we’ve won a premiership, a couple of semi-finals, they’ve always performed under pressure.
“There’s probably that added pressure that we didn’t have last week [in the away semifinal in Adelaide], everyone’s going to have their family and friends there watching, but they really have performed well under pressure when we’ve asked them to.
“It’s just maintaining focus, not getting too carried away in the lead up to the grand final.”
Sydney had also had to win an elimination final and a two-legged semifinal to get to the last game of the season.
It took a penalty shootout against the top team in the league for Sydney to lock in a grand final against a side coached by one of their club legends.
Corica was involved in every A-League title Sydney FC has won.
Over 19 years with the club from foundation player, captain, assistant coach and head coach Corica was also on the wrong side of the ledger in two grand finals.
He claimed two championships as a player in 2005-06 and 2009-10; two as a manager in 2018-19 and 2019-20; and was involved as an assistant coach in the 2016-17 season victory.
Steve Corica left as coach of Sydney FC winning the A-League. PHOTOSPORT
“It’s a long time in football to stay at one club for that long,” Corica said.
“I loved it there…I’m really proud of what we achieved there but I’m really proud of what we’ve done here as well in the first two seasons.”
Corica said it was “even more dangerous” to be going up against a club that had Sydney’s pedigree in finals but he was driven to win on home soil and make history with Auckland.
“For me just winning a grand final is very sweet.
“They don’t come along all the time, that’s the message to the players, you don’t know when the next one’s going to come, we’d like it to be next year, but who knows.”
Sydney FC’s Rhyan Grant is the club’s most capped player. PHOTOSPORT
Sydney’s current captain and the club’s most capped player of all time, Rhyan Grant, is a one club man who worked with Corica for more than a decade.
“I know the mentality of a couple of the boys that I worked with there,” Corica said.
“Rhyan Grant has been there a long time, he’s been there, done that. He’s scored in grand finals before. He’s a good leader for Sydney.
“So, obviously, they’ve got some experienced players that have played before in finals. We have a couple, but not many.”
Sydney has moved on since Corica was fired in 2023. Ufuk Talay replaced Corica and then Talay was replaced near the back end of this season by new manager Patrick Kisnorbo.
Auckland have never lost to Sydney across two seasons, but Corica’s record against Kisnorbo, who has coached at Melbourne City and Melbourne Victory before taking over at Sydney in late March, stands at two draws and three losses.
“We’ve played Sydney before, we know what they’re about. Obviously, they’ve changed coaches as well, six games ago, and they’re unbeaten under the coach as well.
“It’s difficult, but we have to be positive. The mindset is always positive and to win the game.
“Sydney like to have the ball as well and control the tempo of things, so I’m happy with that if that happens. But we need to have the ball as well and to create opportunities, score goals, obviously defend well as well.”
Max Caputo of Melbourne City FC and Jake Girdwood-Reich of Auckland FC. Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz
Corica brought to Auckland one of his former charges from Sydney, Jake Girdwood-Reich, who was part of the Australia Cup-winning squad.
Corica gave Girdwood-Reich his A-League debut in the 2022-23 season and the defender went on to play 45 times for Sydney FC before heading to Major League Soccer in the United States in 2024.
An arrival in Auckland this season has set up a showdown against the club the 21-year-old was a supporter of as a youngster and went through the academy system of.
“I was there for about eight years, grew up there, started my career there. It was pretty weird versing them during the season, but I’m used to it now.”
Girdwood-Reich said it was a “little bit emotional” preparing to face some players he knows well but said “I can’t talk to them this weekend”.
“It’s a little bit weird, but I want to be an A-League champion, so I’m going to do whatever it takes to do that.”
Some of the same players Girdwood-Reich will be avoiding are the same players Corica has a little bit of extra intel on as they were academy players during his time.
Alongside Corica and Girdwood-Reich are Auckland’s director of football Terry McFlynn and head of player recruitment Doug Kors who have both also been involved with Sydney FC.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/05/21/football-auckland-fc-coach-steve-corica-targets-sixth-a-league-title-against-former-side/