Blood may be thicker than water, but there will be no holding back for the Piddick brothers when they face-off in the Westfield FFA Cup Round of 16 on Wednesday night in the Queensland Derby.
'PIDDICK DERBY'
Grae Piddick, coach of Gold Coast City, and Adam Piddick, technical director at Moreton Bay United, will lock horns in an all-Queensland clash that is set the capture the imagination of the Sunshine State.
No strangers to sibling rivalry over the decades, the brothers have been opponents in everything from backyard kick-arounds, junior football and as coaches in the PlayStation 4 NPL Queensland – where both have guided teams to a Premiers-Champions doubles.
However, Wednesday night is the first time the two will face off on the national stage.
Westfield FFA Cup Rd of 16 form guide
Grae, the older of the two by four years, conceded there is always that little bit more on the line when little brother Adam is on the opposing bench.
“It’s an extra dimension when you play against your brother,” he said.
“There is always banter before the game, after the game and during the game. But most of the time it is tongue-in-cheek and we don’t take it personally.”
Adam Piddick agreed that what happens on the field, stays on the field.
“We’re both trying to be the best and get our teams to be the best so there will always be that bit of friction there,” he said.
“But after the 90 minutes has gone we’re back to being best of mates again.”
A WIN FOR QUEENSLAND FOOTBALL
Both agreed that their preference had been to avoid each other in the Round of 16, with a dream Piddick-vs-Piddick showdown in the Westfield FFA Cup Final now impossible.
However, Grae said the silver-lining was that a Queensland club is now guaranteed to reach the Quarter Final stage for the first time since 2014.
“We’ve made the quarter finals once before and we’re the only team in Queensland that has done that,” he said.
“We are very proud of that. We want to emulate that and hopefully kick on even further.”
PSYCHOLOGICAL EDGE?
Adding extra spice to the showdown is club’s last clash only days ago, where the Jets 3-0 win put paid to City’s hopes of winning a second PlayStation 4 NPL Queensland Premiership.
Adam suggested that any psychological edge from that result will be minimal at best come kick-off.
“The weekend was a good result for us and it gave the boys a bit of belief going into such a big game on Wednesday.”
“But we are under no illusion it’s going to be tougher than it was on Saturday. The Gold Coast boys have something to prove,” he concluded.
