For very long this season Victory looked average, they were even in doubt of qualifying for the play-offs halfway through the campaign, but the vast experience of the players and the great preparation plan from coach Muscat saw the Royal Blues turning a seemingly poor season into a great one as in the end of it all they won the title.
Slow start saw Victory failing to win in the opening six rounds, but then things improved in late November and December, with the Royal Blues achieving 5 wins in their next 7 matches. It was this push right before the end of 2017 that saw Victory welcoming the new year just inside the play-offs, but then three consecutive defeats against Sydney FC, Jets and Roar between rounds 18 and 20 saw Victory losing hope to challenge for a top three finish and the regular season found the Royal Blues sitting in fourth place.
Leroy George was arguably the best field player during season, the Dutchman was the best dead-ball deliverer in the entire league, plus he scored lots of goals. Berisha was also at his usual best when it mattered most and despite not playing at a high level in every match he still managed to score 14 goals. Barbarouses and Troisi also played well, while since joining in January Antonis had a positive impact. He was signed to replace the team’s captain Milligan, who left unexpectedly after round 18.
Victory seemed to have timed their peak period very well as the Royal Blues started offering great displays around mid-February and they ended the regular season with 5 wins in the last 7 rounds, plus some of their Champions League results were very impressive during this period.
This built the confidence needed for the start of the play-offs and despite leaving it really late in the Elimination Final Victory edged Adelaide 2:1 at home, before needing extra 30 minutes in the semis to eliminate the defending champions Sydney FC 3:2. The final push was in Newcastle where Barbarouses scored the only goal of the Grand Final very early on to bring the title. The outstanding all campaign goalkeeper Thomas had 5 Man of the Match awards during the regular season and he was also voted best player both in the semi-final and the Grand Final, making him the first goalkeeper to achieve that.
