NSW Super League Round 1 Preview

New clubs are promoted, older clubs return while the West Sydney Berries are rebadged.
For the second season in a row, we bid farewell to a club who has withdrawn, this time, sadly, Central Coast FC whose departure from this level gave a lifeline to the 2011 wooden spooners, Hills Brumbies, who kept their place for another year.
There has been stability shown in the coaching ranks with nine clubs having retained their coaches from 2011, with only the Berries (Nass Martino). Spirit FC (Dean Savetta) and Bankstown Lions (George Nohra and Bill Pilovski) having new coaches for this season.
Plenty of match activity occurred over the summer, although the rain-affected pre season has played havoc with most clubs? plans. There have been plenty of player movements too with many clubs very busy in bolstering their lineups. And all will be raring to go, with the upcoming season promising to be most competitive in years.
One of the favourites will be last season?s runners up, Bankstown Berries, previously known as the West Sydney Berries. Their switch to the Bankstown Association has seen them also switch home grounds, from Lidcombe Oval to The Crest at Bass Hill. A change of coach has seen Nass Martino take control, last year in charge of the St George Under 20s, assisted by another ex Saint in Ivo de Jesus. They will face their old club this Saturday and so this one is bound to be turbo charged.
The Berries have retained some familiar names while also recruiting many new faces. 2011 Golden Boot winner Dimitri Zakilas fronts up again as does captain Ante Deur. Matthew Clowes joins from Spirit FC, Ben Delicata and Peter Crevani from Parramatta FC, Peter Peralta and David Gardiner from Bankstown Lions, Andrea Russo from Fraser Park and David Stojic from South Coast Wolves. Keeper Nestor Tsioustas rejoins, after the departure of Phil Zabaks. Brad Gibson also joins from St George, to add further spice to this weekend?s game.
St George also have some new names, although their backline has somewhat of a familiar look. The defence, last season?s best, is virtually intact and is in fact strengthened with the return of Mirko Jurilj to the club after six years away, in Premier League. Up front though, the Saints have made some changes. In comes Juan Chavez, back to the Stadium in somewhat of a homecoming, and good pre season form should see Chavez hit the ground running.  But it won?t just be the 2009 Golden Boot winner that opposition clubs will need to keep an eye on. The 2010 top scorer in Sam Messam has also joined the Saints, as has his ex-Macarthur team mate, Matt Sadler. Sadler?s pace and direct running will cause concern to many an opposition. Coached again by Kory Babington, expect St George to be challenging again this year.  
New boys Mounties Wanderers are an intriguing addition to Super League. They swept all before them last season, gaining the title well before the season?s end. They made it through to the Waratah Cup Final too, eliminating the higher ranked Blacktown Spartans, West Sydney Berries and Sydney Olympic along the way. Results which show that they are up to this level. Like the Spartans last year, the Mounties won?t be easy beats and their opponents at Cook Park, Mt Pritchard, this Saturday, Sydney University, will have to be very wary. Mark D?Allesandro and Daniel Willoughby return for Mounties, and they have plenty of experience at Super League level. As do Daine Merrin, ex Sydney University but most recently at Schofields, and Fred Graham (Bankstown) who both join the club. Cole Peverley too, once of Macarthur Rams, joins from Canterbury in NZ.   
Led again by the coaching team of Aiden Desmond and Glen Lockhart, it will be worth keeping an eye on the Mounties. 
University, with John Calleja once more at the helm, will again look to the goals of Liam McConaghy this year, scorer of ten last season. They also welcome back goalkeeper, Jonathan Faerber, who spent last season at Central Coast and also coming in is Alvaro Malmeirca, from Macarthur Rams. Matt Demetriou takes over the club captaincy, following on from Simon Turner. Uni spent most of last season hovering around mid table, but a semi finals position this year is definitely the target.
Last year?s finalists Granville Rage travel to Christie Park for their opener against Spirit FC. Granville have retained a large number of their squad from last season including the evergreen Jason Holmes in goal and 2011 Silver Medal winner and ace striker, Kris Holbrook. Danny Vuckovic (from Northern Tigers) joins their squad while Nenos Bobo and Chris Botallico, who both missed the majority of last season, look to return. Mauricio Islas again takes the reins in what should be another strong Granville season.
Spirit FC have had a major clearout with just five players fronting up again this year. Murray Nelson, Nick Trimble, Tom Lovell, Paul Nicolaou and Akwasi Agyei are the only first teamers remaining at Christie. But Greg Giovenali (Hills Brumbies), Cameron Jones (Dulwich Hill) and Goran Ljuboja (Macarthur Rams) are three who make the move to Marsfield. Lenox Tweneboa, also once of the Rams, also joins. Dean Savetta, coach of the Spirit Under 16s in 2011, moves up to take charge of the senior squad.     
Macarthur Rams travel to Fraser Park to get their season underway. The Rams are again led by Claudio Canosa, with Craig Cooley again captain, but there have been quite a few changes at Lynwood Park. In comes keeper Chad Taylor (from Spirit FC), Steve Donevski (Dulwich Hill), James Young (Blacktown Spartans) and Josh Karpes (Hills Brumbies) amongst a number of new signings. Hugo Coronel and Adam Wither also make welcome returns to Lynwood Park. There is little doubt that the Rams expect to be challenging, as they did last year. They came very close last season, only falling away in the last couple of weeks.
Expect Fraser Park to be a tougher outfit this year. They struggled last season, rarely being out of the bottom three all year, but the signing of keeper Michael Frost, from Sydney Uni, is a top line addition to the team. Pre season victories over the Berries and Bonnyrigg White Eagles will give them confidence and with Troy Eedy, a known goalscorer, and the Wilson brothers, Danny and David, back again, Fraser Park should be more than a handful. Coach David Perkovic, in his second season at Fraser, will be working to ensure that there will be no fight against relegation this year.
Mark Abi-Arrage?s Hills Brumbies tackle Paul Carter?s Dulwich Hill at the Brumbies? new home ground, Blacktown Olympic Park. The Hills had a difficult first season in Super League and had to tough out a tense year. They have kept their squad largely intact and they will certainly be stronger for last year?s experience. Keeper Josh Barrett, though, comes in from Macarthur Rams, Marjan Novotni from the Berries and Ahmad Khan (Fairfield Wanderers) strengthens their squad. Michael Noro also returns to the game after a year away.
Dulwich Hill have been busy recruiting and there will be an international flavour at Arlington Oval this year. Japanese and Korean signings have been added to the squad which will be captained this season by Robbie Shields. Having joined Dully midway through last season, Shields, who hit the net five times last year, will be well primed from round one this season. Joining from Sydney University are James O?Rourke and Calum Magrouther while Clive Delaney joins from Fraser Park. One to keep a close watch on will be ex Portuguese age group international Fabio Ferriera, who will definitely be looking to make an impact this season. 
Northern Tigers v Bankstown Lions is the only Sunday game and what a match this promises to be. This is one of the more difficult fixtures that the Lions could have been given to open their Super League season. The newly relegated club, considered by many to be the favourites for the title, have certainly recruited well with club favourites Robert Mileski and Richard Luksic arriving back from Sydney Olympic, and Matthew Presello from Blacktown City. Reuben Lagos and Peter Vassilis have joined from St George while Domenic Hudap has moved to Jensen Park from Rockdale. Major signings for sure, but they will still have to be at their very best to overcome the Tigers.
The home side, the 2010 champions, failed to make the finals last season, only knowing their fate on the final day. They suffered from a high number of draws, those lost points proving costly. But if they were a little goal shy last season, expect a difference in this. Tim Simpson has moved across from Spirit FC, while ex Sydney FC and Blacktown City attacker, Adam Biddle also pulls on the green-and white. Watch out also for 26 year old Liam McCreesh, most recently with Afan Lido in the Welsh Premier League, a midfielder with an eye for goals.
Like Simpson, also joining from Spirit FC is defender Daniel Cunningham while the Central Coast captain from last season, Jamie Lobb also moves to Mills Park. Add in Paul Davies, who missed the majority of last season with injury, and the Tigers, coached again by Jason Eagar, should certainly be one of the title challengers.
Super League 2012 promises to be one of the most competitive, and mouth-watering, seasons in years and one awaited with much anticipation.
-By Peter Rowney