Warriors are Australia’s best
Dural Warriors are rightfully acclaimed as Australia’s best Futsal club following a dominant 2014 hummel F-League season and will be presented the 2014 trophy after this Friday evening against Sydney Scorpions at Dural Sport & Leisure Centre.
With games still to play this weekend Dural reached an unassailable position at the top of the table, exceeding even their glittering 2012 success.
It’s been a tremendous winter of achievement for the Warriors, a record 12th straight hummel F-League win leaving them just one point shy of their record 36-point return from two years ago, although they do face tough final-round match-ups with rivals Scorpions and Vipers.
Dural sure epitomise a team unit: They’ve found 14 different scorers (12 of them netting on multiple occasions, 10 of them three or more times) yet only two players feature on the competition’s top-15 chart (Jarrod Basger with 17 goals, Chris Polkinghorne 10); and if Toby Seeto can score in each of their remaining two games he’ll join Basger and Boomerangs FS legend Daniel Fulton, both in 2012, as the only players to score in 10 or more games during one hummel F-League season.
But what a year! They’ve lost just one match – a tight defeat to Campbelltown Quake in the final round of the 2013-14 FNSW Futsal Premier League on February 1 (Dural had already wrapped up the premiership) – and been on a 14-game winning run since, throw in a couple more ‘W’s for accomplished coach Rob Varela who recently guided the Futsalroos to a series sweep of New Zealand.
“The relief of winning [the title] does take the pressure off a little bit because we have been thinking about it over the last few rounds,” he said.
“I showed [the players] highlights of last year’s grand final loss to Vipers and they didn’t want to go through that again; it was more than enough motivation.”
“Obviously we’re happy, but a new comp starts with the finals, and we still have games against teams still hunting a semi-final spot.”
“I don’t need to crack the whip at all. They’re focused and we still have plenty to play for as no team’s gone through undefeated, so we have to make sure we get a reasonable squad together.”
“The first one [2012 premiership] sure was special, but after the Vipers winning last year we felt we had to make amends and just focused on winning and winning well, so this is special from a different point of view,” Varela said.
Varela acknowledged that it took a lot of behind-the-scene action that contributed to the campaign and thanked manager Mark Seeto who took “care of all the stuff off the court; David Polkinghorne ensures I remain focused on game day and Brian Codrington, who with his unassuming but strong leadership is the glue that holds the club together.”
How the Premierships compare?
2011: Victorian club Inner City won the inaugural hummel F-League premiership in 2011, pipping Dural at the post by two points with third-placed Maccabi Hakoah storming through to win the grand final trophy against St Albans Strikers and book its place at the AFC Futsal Club Championship. Fourth-placed Strikers made the finals on 21 points, 10 behind Inner City.
2012: Dural were runaway 2012 premiership winners (no finals that year) – a 10-game unbeaten run to start the winter laying the platform for an eight-point victory over East Coast Heat by season-end. The Warriors kicked 108 goals in 14 matches (hitting double-figures four times including a 20-1 last-round win over Strikers) and only three teams got within four goals of them (Vic Vipers in a 3-4 loss and 5-4 win, and East Coast Heat in a 1-1 draw). Fourth-placed Boomerangs FS finished on 24 points, 13 behind Dural.
2013: A shaky Warriors allowed a more-consistent Vic Vipers to creep up on them and steal the 2013 premiership by two points, Sydney Scorpions a couple further back and Boomerangs FS finishing fourth on 25 points (just nine behind the Vics in a tight race to the finish line). Vic Vipers edged Boomerangs FS 4-3 in a tight semifinal before annihilating Dural 4-0 in the grand final to underline a triumphant year and return the hummel F-League title south of the border.
2014: Dural were crowned 2014 premiers with two games to spare following a record 12 straight hummel F-League wins. East Coast Heat are eight points behind and, no matter what, this year will feature the biggest distance between first and fourth place (currently 17 points). Boomerangs FS and St Albans Strikers were the only sides to get within three goals of the premiers (5-4 and 5-3 respective losses) and the Warriors are the first side to concede less than 30 goals in a hummel F-League season.
With the hummel F-League premiership mantle now shared twice by NSW and Victoria, the most obvious common link between all four premiers is that they all conceded the least amount of goals in the season they won… defence is key in a game of attack!
The 2014 Premiership Winning Dural Warriors Squad
Jarrod Basger, Adam Bradley, Tobias Seeto, Greg Giovenali, Daine Merrin, Nathan Niski, Zach Caruana, Glen Kelshaw, Wade Giovenali, Bruno Pivato, Blake Rosier, Chris Polkinghorne, Brendan Hoyer, Kaans Kilinc, Jacob Basden, Nathan Philips, Marco Turpeinen, Corey Finch, Alastair Bruce, Nick Starr, James Brunacci, coach Rob Varela.
-By Dan De Nardi
