Men’s State League 2 Season Preview
It will be a hotly contested Championship as the 2015 Men’s State League 2 competition kicks into gear on Saturday 11th of April.
Below are short but sharp snippets of what to expect from this year’s competing sides.
Prospect United
Prospect United had a successful first year in the Men’s State League 2 competition after finishing in third place last season.
Their season was ended by the eventual premiers, Rydalmere Lions in a gritty 2-1 loss, where leading goal scorer, Amaury Gauthier, proved to be the difference with both goals coming from his boot.
Despite a quiet end to the season for 2014, a rigorous pre-season under his belt will ensure he starts the 2015 competition energised and like last season, regularly converting his chances.
Head coach Tony Caruso is excited for another challenging season ahead and says the new players that have arrived have “fit what the club is all about.”
“There has been a big purging process at the club,” said Caruso.
“We’re looking at the future, we have lots of youth and can build from that.
“We can’t read into trial matches.
“If clubs and teams look to improve, then the competition will continue to be even stronger,” said Caruso.
Hurstville City Minotaurs
Hurstville City Minotaurs had a decent season last year finishing in sixth place, and showed improvement from the 2013 season by three spots.
Head Coach, Peter “The General” Sarkiakis likes the direction their heading in after some positive trial match form.
“We’re all very excited,” said Sarikakis.
“We just came back from Canberra and we eventually won 1-0 against a strong, Canberra Olympic.
However, discipline is an area of their game that needs addressing as the top three players from last season who received yellow cards were from the Hurstville City Minotaurs.
The local derby between Hurstville City Minotaurs and Hurstville FC has been a highlight of the past seasons.
Last season, their round eight clash ended as a 2-2 draw while their round 17 clash saw Premiers, Hurstville FC squeeze a 2-1 victory over the Minotaurs.
Expect more close encounters between these two clubs this season as intensity and passion increases not just from the players, but from the fans as well.
In terms of recruits, Hurstville City will welcome a highly experienced player in Eddie Wong for the 2015 season.
University of NSW
University of NSW had a forgettable season last year after finishing in last place which most found surprising considering they made it to the elimination final in 2013.
Head Coach, Andrew Field, is returning to coach University of NSW for the first time in eight years. He puts the team’s lack of consistency in previous years down to such an aggressive turnover of players each season.
“From last season, we have retained about two players in the first grade squad and one player in the twenties.
The rest are new,” said Field.
Field describes it as “challenging but delightful”.
“UNSW teams tend to come in late.
“There’s a big influx that come in with university so it follows that study cycle, sometimes players even come from exchange,” said Field.
Being one of the oldest clubs in the organization, having formed in 1959, University of NSW has a rich tradition that both Andrew Field and his fresh crop of players are all aware of and will be no doubt be looking to do the club justice this season.
Wagga City Wanderers
Wagga City Wanderers are a brand new club having only formed three months ago.
To give us a greater insight, the following is an excerpt by Head Coach and Football NSW board member, Blaise Fagan.
He discusses how the club was formed as well as their long-term goals.
“We’re about 14 weeks young. What happened was we decided to advertise football around the Wagga Wagga, Griffifth and Cootamundra area. Consequently we’re now a rep team of Riverena. We wanted to create a higher level within our region for players to aspire too. Griffith already had teams, but no senior representation in NSW.
“A few wise heads in Wagga Wagga put together an expression of interest amongst the clubs. It was presented to the Wagga Wagga football board and they thought it was a good development process and platform of youth. We decided to go for it. As a result we had an open door policy with trials and received enough expression of interest,” said Fagan.
“We needed to build a football culture within Wagga Wagga. We wanted to try and attract the best players in the district and to develop them so players can adapt. Our goals for the season are to win half a dozen games. I believe we can become successful if we do that. What we really want to do though is a long term process which will probably take four to five years to develop our own playing style. We’ve attracted players from all kinds of clubs that bring different styles of football,” said Fagan.
“In the country, it’s often a very fast and rigorous game. That’s’ not the case in state league because it is more about class. It is a real challenge to change styles of players, but they have to aspire to do things well. In order to achieve excellence and attractive football, players will have to come on board and they all have which is terrific. The whole football community will benefit through good communication and the great sponsors behind us,” said Fagan.
Southern Districts Association Club
Southern Districts Association Club previous known as Southern Bulls have been one of the main teams to beat over the last couple of seasons having made the finals in both the 2013 and 2014 seasons.
A side that does not rely on individuals, the Bulls pride themselves on generating a consistent level of contribution across the paddock.
This was highlighted last season, when three players in the top 10 for goal scoring were members of the Southern Bulls.
Head Coach Ramsin Shamon is pleased with the pre-season his team has undergone, saying they have “trained the house down.”
Although successful in previous seasons, Shamon has identified a key area as to why they have yet to lift the trophy.
“From last year to this year we didn’t score enough goals to win the premiership,” said Shamon.
“This season, our recruiting has been based around forwards.
“A lot have been locals and players from teams in other State Leagues, like Mounties.
“We have a good winning culture at the club, so there should be lots of goals this season,” said Shamon.
FC Gazy Lansvale
After spending two years in the local Southern District competition, FC Gazy Lansvale return to the State League.
Below is an excerpt by club president, Safet Alispahic.
“We are keen to come back and do different and better things, we’re a very competitive team. Pretty new everything, new staff, players, management; we are looking very forward for the new season. We’re coming back to the family where we belong, in Football NSW.
“Last year has no relevance as we were not in State League but we will try to prepare the best team as possible and recruit a very good side,” said Alispahic.
“We are doing our best to make the league more competitive so that we can attract more players. As a club we will be changing our structure, which is also exciting. This change will bring us on the right level where we need to go.
“There have been a lot of people who are involved behind the scenes such as logistics and sponsorship, which have helped shape our club. Our juniors are constantly developing also,” said Alispahic.
“We still have some tough trials before the season starts. We’re looking to fine tune our side. The scores are not so important, we’re just looking to develop players.”
Camden Tigers
After a lackluster 2014 season in the Men’s State League 1 Competition, the Camden Tigers will no doubt look to use the experience gained from having played in the higher division and put it to good use.
Last season, players such as Daniel Semaan and Dean Mugridge formed effective combinations, but as a team, they lacked fluidity at times and the mental focus required to win grind out games.
Despite this, Camden are still one of the teams to beat this year in State League 2 and showed consistency at the end of last season, being undefeated in their last eight matches. On the back of this confidence and a good pre-season, the Camden Tigers are placing their attention on the job ahead.
“I wouldn’t say that they think it’s any easier in this division,” said Camden Tigers head coach, Dean Mackenchie.
“We’re pumped and ready to go. By no means will they think they’re going to walk over anyone, there are many good sides there.
“We’ve kept three quarters of our squad, basically we’ve signed a couple of other blokes from other clubs. We have mainly juniors and a couple of guys coming back from long term injuries who we didn’t have last year,” said Mackenchie.
“We like to keep possession of the football but at the same time I suppose, I would imagine second division is going to be a bit more physical. Mentally and physically we’re going to have to be on our game.
“No certain game plan however, you structure it to the opposition you play. We have a very young squad; we probably had the youngest squad in division one last year.
“The majority of the players are early twenties, some younger. I like to promote our youth, I’m looking forward to it,” said Mackenchie.
Hurstville FC
Hurstville FC were Premiers last year displaying significant improvement after finishing in 8th place in 2013.
Despite an outstanding season, they fell just one game short of the Grand Final, going down to second placed Southern Bulls 4-3.
They were undefeated in the first six rounds of the 2014 season and will be looking to get their 2015 campaign off to the same start.
Despite such a great start, Hurstville will need to show more consistency this season and find form at the right time of the year.
“The club’s management, players and coaching staff did an incredible job last year. That of course doesn’t count for anything this season and opposition sides will always lift when up against last season’s minor premiers,” said Head Coach, Tomi Vidovic.
“Our objective is to perform consistently each week at the level we know we can, if that can be achieved then results will follow. The club has some clearly defined goals and we are excited by the prospect of achieving these.”
He continues by saying they have undergone a rigorous pre-season and have put last season behind them.
“Both results and performances have been encouraging in pre-season against varying levels of opposition. Given the late start to the season, credit to the players for the way they have maintained their enthusiasm and focus throughout the pre-season,” said Vidovic.
In terms of players lost and gained, he continued by saying; “there was a high player turnover in the pre-season with the addition of 11 new players to the squad. An existing core has remained and ensured the new signings have integrated to the squad seamlessly. The squad is well balanced with depth in a number of key positions. I have faith in any of the extended squad to be able to play in the first 11 at any time,” said Vidovic.
Western Condors
A side which finished both 2013 and 2014 seasons in 5th place and just outside the final series, Western Condors, will be looking to break the chain this season and finish at least one spot higher.
“I think speaking from a twenties perspective, last year we had a really young squad, that contributed which was part of the plan. To give them exposure so they continue to improve and develop.” said head coach, Eric Anabalon.
“From a first grade perspective we had discipline issues.” Eight red cards all season, shot ourselves in the foot.”
Anabalon has identified discipline has kept the Western Condors out of the finals.
“We’ve learnt this year, brought in some new players and improved our discipline by working hard.”
“We’ve brought in Raul Caritzo who was involved with Southern Districts and Julian Borgiani,” said Anabalon.
“We have also brought in one of the boys brothers from overseas Christian Leiva, and Matt Putanac who missed last year due to injury.”
“They suit the style of football we want to play, for the moment I’m quite happy.”
The pride of playing for the club but also the joy that comes from football will be big motivating factors for the Western Condors this season.
Anabalon continued by saying, “We play nice football, which resonates with the club’s culture, we’re enjoy it. The team’s united and we’re enjoying training.
“I’m enjoying it more, a lot less stressed last year and we’re looking to compete.
“The goals for us this year is to be fighting for the top two spots, as a minimum we want to play finals football. We really want to push the big clubs; Hurstville FC, Prospect and Dunbar Rovers are quality teams just to name a few.
“We want to mix it with them. We want to place attractive football, being of a predominantly Chilean heritage.
“We like to play our short passing game and let individual talent take over when needed. “We’re looking to be successful and make our members proud.”
Dunbar Rovers
Dunbar Rovers make their Men’s State League 2 debut this season after terrorizing teams in the Eastern Suburbs Football Association last year.
Their terrific form saw them take out Football NSW’s Champions of Champions.
Head Coach, William Cullen is looking forward to the challenges ahead of playing new teams and recognizes that that they do not necessarily have an ‘edge’ for being new to the competition.
“We applied to be part of the State League last year,” said Cullen.
“We were in ESFA last year and found ourselves with a bit of success having won our league and Champions of Champions.
“Over the last four or five years we have attracted a lot of expats who have played at a pro level.
“As a result, we have had a good core group, which saw us have success over State League 1 sides in the Waratah Cup.
“Our aim as a club though was to see if we could grow. Last year we had a striker up front called Anthony Flood who scored 25 goals throughout the season and two crucial ones in the Champions Cup grand final.
“He’s moved on to play with the Marconi Stallions as well as four or five other players moving on to different clubs. However, we as a team I feel, are a lot stronger and have a great core group,” said Cullen.
“However, we’re lacking a bit of experience because we have quite a few younger players.
“We signed over ten new players this season though including a player from Hong Kong and have brought up a couple of twenties players because their form has been really good,” said Cullen.
“We have a guy from America who played at the top level of college football as well as a New Zealander who represented his country in the Olympics for their twenties side.
This new crop of younger players coupled with a birth in a new competition has given the Dunbar Rovers a lot of enthusiasm throughout the pre-season.
No doubt they will be looking to make a statement to State League 2 by starting how they finished last season.
-By Lars Roy
