Hills Brumbies The ‘Real Deal’
They may have lost 3-1 to Western Sydney Wanderers in Sunday’s match of the round but newly-promoted Hills Brumbies aren’t in the PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues’ 2 NSW Men’s competition just to make up the numbers.
With a 50 per cent win-loss record and standing in fourth equal spot on the premiership table after six rounds, the Brumbies have the potential and the confidence to trouble any team in the second tier competition.
Winners of last season’s PS4 NPL 3, the Brumbies won the third-tier premiership by a clear-cut eight points, winning 18 matches and losing just two along the way. Even a grand final loss to Rydalmere Lions couldn’t deny the Brumbies’ class and consistency throughout the season.
A young side with an average age in the early 20s, the Brumbies possess some decent talent, including inspirational skipper Daine Merrin, brothers and Australian futsal representatives, Greg and Wade Giovenali, and outstanding striker Peter Cejka, who has this season added more goals to the remarkable 33 he grabbed last year.
The nucleus of last season’s squad remains and many of the boys have played together in both under 20s and first grade, creating familiarity and combinations in their debut season in PS4 NPL 2.
"We’re hoping the familiarity between the boys gives us a bit of an advantage," Brumbies coach Dan Sheppard told Football NSW.
"We haven’t changed our playing style from last year – we still try to keep the ball on the ground, play through the numbers and to the feet, and try to score more goals than the opposition."
When asked if he was surprised by the club’s encouraging start to the season, Sheppard replied: "Yes and no, it’s a real mixed bag. If you’d told me at the beginning of the season that this was where we’d be, I’d have taken that straight away. We would’ve loved to be in this position.
"But if you look at two of the games we’ve lost (St George and Bankstown Berries), you’d think we probably should’ve won both of those games; and then the (Central Coast) Mariners (5-4 win) in particular is one that shouldn’t have been a win. It should have been a draw. It’s swings and roundabouts I guess. But by a sense of reality we should be happy with how well we’ve done so far and make sure that continues."
After Hills last year won the PS4 NPL 3, the club was on a high and a wave of excitement swept through the district’s football community.
That excitement was all well and good, but with promotion comes the expectation of stepping up and competing with bigger and better clubs with better players and better facilities.
Clubs such as the current top three, Western Sydney Wanderers, Marconi, and Blacktown Spartans.
So what did coach Sheppard expect of their new environment?
"I expected it to be a lot tougher than PS4 NPL 3," Sheppard says.
"I expected the weaker teams in the division would take points off you. We wouldn’t have the 8-0, 9-0 results we had in PS4 NPL 3.
"Every week you need to be focused and you can’t turn up and play half a game because other teams have got enough to beat you. So as the new boys we assume that every team has enough to beat us.
"Our own personal expectation is we do the best we can and see where we sit at the middle point of the season when we’ve played everyone."
So what’s the difference in standard between the leagues?
"Western Sydney Wanderers are definitely the best football side we’ve played this season, without a shadow of a doubt. They play the best football and man-for-man, probably have the most talented squad. And you would expect that of them.
"Everyone else we’ve played seem to be very similar although they play their slightly different versions of football. The teams defend a lot better and they can stick to the coach’s gameplans better, maybe because they’re a lot fitter. I think a couple of PS4 NPL 3 sides could do okay in PS4 NPL 2. I just don’t think there’s the bottom group in PS4 NPL 2 as there is in PS4 NPL 3.
"One thing about the competition is it’s very competitive. Even the teams we would perceive as weaker or stronger, have all gained points off each other. It’s so close that a couple of wins would take us up to the top, but a couple of losses would put us right down the bottom. It’s very competitive."
Although it’s still early days, the Brumbies have so far impressed in their debut PS4 NPL 2 NSW campaign. They’re in a good place and have the desire to continue their rise as a force to be reckoned with.
"We’re doing well but we’re still the newcomers in the competition, we’ve still got a lot to learn," Sheppard said. "I guess we’re just happy we’re getting results and we just want to make it last as long as we can.
"Every game is going to be a tough game for us. Everyone is going to look at us and think we’re the new boys who need to be showed a lesson or two. So we’ll just do the best we can and hopefully pick up some more points."
-By Derek Royal, Football NSW Reporter
