Fahmi motivated to convert the Rams’ stellar run into a championship

Macarthur Rams captain John Fahmi has his eyes firmly set on leading his young side out to a win this Saturday’s League Two Grand Final against Inter Lions. 

At 29-years of age, Fahmi linked up with the Rams at the start of last season after a near eight-year spell at SD Raiders.

Speaking to Football NSW, Fahmi noted that as the season progressed he began to believe that his side could achieve big things in 2022.

“We have a lot of young players, so preseason this year was mainly about preparing the team physically for the season and promoting youth, our goal was always on promotion so our focus was building these players up for next year,” he said.

“During the season we had moments we were had good runs and we didn’t have any bad runs, but there was certain games where we thought we could of got better results.

“Our expectation as the season progressed was making finals and having a good run, but we dropped some points and with the squad being so young we sometimes struggled to see out games.

“As the season went on we dropped off from the top five, but we won the final four games of the season and made it through.”

Fahmi praised his coach Brett Hewit for the strong relationship they have built in their short time at the club.

“Being at the same club for eight years at Raiders I went through a lot of coaches, but my relationship with Brett has been very good,” he said.

“To be named the captain and have that expectation put on you, he’s got to have some sort of trust in you, I respect him as a coach, he’s definitely brought in good players.

“He’s also brought his own philosophy in and it really suits a club like Macarthur, moving forward into next season and beyond having such a young player base, I think we can be very competitive as they grow.

“He’s all about youth, but he knows that he has to have some older heads around the changeroom, I’m still looking to play at a decent level, so we get along really well and have a good footballing relationship.

After the well-documented 8-2 loss to Inter a month ago, Fahmi is eager to avenge that result.

“It’s funny because we were in the lead for the first half an hour of that game, I thought we were playing very well, we conceded a couple of sloppy goals and it was a domino effect from there,” he said.

“Those mistake compounded and we went into the break down 4-1, we knew it was going to be tough to comeback from that so maybe our attitude wasn’t where it needed be, but the score line wasn’t a true reflection of the game or us as a team.

“Going into a game like the grand final or a semi-final, playing against teams like Inter, Rydalmere and Central Coast, we’ve shown the last two weeks that we can beat those types of teams, there’s no reason why we can’t do the same on Saturday.

“New team, new players and combinations take time to build and we’re coming into a purple-patch of form because the of the type of games we are playing.

“We are full of motivation and adrenaline, I think in the back of our minds we are all stepping up to the plate and as the season has gone we have gotten better playing alongside each other.

“It was just a matter of time and we’ve settled in, not just for this game but for next season we will be a different type of team.”

By Football NSW Men’s League Two Writer, Dominic Criniti @DominicCriniti