Woonona FC

The arrival of new head coach Brendan Anderson begins a new era for Woonona Sharks Football Club, as they look to make themselves genuine contenders in the 2016 Illawarra Premier League season. A fine mix of youth and experience, with the addition of a number of new quality faces sees the Sharks boost their playing ranks in 2016. We can expect high quality possession football from Anderson’s outfit.

After key injuries to crucial players in recent seasons, the Sharks will be looking to stay injury-free as they enter their 127^th year of existence. Depth in the squad is something the Sharks have struggled with in previous years. The IPL is a strong, physical competition. But a bunch of young players have been making waves for the Sharks in youth pre-season tournaments and will be chomping at the bit for a call-up if some of the senior players pick up injuries during the season.

Players to watch

Look out for the more experienced Premier League players like Lachlan Fetterplace, Chris Gibson and Cameron Banks to put some bite into the Sharks’ new style of play. Brad Jardine, the 2016 Football South Coast All Stars’ custodian, is looking for another big season. After last season’s eye-catching performances, he will be out to provide much needed direction from between the posts. Watch out also for Valentino Merxhushi, whose creative play forward from midfield may be the source of many of the goals the Sharks will be looking for this season.

Season Expectation

There is a real buzz about this club, and it showed in some of their performances during the pre-season Fraternity Cup, where they proved themselves a match for some of the best teams in the League. With rookie coach Anderson calling the shots, the key to their season is simple: score goals to win games. They need to start the season well, though, to maintain momentum, and avoid a repeat of the winless start to the 2015 season which saw them struggling to stay off the bottom in the opening weeks. Defeat in the FFA Cup last weekend to Pagewood Botany showed how easy it is to let fluent football and talented play come to nothing. Provided the team can avoid too many injuries, we can expect to see the Sharks challenging for a Finals spot at the end of the season. My prediction: they will just miss out, but only by the skin of their teeth…

By Simon Duffin