District League 2016 - Preview - Part 1
The 2016 version of the WGC Cranes District League Competition kicks off this Easter Weekend and here is a sneak overview of the member club's pre-season along with their expectations for the new season.
BALGOWNIE RANGERS
There have been a good roll up of players in the Pre-Season with a lot of Youthfull players making up the bulk of the attendance.
After finishing 12th in 2015, Coach Jamie Dummett (in his second season) believes that the club has 'recruited' well in the off season and will be a lot stronger than last year.
The expectation is that a lot of the Young players will step up to First Grade providing the club with a lot more depth than in previous seasons.
Dummett said 'that providing they can get a fair run with keeping players on the park, the First Grade side will have a realistic chance of making the season ending play offs'.
On the downside, the club is lacking depth in the Goal Keeping department.
Key Players: Jackson Dumment & Michael Todd (in midfield) and Jordan Scott (wide defensive player with pace to burn
Ins: Josh Mitchell & Michael Todd (both a couple of seasons away from the game), Peter Katsoudas (W'gong Olympic), Jordan Scott(Tarrawanna)
Outs: Beau Cropper (Coaching), Oscar Garret(year off), Ben Gatwood(AFL),Isaac Osborne (Tarrawanna), Anestis Stratilas(Corrimal Rangers), Yanni Mavrikis (W'gong Olympic).
BELLAMBI
In dropping back a Division, Coach Greg Smart has been faced with a huge dilema after losing the whole First Grade side from last season.
The Rosellas have been forced into a re-building phase and player re-cruitment was a real issue early in the pre-season but Smart is happy with the numbers that have now rolled into training over the last 6 weeks although the Coach believes that he is still a month behind with his preparation.
Given the problems that the club has faced, Smart is quitely confident that the club will be competitive across the three grades and has set a target of top 5 football for all three sides and has saved a special wrap for the Youth Grade side who look really good at this early stage.
Key Players: Jason Petty(Goalkeeper), Mitch Ramsay(defender), Yuki Kanno(Midfield), Kai Nagannuma(Striker), Vladimir Toro Illanes(Striker)
Young Players to Watch- Jarryd Sweeney, Daniel Pivovarski, Joshua McCready
Young Players to Watch- Jarryd Sweeney, Daniel Pivovarski, Joshua McCready
Ins: (see key players)
Outs: (too many to mention)
Outs: (too many to mention)
BERKELEY
The Club has new Coach, Paul Mears, in charge in 2015 who has taken over from Jason Higgs who has moved onto the First Grade job at Cringila Lions. Mears is no stranger to Illawarra Football and brings a wealth of experience to the club from his playing days over many seasons as a more than capable Central Defender.
He has been happy with the club's progress in the Pre-season and has been busy trying to coach his players into playing an open brand of football. At the same time he is only too aware that he needs to instill a comptetitve instinct in the way they play the game.
Whilst the numbers have been reasonable at training, the club could do with a few more players of Youth Grade age.
The First Grade side will bear little resemblance to last year's outfit and there will be no high expectations at the club who will be looking to consolidate a mid table finish.
The First Grade side will bear little resemblance to last year's outfit and there will be no high expectations at the club who will be looking to consolidate a mid table finish.
Key Players: Jesse Gant (Midfield), Tony Paglialunga (Striker)
Ins: Jesse Gant (Amateurs), Daniel McKellar (Fernhill), Jon Adams (Amateurs), Alex Perez (Coniston Lions)
Outs: Jarryd King (Cringila Lions), Adam White (Warilla Wanderers), Robbie Cull & Nelson Grillo (Unknown), Nathan Pegler (Retired).
CORRIMAL RANGERS
With Richard Lloyd moving on to a Technical Directors role with Wollongong Wolves, the Rangers have introduced a joint partnership to the Haed Coaching reins for an anticipated exciting 2016 season.
Tony Dulevski has been selected to take on a player/coach role and he will be assisted by the experienced Yani Sekuloski whose last coaching experience was with Coniston Lions in 2013.
Corrimal have enjoyed a terrific preparation for the new season climaxing in a triumphant Frat Cup victory where they beat Wests Illawarra two goals to nil in the Final.
Tony Dulevski has been selected to take on a player/coach role and he will be assisted by the experienced Yani Sekuloski whose last coaching experience was with Coniston Lions in 2013.
Corrimal have enjoyed a terrific preparation for the new season climaxing in a triumphant Frat Cup victory where they beat Wests Illawarra two goals to nil in the Final.
The arrival of a Golden Goose at Memorial Park has allowed the club to attract a host of experienced players which augers well for an assault on Promotion to the IPL in 2016.
Sekuloski mentioned that the players have knuckled down hard at training and have brought a really professional approach to the Club. At the moment they are working on geling as a unit but when it comes to Match Days they will be taking nothing for granted and getting too far ahead of themselves as they will be taking each game as it comes on a week by week basis.
Sekuloski mentioned that the players have knuckled down hard at training and have brought a really professional approach to the Club. At the moment they are working on geling as a unit but when it comes to Match Days they will be taking nothing for granted and getting too far ahead of themselves as they will be taking each game as it comes on a week by week basis.
Key Players: Mitchell Blowes (GK), Dominic Magill(Centre Mid), Mark Picciolini (Striker).
Ins: Mitchell Blowes(Corrimal Rangers), Mark Picciolini(Port Kembla), Vasko Mitkovski(Shell Cove FC), Andrew Nanos (Shell Cove FC), Christian Plakias, Evan Fitzsimmons(UOW FC), Dominic Magill(Cringila Lions), Save Treneski (Shell Cove FC), David Bescos (Warilla Wanderers), Michael Stojanoski (Cringila Lions).
Outs: Jason Rae, Daniel Pisani(Oak Flats Falcons), Cem Ozer, Brian Endres, Tom Mindaz (Woonona), Boris Surla, Stephen Draper, Alex Baird(St. Albans,Melbourne), Frank Pierro(South Coast United).
FERNHILL
The Foxes have had a much better pre-season in 2016 with over 70 players trialling at one stage whereas in 2015 the club struggled with numbers after their demotion from Premier League the previous year.
Coach Daniel McGoldrick is more than happy with the players at his disposal having picked up a number of new faces to cover for the Japanese contingent who were at the club in 2015 but have since picked up spots in the IPL.
After just missing out on a Final Series spot in First Grade(6th) in the last round last season, McGoldrick is in no doubt that the Club will finish with all three grades in the top four at the culmination of Season 2016.
Key Players: Marc Sergi(midfield), Anthony Oliver (LFB), Sean Poulton(RFB), Ben Moerman(Striker)
Ins: Anthony Oliver(Tarrawanna), Scott Muiluyk(Tarrawanna), Dale & Lee White(Bellambi), Sean Poulton, Brandon Lewis(Bulli), Aaron Tambakis (Tarrawanna), Matthew Richardson(Bellambi), Keiran Morris (Bellambi), Joshua Hurt (Dapto Dandaloo), Dean Morosin (Tarrawanna), Andrew Breslin(Corrimal Rangers).
HELENSBURGH THISTLE
Coach Brod Crighton has been reaonably happy with his teams preparation which was highlighted with the Thistle reacing the semi finals of the Frat Cup before being elimated by eventual winners Corrimal Rangers.
After losing some very experienced players in the off season, Crighton has been busy working on a structure that involves a possession based game. The Coach believes he has good players all over the park who push the ball around well but the key for him will be to make sure they finish with the ball in the back of the opponents net.
Crighton believes it will be a close competition and believes his side will be competitive and in a position to emulate the 2015 3rd placed finish at the conclusion of the 2016 season.
Key Players: Andrew Paine, Luke McCann, Luke Wyatt, Damien Warwick.
Ins: Damien Warwick(Tarrawanna), Nathan Mucci(Woonona), Luke McCann (UOW FC).
Outs: Monty Pfrengle, Nick Lenton, Ben Kasznik, Matt Wardle
By David Naylor
Last Modified on 24/03/2016 13:08
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