A big win last weekend, and now preparing to face second place on Sunday, we caught up with NPL Head Coach Jim van Weeren to get his thoughts on both games.
Big win last the weekend, how pleasing was that?
To win any match 5-0 is a great feeling, it was a nice turnaround after a few tough weeks worth of results. Mt Druitt is a very competitive NPL club. We were happy to get a result like that.
What impressed you the most about Saturday’s 5-0 win?
To create and score so many goals is excellent, especially as attacking football is part of the Club and Academy’s DNA. Some of the combination play that led to goal scoring opportunities was outstanding.
You moved Tom Fay into a more attacking position, what brought about that move?
When Kelly first recruited Tom from Manly United, he was originally signed as an attacking player. He was playing number 10 there at the time, creating and scoring goals. You can see at training Tom is a very inventive player, often having a hand in most goal-scoring moments. Since our NYL season, we have had a lot of players that were playing in those roles move on to other professional teams (domestically and internationally), so the opportunity arose. We believe in Tom’s ability, regardless of position, we are excited to see him develop in that role.
How are you preparing to face Wolves this weekend?
Preparations have been similar this week to almost every other week. We know Wollongong will be ready, Luke is a top coach and will have his team prepared to fire. We focus on our performance and development; the boys have been very good at training this week, and know that we need to win to stay in the hunt for finals.
What sort of match are you expecting as you come up against 2nd place?
We know that Wolves will be a big threat with both their attacking players but also a danger to us on set plays. We know they will try to play their style of football that Luke has brought to them. They are in the hunt to try and win the league, so we know they will be fired up and ready for this match. We aim to perform at the same level as last week, and we are very much looking forward to this contest.
