Well, I haven’t done the NPL this season much as I’d like, due to lots of clashes, WC and all, and got a memorial today.
Looks like another solid season from the youf. 6th or 7th, among NSD prospects, in an expanded comp of 16. The scum in the bottom 3, only promoted due to the expansion. The Bulls at the bottom, only in NPL1 due to taking over Northbridge.
Back when we got promoted I was expecting immediate relegation, and we got close a few times. But we’ve stayed up and improved. Hopefully with Sky Park, we’ll get even better, and MAYBE it’ll start translating to the men soon.
Wholeheartedly agree. It’s phenomonal, and if they still had a finals series, we’d be in it. The only team that surprised me above us is St George, but with their promotion last year they clearly spent big this season.
We finished higher than some big names in Olympic, Facist United, and other usually strong runners like Manly United and Wollongong.
Whilst we’ve been around the block, its a step up that the Likes of West Sydney and CCM and Macarthur/Northbridge via Fairfield could cope with.
A little tighter defensively, and we take points in the derby, and off some of the big teams. All good goals to achieve in the future.
Weve one-upped last season when we died in the second half of the season, so lessons learnt there.
Being an academy we’re always going to be up against it with the more established NPL clubs who can usually draw on a weath of seasoned ex- A-League players, but the future is looking bright and strong.
Running my eye across the other NPL ALeague academies, we look the strongest out of all of them in the respective state leagues.
Haven’t watched as much as I’d like in the 2nd half of the season but Oscar Fryer seems to have made TOTW on 4 or 5 occasions and scored some important goals. Anyone who has been watching share their thoughts on him? @Hybrid ?
Likewise, haven’t seen as much of them over the last 2 months, we were booted from Valentine for that month during the WWC and also had a few clashes at the tail end of the park season.
But from what I have seen he’s always been amongst the most impressive out there. Going back through posts I called for a scholarship deal after the Spirit game. There was that mid-season turnover which sucks, it’d be good to have a proper view of retentions at the end of a full NPL season… but as much as it was tough seeing the likes of Taylor and Paull move on mid-season we haven’t really missed them and agree with previous posts that finishing 6th really is a remarkable achievement by the group. Hats off to Jimmy & co.
Of those still here I’m of the view that Adamson (versatility to cover both sides at wildcatback), Matthews (next cab off the CB ranks) and Fryer are the next ones we’d want locked down. Adamson could potentially fill a squaddie role for the first team right now (sorry Redders, but he was my MOM in the CCM cup game), allowing De Jesus the next full NPL season. Hype / potential / youth NT’s aside, right now there is daylight between Adamson and him.
RE: Fryer, there looks to be a super player in there. Happy to be corrected but iirc he’s pretty much bypassed the 20’s, going straight from 18’s to the NPL first team during that mid-season churn when we lost Priestman. Scarcella also seems to have played less NPL since he’s been training with the A-L squad. So if it was a “sink or swim” scenario then Fryer is our academy’s Michael Phelps. Tidy on the ball, good technique, picks good passes and always looking to play forward first. Different stature, but his outcomes in possession kinda remind me of JK, which at this stage is some pretty high praise. Also fits that same mould of being able to play as a 10 / second striker, or anywhere across a front 3 without ever resembling a traditional 9. Has the ability to be very direct when it’s on, or also a bit more creative when required, without being as jinky as Segecic or retaining possession for possession’s sake like Caceres.
Just had a really good chance to score but apart from that it’s difficult to see where a goal is going to come from.
At least they don’t look like scoring.
Finishes 0-0. I only saw the second half but we looked the better side. Every player looked very solid, nobody looks like they don’t belong at this level.
Apart from that he was pretty good. Definitely has the young Rhyan Grant look going on. Not too sure if he’s related to Lachie Rose, there’s a resemblance there as well.
So our NPL boys have kept more clean sheets in the opening two rounds of the '24 season, than the A-League lads have done in what - a season and a half?
St George beat our NPL team 2-1 tonight. Obviously were missing a bunch of players that were on the bench for the senior team. Our goal was a deflected effort with about 10 minutes to go. Unsure of who scored. It may have even been given as an own goal.
There was that mid-season turnover which sucks, it’d be good to have a proper view of retentions at the end of a full NPL season… but as much as it was tough seeing the likes of Taylor and Paull move on mid-season we haven’t really missed them and agree with previous posts that finishing 6th really is a remarkable achievement by the group. Hats off to Jimmy & co.
