Captain Daniel Petkovski believes Rockdale City Suns are ready to put a luckless month of football behind them as they look to kick start their 2018 season.
Despite a baron April, Rockdale find themselves well poised to emerge from a cluttered mid-table, with only three points separating Paul Reid’s team from the top five.
Petkovski predicts brighter times ahead as his side work hard to shake off the unwanted statistic of most goals conceded (19 from 8 matches, shared with Sydney FC) by restoring the defensive stability that has served them well in recent seasons.
“The positive thing is everyone is on the same page,” said the 24-year-old fullback.
“We’re all hungry to turn our form around and are big believers that if we put in the hard work then everything will work out.
“The last month has been tough, but we’re more than positive that things will turn around for us.
“We’ve obviously leaked a fair few goals over the last couple of weeks, and collectively we all need to work to tighten the back up.
“Defence starts from the top as well, and we’ve been working hard over the last couple of weeks to ensure that everyone knows their role in defence and to prevent individual errors.”
The mixed start to the Suns’ season can perhaps be attributed to an improvement in the overall standard of the NPL NSW Men’s competition, which currently sees a solitary victory separating fifth from eleventh after two months of football.
The levelled playing field is making for great entertainment, while providing a tougher challenge for clubs vying for spots in the upper reaches of the table.
“You can’t underestimate anyone in the competition,” said Petkovski.
“Each club has pros and cons, but mostly strengths, and you can’t allow any team to fly under the radar because they’ll come back and bite you.
“We’ve made the top 5 in the last 2 years, and if you have a look at it now, the table is so tight from bottom to top that everyone is beatable.
“Each team has their particular strengths and the results have been quite surprising over the last couple of weeks, but then again that’s not surprising as there is no easy game in our comp.”
Petkovski, along with his teammate Alec Urosevski, had similar stints with Sydney FC in which they briefly broke into the Hyundai A-League squad as youngsters before returning to the National Premier Leagues system for regular football.
Having experienced the issue first hand, Petkovski, like many in Australian football, is concerned that Australia’s top flight is neglecting the young talent produced by the state leagues, which in turn jeopardises the development of the Australian game.
“It’s just the way of the A-League at the moment,” remarked Petkovski.
“I saw an article on Ray Miller from Bonnyrigg a couple of weeks ago, he was totally spot on.
“It’s a bit disappointing from the A-League because there’s a lot of great players in our league that I can say first hand could play easily in the A-League or could even push to be starting in squads, but for some particular reason they just aren’t looking in their own backyard.
“You look at the likes of Melbourne, where players from the state league down there are being given chances in their respective A-League teams, yet New South Wales don’t want to do that, and I think our state league is by far the best one in the country.
“It perhaps just comes down to recruitment from the A-League teams, perhaps they’re lazy on that side or don’t want to even look at younger players.
“Maybe they think that the state league is not a stepping stone to the A-League, which really it should be to develop players and keep the game healthy here in Australia.”
Next up for the Suns is a stern test against the most defensively sound team in the league, Blacktown City.
Their third-placed opponents have shipped only 5 goals so far this season, yet the Suns will be undeterred by the challenge as they look to prior performances for inspiration.
“We love playing Blacktown,” beamed Petkovski.
“Obviously we beat them last year in the Preliminary Final, and while we enjoy playing them it’s going to be a tough test.
“You always want to play against the best – you must beat the best to be the best.
“We’re quite excited and think we can turn our season’s form around this weekend with this big game against Blacktown.”
To see if Daniel Petkovski and Rockdale City Suns can maintain their hoodoo over Blacktown City be sure to get to Ilinden Sports Centre this Sunday for the 5pm kick-off. This match will also be live streamed on the NPL New South Wales Facebook Page.
– By Michael Shoolman
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