PATRICK ZWAANSWIJK IS KEEN FOR THE NEW SEASON

There’s plenty of excitement at Cromer Park, and not just because Friday night football is back for 2024. Manly United Men’s 1st Grade head coach Patrick Zwaanswijk has assembled a talented young squad with a lot of potential, and last year’s decision to expose U20 players to our 1st Grade training environment has meant he is optimistic about their prospects.

“They’ve been training all last year with the 1st Grade team and the mixed training gives them a look into the level that they need to be. That’s the most exciting part for this year. We’re going to play against the likes of Marconi, APIA and Blacktown City. They have well-established players with big names who played in the A-League or had some sort of professional journey. We’ll have to compete with a lot bigger names on a different level and that’s definitely what we intend to do.”

“In our squad, if you’re good enough, you’re old enough. This year, we’ll be even more of an advocate for young players coming through. Corey Cronin (CC Strikers junior) is making a name for himself, he’s looking to be a part of the 1st team already, and we have Jack Mason (another Strikers junior) who’s getting closer and closer to playing a part off the bench at some stage.”

Zwaanswijk is also looking forward to seeing how Saxon Hillyer develops after an impressive 2023 season, one where the Seaforth junior established himself in the 1st Grade team.

“Saxon, I think everybody knows, everybody’s seen him play 1st Grade. He was a big part of our change halfway through the season, where we started to play the way that I like teams to play, with much more confidence. He’s a young kid who has proven a lot, he’s a local.”

Manly have also recruited from other clubs, and former Newcastle Jets Academy player Ezra Palombini is one who caught the eye in preseason.

“Ezra came from a good development environment where he wanted to challenge himself more and didn’t want to stay in League Two. He came to trials and did well, he was very energetic.”

Having a squad full of young talent means you need some guidance, and this was a factor in Joe Fox’s return to Manly United’s playing squad, after the midfielder had spent time at near-neighbours Northern Tigers.

“With Joe Fox, we look at him as a mentor for the youth because he was a mentor at Manly for young players who went on and became professionals. For us, we have a lot of young players in our squad, so his name definitely popped up with that kind of experience.”

It’s not just the talent in the squad that provides plenty to look forward to: Friday night home games, which were so popular between 2020 and 2022, are a welcome return to the Manly United calendar.

“Friday night games allow us to have Saturday and Sunday off, which could work well with some of the older players and their family lives, or some of the players who have family a little further away. I think the balance overall is something that could really work well.

“On a Friday night, we hopefully have a lot of fans who come back from work, who are happy to have a meal at The Far Post and watch our games. I think it’s a combination of all these things that worked well two years ago, why not try something that worked well in the past?”