The Oakleigh Cannons have confirmed the signature of Iqi Jawadi from South Melbourne as the defeated Grand Finalists begin their recruitment drive ahead of the 2017 NPL Victoria season.
The 22-year-old midfielder joins the club on a two-year deal after a difficult 2016 season, where his playing time in the second half of the season saw him make no further appearances for his former employers following his half-time introduction in a 4-3 away defeat, coincidentally against the Oakleigh Cannons.
Born in Kabul, he fled war-torn Afghanistan at an early age by moving to the Indian capital of New Delhi along with his family before eventually migrating to Melbourne in the early 2000’s.
A Rowville Academy of Sport graduate, Jawadi was also part of the Victorian state set-up and made his senior debut in 2011 for the Victorian Training Centre.
He then joined Dandenong Thunder ahead of the 2012 VPL campaign where he was re-united with his former state coach Chris Taylor as the Afghan-born teenager proved to be the season’s revelation.
The then 18-year-old started in every one of Thunder’s 25 league games as the club celebrated an unprecedented treble of titles which culminated in a 2-1 Grand Final triumph over Oakleigh.
He ended the year by spending some time training with the Central Coast Mariners under Graham Arnold and has had subsequent trials with Melbourne City and the Newcastle Jets respectively.
After making 36 league appearances for the Thunder, Jawadi was one of five players to depart George Andrews Reserve in mid-2013 by electing to join Taylor at South Melbourne.
His three-and-a-half year stint at Lakeside Stadium saw the dynamic midfielder make a total of 79 league appearances for the club, scoring eight goals in the process.
Jawadi’s first full season at South saw him win the club’s best-and-fairest award after being crowned the Theo Marmaras Medallist as the four-time NSL Champions celebrated winning the inaugural NPL Championship before winning the Dockerty Cup and Premiership in 2015.
However a red card in the extra-time Grand Final loss to Bentleigh left the midfielder determined to help South’s quest to reclaim the title in 2016 as he began the season in style by netting goals in victories over Heidelberg and Port Melbourne in the opening rounds of the season.
An ankle injury sustained in the game against the Sharks kept Jawadi out for almost two months as former Thunder teammate Matthew Theodore deputised in his absence and put in a number of solid performances, as the 22-year-old battled to win his spot back after returning to full fitness.
“I enjoyed a really good start to the season by scoring twice in our opening three games even though I was playing the number six role as the team began the season in very convincing form by winning our opening three fixtures. I was simply doing what I had being doing for Chris Taylor over the last four years”, Jawadi explained.
“The injury I sustained was the most serious of my career and was the first time I spent a lengthy time on the sidelines. That was tough for me to go through especially given I was out for almost 2 months.”
“When I returned to the first-team, I played in a couple of games which admittedly weren’t the best but I was only just coming back to full fitness from the injury. I was then benched for the rest of the season without an explanation and that was really disappointing.”
Jawadi made a total of 12 NPL appearances in his least effective season yet although he is determined to make up for it after joining the Cannons who themselves are looking to go one better next season after their 3-2 Grand Final heartache at the hands of Hellas.
“I am very happy to be joining Oakleigh for the 2017 campaign and I am aiming for nothing less than winning all trophies on offer for the club.”
“Obviously that’s the aim for everyone but 2017 to me means a lot more and my career as I want to enjoy my football again after not playing as much as I would have liked in 2016 which was denied to me by certain people at South”, Jawadi added.
“The team as a whole has big ambitions and my person aim is to do nothing more than to play to the best of my abilities this upcoming season and prove a lot of people by doing that.”
Jawadi, who in 2015 was called up for an Afghanistan National Team training camp in 2015 is hoping to make up for lost time with Oakleigh after the disappointments of this season.
“Oakleigh was the first team to get in touch with me and as soon as they showed interest in me, I knew that was a club where I wanted to be playing my football next year.”
“I am 22 but have been playing in this league since 18 where a won a treble with Thunder before moving to South mid-way through the 2013 season along with a few of the other boys at the club and immediately helped the club climb from ninth to fourth as we just missed out on a Grand Final spot.”
“After that I was able to win more individual and team honours with a great bunch of boys and was determined to do the same this year and contribute to the team’s success. That did not happen but all the other boys worked hard to achieve what they did at the end of the season and I have made some true friends off the park from my South experience.
“It was a shame that I couldn’t be a part of it but that’s the way things work sometimes. Now I have bigger goals and ambitions and am focused to achieve them in 2017 by being part of another great club and group of players.”
Jawadi becomes the Cannons first signing of the off-season as co-coaches Con Tangalakis and Peter Tsolakis look to add reinforcements to the playing squad ahead of season kick-off in February next year.