Coach: Micky Colina
Pre-season: WLWLDWDW (Whittlesea Ranges 4-1, Hume City 1-2, Murray United 4-0, Heidelberg United 1-3, Dandenong City 1-1, St Albans Saints 2-0, Melbourne Knights 2-2, Melbourne Knights 3-1)
Upcoming: St Albans Saints, 7:30pm, Thursday, 10th Feb @ Elcho Park; Sunshine George Cross, 7pm, Saturday 12th Feb @ Elcho Park
2014 Finish: 2nd NPL1 It was a stunning final half of the year that saw the North Geelong Warriors finish in the final promotion position at seasons end. Not only that, but they did it in inspired fashion, nearly knocking off runaway leaders Avondale Heights – now Avondale FC – falling one game short of the title. Five losses in the first eight rounds made promotion merely a pipedream, but a change of coach – Ante Skoko making way for Micky Colina – saw their fortunes change as the regional outfit went 11 games undefeated, including 10 wins (one of which was against Avondale), to catapult themselves past free scoring clubs like Richmond SC and Bulleen Lions, as well as Box Hill United and St Albans Saints to suddenly find themselves promotion favourites behind the ladder leaders. Two losses to Richmond threatened to de-rail those chances late in the season, but they held firm to claim promotion by four points with the leagues third best scoring record and defence to boot.
READ MORE > Skoko: Fans spur us on
New Signings: The Warriors have been quite busy strengthening their squad in the off-season, having secured the signatures of four new players to date, as well as keeping a large majority of their promotion winning squad. Versatile 24-year-old Josh Pugh comes from the Western Australian branch of the NPL and will look to bring his VPL experience – with Green Gully in 2010-11 – to the club. Milan Sekulic was on the books of NPL Queensland club Western Pride last season and the winger is looking to test himself in the top flight of one of the countries strongest state competitions.
Forward Tomislav Trbuhovic (Whittlesea Ranges) and young shot-stopper Tonio Baresic (St Albans Saints/Melbourne City NYL) make their way into the club from the NPL 1 to bolster the squad at either ends of the ground.
Players to Watch: Midfielder Vito Cichello looks set to be a key figure again at Elcho Park in the heart of midfield, while Reardo Luka alongside him offers a strong goal-scoring threat from the middle of the pitch. Reigning North Geelong best and fairest Michael Grgic will marshal the defence, while Robert Zadoworny will offer plenty of tricks and pace. The key man however will be Mark Paleka – who reached double figures last year – but whether the forward can continue his pre-season goal scoring form – with six to date – when the season proper starts is yet to be seen.
What to expect in 2015: If their pre-season form is anything to go by, expect the regional outfit to compete in a league above, having shown they can take results from top flight opposition with the squad they have. Team unity will be key and that’s something that is resonating strong from the camp at the moment. One thing that will worry them is that they’ve kept two clean sheets from eight games and they may need to keep it tighter should they avoid a relegation scrap. But there’s not too much to suggest that’ll happen this year and if they get off to a strong start, then their confidence may just see them secure their position in the top-flight. Will be competitive in first NPL season.