THE SNIPER’S WEEKLY ROUND-UP
APOLLO’S NEW LOOK
Surfers Paradise will have an off-season for the ages with Alex Morrison forced to rebuild his squad again. After departures of key players moving on for a number of reasons, Apollo will be forced to bring in recruits from around the Gold Coast and abroad to compete once again in the league. Could they make a move for some familiar faces or will they go for a new feel come 2019? Why not both!
YELLOW OR RED?
The two NPL teams on the Gold Coast for now have made great inroads in being competitive in 2019. Both have made great signings and sources tell me that this is just the beginning. United have done their business early and continue to work on improving their squad, whereas Knights have lurked behind and are slowly announcing their squad, with Sam Smith being the first major signing of the off-season. Right now, advantage is to United but it will be interesting to see if this changes in the coming weeks.
RAIDER MULHEARN
Nathan Mulhearn has agreed to take over the reins at Robina City for 2019. In senior men the club has been a basket case for a very long time, so it will be interesting to see how Mulhearn will approach the season and what he can do. We will see if he can pull some players together to at least be competitive, but it won’t take much to improve on previous records. Nevertheless, it will be enjoyable to see him put his thoughts he shares so passionately into practice.
DEFENCE TO WIN LEAGUE
As a collective the Football Gold Coast community know that a good striker is hard to come by and once you have them you automatically put yourself in a position to win. In 2019, the shortage of quality defenders among the league will be a key focal point in who will take the spoils. You can’t look past Broadbeach in these ranks, but Nerang are not to far behind in this department IF Acim Tomic plays at the back. Surfers need to sign at least three defenders to have some depth and quality in this area, with the Bulldogs basically needing a whole new backline for 2019. Levi Hilton might be the option for Phelo, wait and see!