At a glance
David Williams wasn’t there to experience the lows of last season.
But he’s heard the horror stories from the Wellington Phoenix teammates that were.
‘‘A lot of cliques, a lot of people doing their own things. You know, quiet. People not really enjoying each other’s company. Players not really going for lunch or coffees together,’’ said Williams, who revealed an unhappy culture manifested as the Phoenix only narrowly avoided the wooden spoon.
It’s a different situation now under Mark Rudan though, to the point where the 30-year-old, who has returned to the A-League following two seasons with Hungarian club Haladas, believes the tight-knit bond formed by the playing group during the pre-season will set the Phoenix apart from the rest in 2018-19.
‘‘This year we do that all the time. In between trainings, in between meetings and what not, we’re a friendly bunch of guys.
‘‘We fight on the pitch and leave it there. When we come off we can sit down with each other and have a laugh.
‘‘The buzz in the changing room in the morning, even around the fine system, we have some funny things that keep us on our toes.
‘‘Apparently this is one of the better dressing rooms that has been around for the last couple of years and I’m honoured to be a part of that and hopefully my influence is rubbing off on some of the younger players and even some of the current players who have been here for the last couple of years.’’
In order to help galvanise the team, Rudan called in the army and put the players through a series of tests over 24 hour period without food or sleep last week.
Williams was extremely hungry and ready for bed by the end of the boot camp, but the former Melbourne City forward said the exercise has brought the team closer together, ahead of their A-League opener against the Newcastle Jets on Sunday.
‘‘Everyone was out of their comfort zones by far but we’ll all benefit from it. We were on the bus and you could say different words or think negative thoughts but it’s the few days later where you think it was all worth it.
‘‘When you’re not sleeping at 3am and you’re wrestling at 5am in a barracks gym, it definitely pushes a few players’ buttons and you can have different reactions. But from all reports everyone passed with flying colours.’’
Williams said he has been in teams that have finished at the bottom of the table before, and ‘‘it’s never fun’’.
So in order to keep their chins up it’s vital they get their new campaign off to a winning start against the Newcastle Jets, who will be looking to build on their momentum after making it all the way to the final last season.
‘‘We don’t want to say all these things and get everyone hyped up and then get so high that it’s a quick fall,’’ he said.
‘‘Even if we do lose games, but I don’t want to speak negatively about that, it’s going to be exciting games because we’re still going to throw everything at them.
‘‘We’re going to be playing attacking football and with the A-League round one
Westpac Stadium, Wellington, tomorrow 5pm Wellington $3.10, Newcastle $2.10, draw $3.55
Filip Kurto (gk), Mandi, Ryan Lowry, Dylan Fox, Mitch Nichols, Nathan Burns, David Williams, Liberato Cacace, Alex Rufer, Michal Kopczynski, Louis Fenton, Sarpreet Singh, Tom Doyle, Oliver Sail, Roy Krishna, Andrew Durante (c), Max Burgess, Steven Taylor
Glen Moss, Jason Hoffman, Nigel Boogaard (c), Ben Kantarovski, Steven Ugarkovic, Dimi Petratos, Jair, Ronald Vargas, Mitch Austin, Ivan Vujica, Kaine Sheppard, Nick Cowburn, Daniel Georgievski, Lewis Italiano, Lachlan Jackson, Matthew Ridenton, Patrick Langlois, Nikolai Topor-Stanley
What: Where and when: TAB: Phoenix:
Jets:
quality that we have, we’re going to see goals so I don’t think there’s going to be droughts at all.
‘‘Who the goals are going to come from, there’s a range of players who can definitely do that.’’