Southport targets season opener as launch pad for GPS glory
THE Southport School will start its GPS First XI season this weekend with a blockbuster against first round winners Nudgee College on Saturday.
Under the captaincy of Ewan MacLeod and with an eye-catching spine of central defender Max Sabados (Gold Coast Knights club), attacking midfielder Josh Dimarco (Brisbane Roar club) and centre forward Lochie Johnson (Gold Coast United), TSS are positioned to give the premiership a shake in 2020.
Asked about his aspirations and ambitions, TSS director of football Joe Dolan said: “We’d love to win it. A Firsts coach who does not say that is not telling the truth.
“We are a really good group, we have had a couple of years together and I’d love for our captain (Ewan MacLeod) and other year 12s to win. I don’t want to leave anything out there.
“You don’t get much wriggle room, you don’t get a chance to make too many mistakes.
“We know there are other very competitive football teams in this competition and the beauty is every week you look through it (the results) and say ‘how did they beat them’.
“My expectations are to leave everything out there (on the field) and the aspirations are to win.’’
Dolan said a majority of the 2019 First’ group which finished a fighting third would return in 2020. “We were a reasonably young team last year, we only had three years 12s in the team.
So this year we managed to keep that group together,’’ Dolan said.
“We have a number of year 12s, a number of year 11s and young 10s because you want the younger ones to know the expectations and what to expect.’’
But Dolan added another “joy’’ about the GPS competition was when he worked with new players to the squad and built a new team culture.
Dolan said the TSS football program prided itself on “teaching the kids new formations, how to understand the game and a number of ways to educate them’’.
He said while club football developed players over a longer period of time, the GPS competition was “unique to this part of the world’’ which created “fantastic cup final footie’’.
Dolan said playing in the GPS competition was special because the students played in front of their peers and their school community.
“They represent their school and families as best they can and, on a whole, it is a really good, supportive experience for everyone involved,’’ said Dolan, whose build-up to the season included a match against old boys.