First and foremost well done to all those who turned up last night to watch the NPL All stars take on the State League All Stars at Dorrien Gardens to raise money for RuralAid; those who have suffered due to the bushfires. Also well done to all the players who made themselves available to play in the game. Hopefully much needed funds were raised.
Despite all of the good intentions, it is hard not to wonder if this was a missed opportunity to promote the game locally.
For a start it is hard to label teams “All Star” teams when each club was asked to supply two players for the two squads. Certainly a few players were clearly lucky to be involved with a team carrying such a name.
The coaches for this game did not come from the State League or NPL clubs which was a shame. A logical appointment, as stated previously when it comes to the State Team coaching staff, should have been those who won the Coach of The Year award in the NPL and the State League. (In 2019 Ramon Falzon from Perth SC and Taki Nicolaidis from Gwelup Croatia). If we are to believe that the powers that be are truly about developing local coaches and giving them opportunities to grow as coaches then surely games such a this are the perfect platform?
Instead we had two employees of Football West coaching each team. Development Officer, Coach Development Garry Church was in charge of the State League team, while Technical Director Chris Ola oversaw the NPL side. If the state body is serious about developing local coaches and raising the bar then surely, if they were to be involved, both should have been there as assistant coaches, or in the background to help guide those given the chance to show what they were capable of?
The game itself was sadly not a great advertisement for the upcoming season in either competition. The 33 year old Andrijia Jukic was a clear stand-out, and showed more composure on the ball than most, greater vision and a far superior first touch to any that took to the field.
The State League side dominated the first half and tore the NPL side to shreds down the left, eventually Riley Warland committed a crass foul born of frustration that amazingly did not receive a yellow card. It was clear that the referee David Bruce was trying to not give cards and keep the game an even affair. The State League side had one goal ruled out, but then took the lead. The NPL side came back and won a penalty which was slotted home, but their second minutes later was well saved by James Bosdet; who put in a very strong performance in goal.
The second half saw major personnel changes by both sides and eventually the NPL started to show their expected superiority. They were allowed too much space in the midfield, as the State League dropped too many players into their defensive line and sat too deep. Despite these numbers in defence they turned over possession far too cheaply and were then caught at the back. The NPL’s Ali Nazary slotting home the winner. It was one of the few bright moments in a very dull 45 minutes.
Why in a game such as this were players not encouraged to express themselves more? Why was this not a showcase game to highlight the talent in the league? Maybe in fact it did just that, and showed that the talent stocks at this point in time are incredibly low.
Why were there not even team sheets available for those “hundreds of supporters” who turned out? Many would not have known who many of the players were, and most left being none the wiser. How hard would it have been to print both teams on A5 paper and make them available? On the other side couldn’t Football West have promoted the upcoming Night Series fixtures?
If you were relying on the announcer, you were again let down. As the whole tone of the evening continued, with mispronunciations and corrections having to be made.
Finally people turned out in numbers to support the local game and a good cause, but once again an opportunity was missed. The whole event can only be classed as amateur. Which is maybe a fair reflection as to where the game is at the moment. The event certainly did little to promote the game locally, the talent, or the two competitions, which is a great shame and very sad.
All White thank you for your comment, my apologies for the late reply.
Football West were defended on Social media for putting the event together in 9 days. Their job is to promote football and so they should have put on a better show in my opinion. I have been questioning why the clubs pay any fees in recent years. Then again they are foolish enough to pay some of the players were have masquerading as footballers…
My apologies for the late response. Thank you for your comment. I have to say I agree with your suggestion re Warland, that would have controlled the game and been in the spirit of the game.
Not sure the coaches were job justification, but I just don’t see how that is developing local coaches, which is one of the job remits of Football West.
I think you are being a bit harsh on the players, it wasn’t that bad a game, and although I agree Andrijia was good, so too were several other players. I did think Warland was lucky to stay on thepitch after that challenge and then refusing to come back to the referee. In a game such as this the referee in my opinion should have gone to the NPL coach and made him substitute him.
I have to agree re the program/teamsheets and also the announcements, it was pathetic. But we have come to expect that from Footballwest.
As for the coaches par for the course! Job justifcation?
Once again you have hit the nail on the head.
It was an embarrassment as an event. Honestly some clubs run their match days better than this.
As for the football, as you said Jukic was head and shoulders the best player on the pitch. If some of those others are getting paid to play for their clubs then the clubs are the fools and deserve to go bust. The NPL side were awful. If that is the pinnacle of the game, then the game is dying.
Agree totally re the coaches and the program/teamsheets. Why do clubs pay membership fees to an organisation that simply doesn’t care?