Caroline Springs George Cross believes it can achieve something special in its return to the National Premier League competition this season.
The Georgies have risen through the ranks in recent seasons, having dropped as low as the state league 1 competition.
Now back where they feel like they belong, coach Eric Vassiliadis said they were excited by the challenge.
“We want to create something special in the two cups and the league,,” he said. “What is special is open to interpretation.
“We want to tick boxes for the players and the community, we don’t want to make up the numbers.
“We haven’t done what we’ve done the last seven years just to go sideways. We want to make an impression.”
The Georgies will have a number of new faces when they kick off their season on 14 February against Bentleigh Greens.
Vassiliadis said they knew they had to make some changes with going up a division.
“It’s been a really big off season,” he said. “We’ve consciously identified which players we think can compete in the NPL.
“We also want to reward the boys who have got us in this position. The difference between the VPL [Victorian Premier League] and the NPL is large.
“We’ve been busy in the market and we’re pretty happy but we’ll be open for business until the window closes.”
Vassiliadis said there would be three or four players from last season’s squad that would be challenging for starting positions.
He said depth was a key area while changes to the homegrown rules with the under-20s and under-23s was something they had also looked at.
Vassiliadis said he had been impressed by the two younger sides who have shown some strong growth already.
He said there were a number of new players that fans could look forward to seeing on the pitch.
Lucas Byrns has crossed from St Albans, Maker Maker from Port Melbourne, Johnny Apostolopoulos from Heidelberg, Leo Mazis from Sutherland Sharks and Muamet Selimovski has made the move from Dandenong Thunder.
While promotions and new competitions aren’t new for the Georgies, Vassiliadis said they would stay apprehensive to ensure they stay sharp and focused when the season kicks off.
As well as being busy in the recruiting, the Georgies have also been busy on the track.
“We’ve already played five practice matches,” he said.
“Defensively we have been in line with expectations and we’ve scored a few goals.
“We have a number of matches the next few weeks. They will give us more an impression before round one against the Bentleigh Greens, which will be absolutely massive.”
The club’s women’s and junior programs are also looking strong for this year.
Vassiliadis said off field things were going well for the club as well.
The club has just signed Visit Malta as one of its major sponsors for this season.
