Mid-season report card: Every Illawarra Premier League team’s grade, analysis at halfway point
At the halfway point of the Illawarra Premier League season, we’ve talked to every coach and graded every side as they look to play finals football in a few months time. See how your side fares.
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We are at the halfway point of the Illawarra Premier League season.
Barring a couple of fixtures that need to be caught up, every team has now played each other once and we have a good grasp of which teams will be competing for the top prize in a few months time.
Some teams are flourishing beyond their wildest dreams, while others are resigned to battling down the bottom end of the table.
We’ve talked to every coach at the halfway point of the season and analysed how their teams have performed in the first half of the season.
Check out the mid-season report card.
Albion Park White Eagles
Current position: 1st (10 wins, 1 draw, 0 losses)
Half-year grade: A+
Biggest strength: Coach George Antoniou is pleased to report how much everyone has stepped up and contributed to the wildly impressive start to the season the Eagles have had. This goes from the squad that started the year to the young lads who have come up due to injuries.
Needs improvement: Despite being undefeated, Antoniou still believes his side hasn’t played their best football and still aren’t putting together a complete 90 minutes of football. They need to cut some silly errors out of the game to ensure total dominance.
Best performance: 3-2 win vs Helensburgh – Not the flashiest result, but one that coach Antoniou identified as one of great character from his White Eagles.
Top scorers: Taiga Kitajima, Tory Musumeci & Cameron Morgan (Five goals)
Coach MVP: Tyler Fuller
Season expectation: At the start of the year they wanted top five. Now at the halfway point they’re 10 points clear of their nearest competitor. Staying humble and staying focused, Antoniou says the goal is still improvement from last year’s sixth placed finish, but with that now nearly guaranteed, surely the Eagles can start dreaming higher. Could they be champions in 2023?
Bellambi Rosellas FC
Current position: 12th (0 wins, 1 draw, 10 losses)
Half-year grade: D-
Biggest strength: A tough year for the Rosellas but they’re staying in it every week and have put up some good fights, going down by just one goal Port Kembla and just two goals by the league leaders Albion Park.
Needs improvement: To be blunt, there’s probably too much that needs improvement as Bellambi for it to be realistic. Just three goals scored and 39 conceded. It’s a year they would probably like to forget, as truly they’re out of their depth in the Premier League with this squad.
Best performance: 2-2 draw vs Helensburgh – The only points Bellambi have put together in 2023.
Top scorers: Reo Hirose, Tatsuma Nikasone, Abdalla Al Okla (One goal)
Season expectation: It would be a surprise to not see Bellambi at the foot of the ladder come the end of the season. Their goal will be to simply try get the ball in the back of the net a few more times in the second half of the season.
Bulli FC
Current position: 3rd (6 wins, 1 draw, 4 losses)
Half-year grade: B
Biggest strength: Coach Julio Miranda believes his side have stuck to their game plans well. They got through some tough fixtures at the start of the year as planned and are happy with the structures they’ve got in place at the halfway point.
Needs improvement: There’s still a few things to fix up defensively according to Miranda, as well as a bit more they could be doing in possession. Despite scoring the joint most goals in the league, he believes they could also be a bit more clinical.
Best performance: 5-0 win vs Helensburgh – “Everything just came together” according to Miranda, with the result headlined by four goals to Ben McDonald.
Top scorer: Ben McDonald (13 goals, joint top of league)
Coach MVPs: Yuki Hashimoto and Jarvis Paterson
Season expectation: Coach Miranda says his side will be disappointed if they don’t make the top five, which is very achievable at the halfway mark. He recognises that a lot can happen though so is staying grounded, looking only towards improving as the year goes on.
Coniston FC
Current position: 7th (5 wins, 0 draws, 6 losses)
Half-year grade: C+
Biggest strength: New coach Franc Pierro is impressed with the leadership from some of the seniors players at the club that have help facilitate the arrival of some of the new and younger players. They’re a resilient bunch of players continually showing signs of improvement.
Needs improvement: Firstly, after a year of injuries and suspensions, coach Pierro says it would be great to get their first choice team on the field together, something which they haven’t achieved yet. Once that’s out of the way, being a bit more clinical in grinding out wins is the focus, as the side has scored more goals than they’ve conceded, they just aren’t getting the results.
Best performance: 7-0 win vs Corrimal – Everything seemed to go the way of Coniston this night against the 10 men of Corrimal, with Matthew Tschentscher picking up a hat trick.
Top scorer: Van Elia (Five goals)
Coach MVPs: Lukas Stergiou, Daniel Loe, Jason Zufic
Season expectation: Coach Pierro believes wins are right around the corner for his side. They’re training with the right attitude and showing that the signs are there for results. They don’t believe top five is out of the question yet.
Corrimal Rangers
Current position: 8th (4 wins, 1 draw, 5 losses)
Half-year grade: C
Biggest strength: Coach Matias believes the style of football the Rangers are playing is very attractive and that they’re continually growing within themselves. Given it’s a young side, he believes they’re adapting to the league at a good rate.
Needs improvement: Blowout games have cost Corrimal. Within two games against Cringila and Coniston, the Rangers conceded 13 goals. Take away those performances and they’ve been looking decent, they’re just still playing catch up from these blowouts.
Best performance: 2-1 loss vs Bulli FC – Coach Matias thinks despite losing this was some of the highest quality football his side played and that they were unlucky to leave without a result.
Top scorer: Shunjiro Shibuya (Six goals)
Coach MVPs: Shunjiro Shibuya, Keegan Matias, Timothy Chapman
Season expectation: Scoring goals isn’t a problem, so once Corrimal start tightening up defensively, there’s no reason they can’t shoot up the ladder. They’re a threatening attacking side who on their day can take on anyone.
Cringila Lions
Current position: 4th (5 wins, 4 draws, 1 loss)
Half-year grade: B
Biggest strength: It’s a big rebuilding year for the club and coach Jorge De Matos is happy with how his side is tracking so far. The core group of boys has helped the new boys acclimate in to the team to the point where it feels like the new boys have been there for years.
Needs improvement: Being a young side, there’s naturally a bit of inexperience that has led to some silly mistakes this season. Dropping some unnecessary points has hurt them slightly, only in that potential wins have turned into draws. Learning to grind out those wins and staying switched on for the full 90 is the most important thing for the Lions.
Best performance: 6-0 win vs Corrimal – Right off the back of Corrimal beating Wollongong United the week prior, Cringila put on a masterclass against them where “everything seemed to click” according to the coach, with doubles to Peter Simonoski and Stefan Dimoski.
Top scorer: Peter Simonoski (13 goals, joint top of league)
Coach MVPs: Peter Simonoski, Harrison Taranto
Season expectation: Coach De Matos is taking things week by week with his side, still with the intentions of cementing his side well within the top five. They’re looking to be a bit more consistent and clinical in ensuring no more silly points are dropped in the second half of the year.
Helensburgh Thistle
Current position: 9th (2 wins, 6 draws, 3 losses)
Half-year grade: C-
Biggest strength: There’s been no issue on the goalscoring front for Helensburgh, averaging over two a game with 24 scored, fourth highest in the league.
Needs improvement: The defensive record of Helensburgh isn’t great and has let them down a number of times. Granted, a number of key injuries hasn’t helped this, with a lot of chopping and changing to starting line-ups getting in the way of forming meaningful partnerships on the park.
Best performance: 2-2 draw vs Wollongong Olympic – Just an all round good team performance that really tested the ability of the defending champions.
Top scorer: Kade Kinsella (10 goals)
Coach MVPs: Kade Kinsella, Vaughan Patterson
Season expectation: Coach Paine bluntly said that the “draws have been killing us this season,” with over half their results ending tied up. If they can start turning one point into three and tighten up their defence, the might be able to surge up the ladder.
Port Kembla FC
Current position: 6th (5 wins, 1 draw, 4 losses)
Half-year grade: B-
Biggest strength: Coach Stuart Beedie is impressed with the maturity and resilience of his very youthful squad. They’ve shown good character to come from behind in games a number of times, plus they have a solid home record.
Needs improvement: Becoming a bit more clinical and fluid in the final third of the pitch and getting the final delivery right into the box. They would definitely like to bump up the 18 goals score which is below the median of the league.
Best performance: 4-4 draw vs Cringila – Four Jordan Nikolovski goals helped Port Kembla come from three goals down with ten men, getting pipped of the win in the final minute.
Top scorer: Jordan Nikolovski (Nine goals)
Coach MVPs: Jordan Nikolovski, Sebastian Tomasiello
Season expectation: They didn’t come in to the year with high expectations, but being where they are, Beedie wants his side in the top five come the end of the year. They recognise it’s tight where they are with a number of teams battling for those spots, but for Port Kembla it’s about playing their game and taking the chances when they come.
South Coast United
Current position: 11th (2 wins, 1 draw, 8 losses)
Half-year grade: D+
Biggest strength: The South Coast side have grown into their football style as the year has gone on, getting more fluid in their attack and solidifying defensively as well.
Needs improvement: Coach Greg Valic thinks his side can still make some better decisions when transitioning into attack and capitalising on final third positions. They’ve struggled a bit with squad depth as well on the back of injuries.
Best performance: 1-0 win vs Coniston – A gritty win featuring a first grade debut and clean sheet for 16-year-old Christopher Skara in goals.
Top scorer: Advin Trevincevic (Six goals)
Coach MVP: Lucas Loncar
Season expectation: Recognising it’s ambitious, the club is still aiming for the top five. Whether that’s realistic or not time will tell, but they think if they can get some good results from the teams around them right now they can be back in the hunt in the second half of the year.
Tarrawanna Blueys
Current position: 10th (3 wins, 0 draws, 8 losses)
Half-year grade: D+
Biggest strength: Coach Jason Wenig thinks his side has been playing good fluid football in doses and it’s been very pleasing when it comes off.
Needs improvement: Goals. Just 11 scored in as many games, the second lowest in the league. Wenig said bluntly that it’s been “frustrating” how often they’ve been in games but have been let down by a lack of goals scored. They need to start taking their chances.
Best performance: 1-0 loss to Wollongong Olympic – Despite a loss, this is the game where everything finally clicked on the park for the Blueys despite being down to 10 men. They surprised themselves just how well they played.
Top scorer: Daniel Merola, Matias Toro Suazo, Mitch Brooker, Nick High (Two goals)
Coach MVPs: Darren Stone, Daniel Chapman, Mitchell Brooker
Season expectation: Wenig has set his side the goal of doubling their wins by the end of the season at the minimum. That’s the challenge and he believes the whole club would be pleased if they can do that and maybe jump a place or two on the ladder.
Wollongong Olympic
Current position: 2nd (6 wins, 3 draws, 2 losses)
Half-year grade: B+
Biggest strength: Coach Matt Bailey is pleased with the resilience his squad has showed with the number of injuries and suspensions they’ve sustained. This has forced them to dig into their squad depth and promote younger players, demonstrating a good future for the club.
Needs improvement: Bailey thinks his side has forfeited some unnecessary points and that they need to be more clinical in the front third, which is an area that the side has been the most disrupted in.
Best performance: 3-0 win vs Coniston – The most complete 90 minutes the side has put together so far, with two goals to Yuto Sugiura and one to Brad Watts.
Top scorers: Rick Goodchild, Yuto Sugiura (Four goals)
Coach MVPs: Harry Callahan, Joshua Alcorn
Season expectation: Coach Bailey knows it’s important for his side to be in the top three if they want to retain their crown this season. They have aspirations to apply as much pressure to Albion Park in the second half of the year as possible, recognising that 10 points is a big gap but it’s not completely out of reach. A few less injuries and more consistency to the side they field week in week out would help this.
Wollongong United
Current position: 5th (6 wins, 1 draw, 3 losses)
Half-year grade: B
Biggest strength: Resilience from setbacks seems to be the strength of Wollongong United. Each loss they’ve suffered has been backed up with a win, showing good discipline from last year’s grand finalists.
Needs improvement: They have the third least goals scored in the league. It’s a team game, but Wollongong United are in need of an individual to step up and score some goals. No one is exactly racing away with the goals compared to other teams, which isn’t always a bad thing when the glory is shared, but coach Billy Tsovolos thinks they need someone to step up and start finding the net more regularly.
Best performance: 1-0 win vs Coniston – An important three points for the side against a tough opposition where everyone stood up and performed for Wollongong.
Top scorer: Kyah Jovanovski (Four goals)
Coach MVPs: Jayden Makowski, Jake Charlston
Season expectation: Coach Tsovolos is taking things one game at a time, trying to improve the flaws in his side’s game and tackle opponents as they come. No doubt though they’ll be looking towards getting back towards the top of the ladder where they finished in 2022.
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