Burleigh Heads without a host of players from last year’s title-winning squad for new Premier League season
Burleigh Heads coach Colin Phelan concedes his revamped squad are unlikely to top last year’s double winners as a major question mark hangs over skipper Matt Hilton.
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BURLEIGH Heads have wiped the slate clean ahead of their Gold Coast Premier League title defence, with coach Colin Phelan conceding his revamped squad are unlikely to top last year’s double winners.
Runaway champions last season before downing Surfers Paradise in the grand final, the Bulldogs will be without defenders Ryuto Kondo (Melbourne) and Reece Hills (Wynnum), goalkeeper Rafael Castro (Brazil) and Chris Hunt (retired) when they open the new campaign at home to newly-promoted Southport at 5pm on Saturday.
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A huge question mark also hangs over captain and Premier League MVP Matt Hilton, who is still on the comeback trail from a sickening grand final collision that shattered his jaw and knocked out four teeth, while Nikki Felizatto and Marcus Allison are likely to miss the opening weeks of the season.
With Harrison Runje the club’s only major off-season recruit, Burleigh warmed up for Round 1 with a scrappy 3-0 win over Western Spirit in Round 3 of the FFA Cup last Saturday.
While he is far from despondent, Phelan knows replicating the 2019 heroics may be out of reach and said he was putting no pressure on his troops.
“Without a doubt (it will be tough to top). We’re not going to shy away from the task but will it be difficult? I think it will be,” the Englishman said.
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“You’ve got a bit of a target on you from the season before but that’s what we’re striving for. We’re striving to win every competition we’re in.
“We’ve probably lost about five or six players so it’s going to take us a little while to find our feet but hopefully in the next month, when we get a bit of fitness back and the fellas learn the systems, we’ll look a little bit more like our old self.
“It’s always a worry when you lose good players but it’s also an opportunity for lads to come through and shine. It is what it is, it’s still 11 versus 11 so we’ve just got to get on with it.”
Phelan said Hilton, 33, was yet to make a call on his playing future but hoped Premier League fans had not seen the last of the former Joeys striker.
“Matty is back training but I think they’re still having a bit of a family chat as to where his future lies,” Phelan said.
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“He had another operation on his jaw a few weeks ago and I think he’ll just see how his body pulls up and then he and (wife) Chloe will have a conversation about whether he’s going to play.
“It’s obviously not my decision but knowing Matty the way I do, I think he’ll put his hand up and he’ll want to play. Hopefully he will be fine, it’s just whether the risk is going to be worth it.”
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