Murwillumbah rubbish rumours lack of players has them on brink of Coast League One withdrawal

MURWILLUMBAH have responded to rumours an ongoing battle for player numbers has left the club on the brink of withdrawal from Football Gold Coast’s Coast League One competitions.

MURWILLUMBAH have rubbished rumours an ongoing battle for player numbers has left the club on the brink of withdrawal from Football Gold Coast’s Coast League One competitions.

Having already stepped away from this year’s Premier League due to financial constraints and to focus on juniors, speculation has been building the club’s Coast League and reserves were also on the brink of collapse.

However, captain Angus Brockbank said it held no truth.

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“I was wondering where (the rumours) came from. We’re actually pretty good for numbers,” the 24-year-old midfielder said.

“We started pre-season the earliest we ever have and we had steady numbers, anywhere from 11 to 18 in the first sessions of fitness and we’ve consecutively built on those numbers. We’ve field two teams with a couple of subs for the last three trial matches we’ve had so we’re doing good for numbers.

“We’ve still got a couple of fellas coming in and a couple coming back from overseas (so) we’re going to have extras. We considered putting a Metro team in as well but then through the year you start losing players to injury and different things so we just stuck with the two teams for now and focusing on that.

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“We want to do well and prove we’re still a strong club in Coast League One. We’ll definitely be setting our goals high and work towards it.”

A Murwillumbah junior, Brockbank will also juggle roles as senior director and assistant to coach Brian Raaen for the club’s two senior sides this season.

He said the move to exit the Premier League – a decision he was part of – was done with the club’s best interests at heart.

“We knew it had to be done. Financially for the club, it wasn’t feasible at all,” he said.

“We’ve got a lot of local talent coming back and that’s what we want to do, we want to rebuild as a club and just enjoy the footy season rather than stressing too much.

“It’s tough to say but I don’t think at the moment we’ll be rushing back (to the Premier League). The Premier League is only getting stronger but it’s also getting a lot more expensive.

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“For us clubs down here that are struggling to get sponsorship, it’s not really feasible. If we can strive to be a top first grade team we’d be happy with that, as long as we keep our juniors running along.

“That’s the biggest thing for us – keeping the juniors kicking along and having the numbers to come through in the years to come.”