Dandenong Thunder coach Sam Elmazi discusses the club’s off-season and 2024 goals

Returning Dandenong Thunder coach Sam Elmazi says there were no players left when he walked into the club but is happy with the club’s off-season recruiting and 2024 goals.

Dandenong Thunder star Brandon Barnes

When Sam Elmazi walked into George Andrews Reserve it resembled a COVID-era toilet paper aisle – the shelves were empty.

Elmazi and the Dandenong Thunder hierarchy has undertaken a near complete rebuild of the club’s playing list over the summer.

However, less than a month out from Round 1 the club is fully prepared for the new NPL Victoria season and confident it can be competitive.

The Thunder has secured some high-calibre talent, including three-time Golden Boot winner Brandon Barnes, former A-League goalkeeper Pierce Clark, South Melbourne premiership winner Lirim Elmazi and NPL NSW Team of the Year defender Daniel Alessi.

Elmazi takes the reins from David Chick at Andrews Reserve, returning to the club for a second stint having previously been in charge in 2020-21.

He paid tribute to the club’s committee for rebuilding so quickly.

“It’s been a bit of a journey, when I came into the club there were zero players,” Elmazi said.

“The previous coach left and I found it to be uninhabited … and he took them all, which is unprofessional. It’s not sport at this level.

“It was hard work, all the effort by the president, vice-president and committee they’ve done some tremendous work to get numbers and personnel to the club. We congratulate them.

“We’re very happy with the numbers we’ve got now, we’ve managed to sign a handful of high-profile players.

“It’s scary when you walk into a club and there’s not one person, trying to find keepers and strikers they’re the hardest to find.”

Dandenong finished eighth last season, narrowly missing out on a top-six berth, with Dutch midfielder Grad Damen topping the scoring charts with 13 goals.

Damen returned to his native Holland, joining TOP Oss, while captain Harry Ascroft has joined Hume City and star winger Leo Mazis is at Heidelberg United.

In their place, Barnes has a rich history at the Thunder, returning from Cambridge-based club Slimbridge.

The Englishman won the NPL2 Golden Boot in 2016 with a stunning 41 goals, backed it up in 2017 with 35 before making it a hat-trick of goalscoring awards with the NPL Golden Boot in 2018, scoring 22 goals in 22 matches.

In his time at Frank Holohan Reserve, Barnes scored 136 times in 116 appearances.

At the other end, Pierce Clark will line up between the sticks, joining from Heidelberg United.

The former Perth Glory gloveman has also represented NPL Victoria powers South Melbourne and Bentleigh Greens in a distinguished career.

Lirim Elmazi and Ali Sulemani arrive from South Melbourne, while the likes of Danny Dixon (Bentleigh), Paul Kuol and Ismail Haji (both Kingston City), Daniel Fabrizio and Troy Ruthven (both St Albans) have also come on board.

The Thunder will play friendlies against Doveton (VPL2), Melbourne Victory (VPL1) and Langwarrin (VPL1) in preparation for a Round 1 clash against Hume City at home.

Elmazi is looking forward to being back in the dugout and has one major aim for the season.

“I’m looking forward to it, I’ve been away for a couple of years,” he said.

“I went to Germany, I had to retire (at Dandenong Thunder) but we moved back home and they asked me if they could pull me out of retirement. I’m really pleased to be back.

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“As long as I can get enough local boys in the squad, that’s what I want to do.

“Last time I think I had one local, the rest were all interstaters or overseas, this time I’ve got a lot more local boys.

“The talent is getting there, there’s a lot of buzz and fizz around the club, everyone is excited.”

The Dandenong derby will return in Round 6 with the match to be played at Dandenong City’s Frank Holohan Reserve on Friday, March 15.