Dandenong City coach Nick Tolios discusses the club’s NPL season preparations

Dandenong City jumped from VPL1 to a NPL Victoria finals appearance last year but coach Nick Tolios knows the club will have to fight even harder to repeat in 2025.

Kenny Athiu in action for Dandenong City. Picture: Brendan Beckett

Dandenong City coach Nick Tolios knows his team will have its work cut out for it if the club is to play finals again in 2025.

Hadjuk was the surprise packet of 2024, going from a VPL1 championship to a sixth-placed finish and NPL Victoria finals.

The club won seven of its final 13 games to charge into finals, knocking off premier South Melbourne and champion Oakleigh, before falling to the Cannons in an elimination final.

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The core of the squad has re-signed and Tolios has added quality recruits Corey Sewell, Pierce Clark, Nathaniel Hancock, Jamie Latham, Yagoub Mustafa and Taylan Unal.

The third-year coach said he was confident of repeating the club’s finals appearance.

Dandenong City coach Nick Tolios. Picture: Brendan Beckett

“We had a taste of it last year, we don’t want to be a one-year wonder … we don’t want to be aiming for anything less,” Tolios said.

“It’s going to be difficult to back it up because there’s so many amazing teams that finished below us that all recruited well.

“Also the inclusion of Victory and Preston, we’ve got to be on our toes from the get-go.

“The hardest thing to do is back it up, you see the teams that do it every year – Oakleigh, South, Avondale – they’ve been doing it a while because they’ve got a stable squad.

“We’ve tried to do the same thing and bring in some additional players to strengthen the squad.

City’s march to finals was built over several breakout performances.

Jackson Lino developed into a reliable defender, while the likes of Danny Kim, Will Bower, Damian Iaconis and Brad Plant played key roles.

Tim Atherinos scored seven goals to announce himself as one of the best young players in the competition.

As did Tom Giannakopoulos, who bagged three goals, and earnt himself several trials at overseas clubs before deciding to recommit at Frank Holohan Reserve.

“We were close to losing Tommy, he had a couple of overseas trials, they went well and he got an offer but decided to come back to the NPL,” Tolios said.

Tom Giannakopoulos in action for Dandenong City. Picture: Brendan Beckett

“It was in Estonia, he wanted to test himself and see where the standard was overseas.

“Tommy talked to Aamir (Abdullah) before he went, which was good of Aamir to give his time and have a chat.”

Critically, leading goalscorer Kenny Athiu has also re-signed for 2025.

New addition Sewell arrives from Melbourne Knights, while former Perth Glory gloveman Clark crosses from arch-rival Dandenong Thunder.

Hancock (Port Melbourne), Jamie Latham (Green Gully) and Yagoub Mustafa (Wollongong Wolves) all add experience and class, while young gun Taylan Unal is still 21 and has been a part of Newcastle Jets and Melbourne City’s academies.

“Corey I’ve had before at Bentleigh, he’s one of those guys that can play several positions, and will give you a 7/10 every week,” Tolios said.

“Pierce replaces John Hall, who’s gone back home to Adelaide, he’s got a wealth of experience.

“Obviously he’s comes across from Dandy Thunder so Round 3 away is going to be interesting for him.

“Jamie coming across from Green Gully, the energy he brings to the team is infectious and his work-rate is really good.”

Dandenong City kicks off its 2025 campaign when it welcomes St Albans to Frank Holohan Reserve.

The match had originally been fixtured for Friday night but has been moved to Sunday afternoon with the club set to hold a gala day.

“Our game has changed for the (Croatian) derby, we’re going to have a gala day,” Tolios said.

“All the juniors will play throughout the day and the women’s, they’ll have a friendly, against St Albans, which will be a great day.”

THUNDER “MILES AHEAD” IN 2025 PREPARATION

This time 12 months ago, Adam Piddick had two weeks to prepare his Dandenong Thunder team for Round 1.

Now he’s had a full pre-season and run of friendlies to mould his team and gameplan.

The Thunder are eyeing an improved showing on last season’s 10th place finish, winning just eight of 24 NPL Victoria matches.

While playmaker Birkan Kirdar has departed, the club has brought in several new faces, including Exeter City midfielder Kyle Taylor, Yuki Uchida (Northcote City) and Dutchman Thijs Van Amerongen.

Piddick said the club was “miles ahead” of where they were this time last year.

“We’ve brought some good footballers in and we’ve had a good pre-season, the boys are working really hard, so we’re very optimistic,” Piddick said.

“The next couple of weeks the real thing happens, so we’re excited about it.

“There’s still a lot of work to do because the way we want to play there’s a lot of detail in it.

“That will come with playing for a number of games and getting used to it, understanding the roles and responsibilities but we’re miles ahead of where we were last year.”

However, the pre-season hasn’t come without its challenges.

In December, the club’s George Andrews Reserve headquarters were raided by police, as well as several private homes.

Victoria Police confirmed that Sporting Integrity Intelligence Unit detectives executed warrants at Dandenong addresses in relation to “an ongoing investigation into a sporting club”.

Three men were arrested as a result.

Piddick said it wasn’t ideal as the club tried to recruit players but it would have little impact on the squad heading into Round 1.

“I’d be lying if I said it didn’t a little bit, especially at the start,” he said.

“It’s obviously hard to recruit when you’ve got that stuff hanging over the club.

“My message to the boys was we can only control what we can control, that’s putting the hard work in and understanding how we want to play and the stuff regarding the club will sort itself out.”

Was well as Taylor, Uchida and Van Amerongen, Thunder has picked up the likes of Hassan Jalloh, Anthony Ianchello (Port Melbourne) and Daniel Clark (Hume City).

The club has also secured three new goalkeepers; Andrew Withers (Bentleigh Greens), Ben McCauley (Bentleigh Greens) and 17-year-old Melbourne City Academy graduate Joaquin Fernandez.

Piddick had been particularly impressed by Uchida.

“He’s been a breath of fresh air,” he said.

“He’s a professional in everything he does, every training session he’s 100 per cent committed, on gameday he’s performances have been really good.

“It’s not just him thought, some of the boys we had last year that needed to step up have stepped up.”

The coach was confident his squad is capable of challenging for finals.

“I always want to win so I’ve got high expectations of myself and my players,” he said.

“We’ve obviously also got to be realistic there’s some very big clubs that have done some massive things in pre-season.

“Ultimately we’re fighting to play finals football and that’s about our style of play, if we get that right the results will come.

“It’s about being consistent, last year we beat a lot of the top teams and lost to a lot of the bottom teams.”

Dandenong beat arch-rival Dandenong City twice as well as eventual champion Oakleigh Cannons, Port Melbourne and Melbourne Knights but lost to relegated Moreland City twice and Manningham United once.

Thunder kicks off its 2025 campaign by welcoming former coach David Chick and his Green Gully team to George Andrews Reserve on Saturday, February 8.

HUME CITY LOOKING TO REDEFINE SUCCESS

It was a season of so close, yet so far for Hume City.

A NPL Victoria semi-final, Dockerty Cup semi-final and an Australia Cup quarter-final – an impressive finish for a club that had finished 10th the season before.

However, the off-season saw significant change with coach David Chick departing and Gold Medallist Aamir Abdullah following him.

Positively, leading goalscorer Lloyd Isgrove and captain Josh Bingham led a core of re-signings, Hume junior Birkan Kirdar returns and respected manager Riccardo Marchioli has taken charge.

The former Newcastle Jets and Melbourne Victory assistant and Brunswick City and Bentleigh Greens head coach believes the club has the quality to do even better in 2025.

Aamir Abdallah has departed Hume City. Picture: Daniel Pockett

Lloyd Isgrove has re-signed with Hume City. Picture: Andrew Batsch

“We brought in seven or eight new players, so the majority of the core is still there,” Marchioli said.

“The team has done relatively well, without much success, so we want to be challenging for things consistently.

“The team finished fifth (in the league).

“There were a couple of cup runs there but ultimately knocked out by the same opponent multiple times.

“We didn’t finish as high on the table as I would have liked, to be honest so part of pre-season has been about redefining what our definition of success looks like.”

Isgrove and Abdullah were arguably the NPL’s best one-two punch last season, finishing with 15 and 14 goals respectively.

Hume has looked to sure up its attack with the addition of 2024 VPL1 Golden Boot winner Michael Domfeh from Northcote City, English striker Rob Harker and Godfrey Debele (Gold Coast Knights).

Erdeniz Yildiz and Aaron Reardon will bolster the defence and 20-year-old young gun Joseph Forde arrives from Ireland Premier Division club Waterford.

However, arguably the biggest move of the summer is luring Kirdar back home from Dandenong Thunder.

“He was deemed one of the next big things at Melbourne Victory and things didn’t work out for him,” Marchioli said.

“He’s back where it all started for him and he’s been fantastic.

“He’s got the hunger back, it’s exciting to see where it takes him because he’s a super talented player – he’s got a warrior inside of him – and the Turkish community will be proud to see him run around.”

Hume City kicks off its season with a trip to promotion-winner Preston Lions.

Both clubs have lofty ambitions for this season and the future.

Marchioli has been pleased with his squad’s form through pre-season friendlies and is confident of a strong start.

“A lot of them have stood out, we’ve been really impressed with the guys that have come in and how quickly they’ve assimilated,” he said.

“One of the big successes the club has had, it’s an intangible, is the dressing room – it’s incredible.

“It’s been great to see how quickly the guys have become part of that dressing room and having the existing guys there helps them settle in.

“We’ve had some shared strong performances across the pre-season.”

ST ALBANS LOOKING TO TURN STRONG FINISH INTO STRONG START

St Albans finished 2024 as one of the hottest teams in NPL Victoria.

A mid-season switch to coach Cam Watson saw the Saints go from relegation battle to safety, winning six of their last nine games with wins over eventual champion Oakleigh and finalist Heidelberg.

Watson, now with a full pre-season under his belt at Churchill Reserve, is looking to keep that momentum rolling.

“The expectation is to build on what we haven’t finished,” Watson said.

“I don’t want people to think it was easy to do what we did last season.

“It’s not going to be as free-flowing, the teams that have come up are very strong, every team is super strong this year.

“As a coaching staff, our expectation is to perform and stay away from that bottom part and be super competitive.

“We don’t have unrealistic goals, if the team is able to stay fit and healthy I think we give ourselves every chance of having a good season.”

Lucas Byrns finished the season strongly, scoring four goals in the space of two matches – hitting a hat-trick against Green Gully.

Josh Fowler scored three times in the run home, while Brian Summerskill and Joey Monek netted twice each.

Goalkeeper Marko Bulic kept five clean sheets in that nine-game run.

St Albans’ list has undergone some change over summer.

Fletcher McFarlane and goalkeeper Jacson Riley have arrived from Hume City, Emmanuel Peters crosses from Green Gully, Alec Mills joins from St Albans and Sydney FC Academy graduate Max Buratto has moved down from Sydney.

Last season’s boom mid-season recruit, A-League games record holder, Leigh Broxham has departed for Bentleigh Greens.

Watson, who is being assisted by Tom Pondeljak and Billy Celeski was pleased with how the squad was shaping up.

“A lot of new faces, a bit of change, which is good and which was needed,” he said.

“The team is coming together, the changeroom is good, we’ve been working hard to try and get our message across to a new group.

“We’re happy with where we’re at with a couple of weeks before Round 1.

“It’s just about finding a good medium – we don’t want the good to be really good and the bad, really bad.

“We’re not naive to think everything is going to be smooth sailing, we’re going to have bad games, but we want that happy medium.

“I think the squad can do that, we’ve got the experience combined with the young players that have come in.”

St Albans kicks off its 2025 campaign on the road, travelling across Melbourne to face last year’s finalist Dandenong City on Sunday, February 9.

The Saints first “home” game will be Round 3 against Heidelberg but the match will be played at Knights Stadium.

The club returns to Churchill Reserve for the Round 5 clash against Avondale.

“We had four (friendlies) before Christmas and we’ve increased the training load post-Christmas so the games have been up-and-down but we don’t mind that,” Watson said.

“Lucas Byrns came back in good shape, hopefully he plays the way he finished off last season.

“Jimmy Xydias, who came over from Dandy City, has been quite good and Fletcher McFarlane who came from Hume has been quite lively.

“Everyone in their own right has been quite good. As individuals, they’ve shown what they’re capable of.”

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS IN PORT MELBOURNE REBUILD

Opportunity knocks at Port Melbourne in 2025.

After a disappointing end of last season, falling out of the NPL Victoria top-six, the Sharks have turned to John Markovski as coach.

The former Socceroo is a specialist when it comes to rebuilding squads and believes Port can remain among the final contenders.

With change comes opportunity, Markovski has recruited heavily.

However, the Sharks will also look to blood some of its young talent.

The club’s under-18s finished fourth in NPL East last season, while it’s under-21s won the NPL Victoria premiership and under-18s finished second in 2023.

Markovski said the pre-season had been positive and his squad was developing well.

“We’re in a rebuild stage, we’re getting there slowly,” Markovski said.

“We’re trying to build something, a good culture.

“It gives us an opportunity at the club, the juniors, the 19s and 23s are moving up to the seniors.

“We want to see the boys that are home grown to play in the senior squad.

“Port’s under-23s haven’t lost many games in three years so there’s a good bunch of kids coming through and hopefully we can give them something to strive for.”

Avondale premiership-championship double winner Liston Diaz is arguably the biggest addition at Murphy Reserve.

Coming off the bench for much of the season, he scored four goals after netting eight times in 2023.

Markovski said he was relishing the chance to play more minutes.

“He wasn’t playing as much at Avondale,” he said.

Liston Diaz (right) celebrates a goal for Avondale. Picture: Josh Chadwick

“He’s a local boy, he lives close by to Port Melbourne, and he’s got an opportunity to show what he’s got.

“The kid just wants to play football, he’s strong, he can score goals, he can create, he’s a real powerhouse.”

Joining Diaz will be Melbourne City Academy graduate Mitch Trajcevski, Western United product Tom Alisandratos, Nathan and Nick Dib, Jonathan Vakirtzis, Anthony Leban, Delarno Pharoe, Alexander Kondoleon, Maker Maker and Markovski’s son Josh.

However, last season’s top goalscorer Eoghan Stokes has crossed to NPL rival Heidelberg United, while Fraser Dunlop has joined Melbourne Knights and star midfielder Charlie Leech has signed for South Melbourne.

Port faces reigning premier South Melbourne in a blockbuster Round 1 derby at Murphy Reserve.

Markovski has been pleased with the pre-season and was just looking forward to getting stuck in.

“The boys are coming along pretty good, so we’ll see how we go Round 1, which is a great one to have a derby,” he said.

“No game is easy but to have a derby against South is brilliant, especially at home, it will be a good starting point.

“The boys I’ve recruited, there’s 14 or so, are coming along really good.

“They’re understanding what I want and we’ll see if we can implement it come Round 1.”

Port Melbourne fell just short of finals last season after top-six finishes the previous two years.

Markovski is realistic but hopes the club can make a return this year.

“Like everyone you want to win the league, win every game, is that going to happen probably not.

“At the end of the day, if we can get as high as we can and play finals football it will be a good year.”

CAN PRESTON LIONS’ RECRUITING BLITZ DELIVER SUCCESS?

Preston Lions aren’t back in the NPL to make up the numbers.

An unparalleled off-season recruiting blitz has seen the club build a championship-calibre squad ahead of the 2025 season, extending into the inaugural National Second Division campaign in October.

A second-placed finish in VPL1 last season secured Preston a return to the top flight of Victorian football for the first time since 2009.

A third promotion in four completed seasons after falling as low as State League 1.

The Lions have since flexed their recruiting muscle, bringing in 12 new players, including ex-A-League talents Jonas Markovski, Stefan Nigro, Matthew Bozinovski and Lleyton Brooks.

Coach Louis Acevski said it was important for the club to keep building as it prepares for back-to-back NPL-National Second Division campaigns.

“It’s been a different pre-season, going up to NPL it’s a different challenge,” Acevski said.

“We’re just trying to get ourselves structured and organised and bring the right people and players to the club and hopefully we can stabilise ourselves in NPL1.

“Every time you go up leagues I believe you always need to strengthen.

“It brings a different magic to the squad, so to speak, so we’ve brought in 40 per cent new players on top of last year’s squad.

“We’re trying to stabilise and get ourselves right and prepare for a really tough year coming up.”

Markovski won the NPL Victoria Golden Boot in 2023, earning an A-League contract at Brisbane Roar before jetting off for a stint in Japan.

Preston fended off a number of interested clubs to secure his signature.

“We’d been speaking to Jonas for about three months,” Acevski said.

“While he was in Japan he told us if he was to come back to Victoria and play in the NPL then Preston would be one of his options.

“There was obviously A-League interest and overseas interest and after new year, Jonas got in touch to say he was staying in Melbourne so let’s see what we can do.

Nigro, an Australia under-23 international, joins after 105 A-League appearances for Victory, Brisbane Roar and Central Coast Mariners, winning a league championship in 2017–18 and Australia Cup in 2021.

Brooks represented Australia at under-18 level and played 31 games for Victory, while Bozinovski played seven A-League games for Victory and Wellington Phoenix and has represented North Macedonia at under-21 level.

Meanwhile, Preston has also secured Avondale premiership-championship winner Zander Guy, two-time Oakleigh championship-winner Oliver Kubilay and South Melbourne premiership-winner Emile Peios.

Gian Albano, Jackson Necovski, James Petrovski, Lucas Trenkovski and Noah Spaseski have also come on board.

However, asked if Preston wanted to make a splash, Acevski wasn’t getting ahead of himself when it comes to expectations.

“I don’t think the word is splash, we want to be competitive,” he said.

“We’re going to try and win every game we play, of course, but the club is realistic at the same time.

“It’s a different challenge, it’s a long season, we have to prepare in the right manner because the B-League starts in October as well.

“You’ve got one eye on the NPL and other on the B-League.

“Are we here to shake the world, that would be a bonus for us, we’ve got to be realistic and that starts with the usual cliche – one week at a time.”

Preston kicks off its NPL return at home on Friday, February 7 against Hume City.

WISER OAKLEIGH READY TO DEFEND NPL TITLE

It will be a new-look Oakleigh Cannons as it looks to defend its NPL Victoria championship in 2025.

The Cannons will welcome as many as eight new players this season, while farewelling several key players from the squad that won a second title in three seasons and reached the Australia Cup quarter-final.

Grand final-winning goalscorer Emlyn Wellsmore has jumped ship to rival Avondale and Oliver Kubilay has joined promotion-winner Preston Lions.

Jacob Eliopoulos signed for Green Gully and Stef Valentini is taking time away from the game.

In a significant boost, Oakleigh welcomes back 2022 championship-winner, Mike Cockerill Medallist and NPL Victoria Gold Medallist Joe Knowles.

Jordon Hall celebrates a goal in the Australia Cup.

The Cannons have also secured Australia Under-23 international and Charlton Athletic academy graduate Matthew Dench with more signings expected to be announced before the season.

Oakleigh begins its championship defence against Avondale on Friday, February 7.

Cannons coach Chris Taylor was feeling good about the club’s prospects with Round 1 just a couple of weeks away.

“We’ve lost a couple of players that were integral last year but we’ve signed seven, possibly eight,” he said.

“We’re going through a transition, which happens when you win a championship but everything is going the right way and we’re happy with were we’re at.

“It’s no different to when we won it three years ago, I think there were only two players that played in the grand final last year.

“We’re pretty comfortable, I think we’ve got the goods but I also know a number of clubs are very serious about what they’re doing.”

Knowles will be a major boost, returning to midfield alongside captain Joe Guest and Cameron McGilp.

Joe Knowles celebrates a goal for Brisbane Roar against Leeds United.

Alex Salmon produced a career-best season in 2024, winning his first NPL Victoria Golden Boot with 16 goals before scoring in both the semi-final and preliminary final wins over Dandenong City and Avondale.

Meanwhile, at the other end, after conceding 28 goals during the regular season the Cannons defence went into lockdown mode during finals.

The club conceded just one goal in three finals and that was against City, holding Avondale and South Melbourne’s high-powered offences off the scoreboard.

Jordan Hall and Jacob Tratt proved to be inspired mid-season additions, strengthening the backline beside Connor Hampson and Brodie Boyce and in front of Nick Feely.

The Cannons will enter 2025 among the favourites to win the premiership and championship.

However, having fallen short in 2023, Taylor isn’t taking anything for granted and pinpointed several teams capable of challenging for silverware.

“We can learn from a couple of years ago when we didn’t make the grand final,” he said.

“We fell short, we didn’t start the season well as we would have liked, so that was a learning cycle and we gained some experience from it.

“Preston has come up and is spending big amounts of money, Hume will be stronger, Green Gully will be a lot stronger and I think Heidelberg will be a team to watch.

“Then you’ve got South Melbourne and Avondale, of course, so there’s six or seven teams that will all be very capable.”