Teams prepare to kick off new soccer season
Grand final foes prepare for opening round clash
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SOCCER: It's the season opener Toowoomba Football League fans are crying out for - last year's premiers Willowburn and the defeated finalists USQ.
But for USQ men's coach Matt Proctor it's just another game.
"The season will not be won this Sunday,” Proctor said.
"We go into this game as the underdogs and rightly so, Willowburn are the premiers and a very good team.
"Right now though it's just another game for us.
"The proof will be in September when the finals have been played and won.”
Long term focus aside Proctor said his team will be ready to face the team that beat them 2-0 in last year's final.
"We have had a reasonable pre-season,” he said.
"We've had good numbers and trained well - like every team we're really looking forward to getting the season started.”
Willowburn will head into the season buoyed by their 2-1 Winstanley Shield victory over Rockville on Wednesday.
The Magpies had major player turnover in the off-season but coach Nick Rundle is confident.
"We had five players in Wednesday's Winstanley team who weren't with us last year,” Rundle said.
"There's been quite a turnover but we've kept the core of last year's team.
"We've added a few younger blokes too which is good for the future of the club.”
Rundle said he tinkered with the team's style in the pre-season but settled on a tried and trusted approach.
"We experimented with a few different formations but none of them really worked,” he said.
"In the end we've just gone back to way things were last year.”
Good numbers
Football Queensland South West officials are pleased with player numbers ahead of the new season.
Five more senior teams will line-up across the men's and women's competitions compared to last year's numbers.
Among the new squads are men's teams from Oakey and a combined South Burnett outfit.
Junior numbers are also up.
Originally published as Teams prepare to kick off new soccer season
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