Words: Michael Flynn, Football Queensland
Image: Northern Fury

Northern Fury are extending the opportunities for the north’s best and brightest in the state’s elite player pathway, with several of the club’s junior teams travelling to the south-east corner last weekend to test themselves against fellow NPL Queensland juniors.

The initiative saw Fury boys and girls ranging from Under 12’s to Under 15’s fly to Brisbane from Townsville for a full weekend of fixtures against capital city clubs Brisbane Strikers and Brisbane City as well as Ipswich’s Western Pride.

Fury’s high-profile senior men’s side also benefitted as their junior club mates supported the top team in their 2-1 Round 10 win against Redlands United at Cleveland Showgrounds, south of Brisbane, to cap off a successful weekend for the club.

Fury Chairman Rabieh Krayem demonstrated his personal passion for the tour by travelling along with the team for the weekend’s games.

“Being a regional club you don’t get the same standard of football every week. For us we want to see how we compare to some of the clubs down here in Brisbane,” Krayem explained.

He added: “Some of these kids have never travelled to Brisbane and they’d never get an opportunity to play against some of these teams. Now they can say we’ve done it and they will go back home as better people and better players.”

Krayem added the club is looking to extend the concept in future as Fury continues to deliver opportunities to the best young footballers in the north Queensland region.

He said: “Our plan is to come back to Brisbane again for a tour, but to also take our kids away to play other elite teams (around Australia) is the important thing but we’ll schedule that for next year.”

“The big plus for us is the experience these players have had and they’re excited by it. They will come back home and tell their parents and it will grow.”

He also extended an invitation to his fellow NPL Queensland clubs to travel to the tropics for junior fixtures in future.

“I know Western Pride are looking to come up to north Queensland next year and hopefully we can get a couple more teams and play a tournament. If you get a couple of Brisbane clubs and Cairns (FNQ FC Heat) and ourselves, you can have a week-long tournament,” he said.

Despite the distances involved, Krayem explained Fury had strived to make the trip affordable for all players in participating teams – even going so far as to charter a plane to reduce costs.

“For each child to come down for the weekend they pay $400 and that covered their airfare, their accommodation, their breakfast and dinners and everything else that has been taken care of,” he said.

“There’s no doubt that there are some players that the club has looked after in a sense because they had some difficulties paying. But we’ve made it reasonable enough and the parents have known for quite a while what it was going to be.”

Boys Under 14’s coach Sirio Bertucci, who is a former Queensland Under 18 representative, explained the NPL Queensland pathway, as delivered by Fury in north Queensland, is providing experiences that simply weren’t available during his playing days.

“The opportunities when I was a player were nowhere near what we have today. When I flew to Townsville it was for a representative team in a junior level, it wasn’t for a club,” he said.

“These days the Fury is trying to have that tangible for everyone so that a variety of players can fly down to Brisbane and witness the quality and standard.”

Bertucci said while the trip was about development, it was also about putting Fury’s best foot forward on and off the pitch.

“We’ve come here to do well - if that means we get a win, that’s great – but we are not just coming here for a social gathering, we’re coming here to learn, to upskill and to do well and I think we’re achieving that.”

Girls Under 15’s coach Takis Karambasis said he was heartened that the trip provided Fury’s girls sides with the chance to improve their game against other NPL Queensland clubs.

“It’s a great opportunity. They are great footballers and the girls are growing. It’s just really nice to see them play decent football and to have the same opportunities as the boys have these days.”

Karambasis said the trip also strengthened the Fury club culture for players and parents alike.

“We’ve had a few parents that have flown with us as well who have decided to come down. The club culture grows from here. The kids have behaved really well but at the same time had fun and that’s the reason we play football.”

The girls played their Sunday fixture at City’s Spencer Park ground, while the boys were at Striker’s Perry Park, and Karambasis said he explained to his charges the legacy of these NPL Queensland’s venues steeped in tradition.

“The heritage and the history is always important – the great players and where they played. I think the girls, when they come to a venue like this, they enjoy it and they played some good football.”

Chairman Krayem praised all Fury’s host clubs for making the trip a productive and rewarding experience for his players.

“I got to say the Western Pride, their hospitality has been incredible, and down here with Brisbane Strikers and Brisbane City – everyone has been great.”

He also thanked Football Queensland, administrators of NPL Queensland, for their assistance in organising the weekend’s fixtures.

“You can’t get these sorts of trips done without support and Football Queensland have been fantastic in co-ordinating the venues and working with the clubs co-ordinating the times,” Krayem said.

“From that perspective, without them it can’t happen. And obviously, at the end of the day, they want to see us to play more teams and they try to make it as easy as they can for us,” he added.