Words: Michael Flynn
Image: Alannah Pearson/Olympic FC

Olympic FC coach Jim Bellas says his side are the underdogs ahead of Friday’s NPL Queensland Grand Final at Mallawa Complex against Premiers Palm Beach Sharks.

Bellas downplayed last week’s 9-1 demolition of an understrength Sharks outfit at the same venue, with seven different Olympic players getting on the scoresheet in the biggest ever win for the club in NPL Queensland.

Despite not being able to take his usual place on the sideline for that match, Bellas said he expected a much tougher assignment in Friday night’s decider.

“They sent their kids to play. They must’ve had injuries but I don’t really know what happened down there,” Bellas said.

“For us that match was really just a training run. It was a long drive for a training run, but that’s what is was.”

Despite his side not losing to Palm Beach this season, with a 2-2 draw at Goodwin Park earlier in the year complementing last week’s eight-goal win, Bellas stressed Sharks should be considered the favourites on Friday.

“We should be the underdogs. Palm Beach have been fantastic all year,” he said.

“It’s going to be a difficult task and we’ll need to be at our absolute best to beat them because they are a fantastic side.”

“They’ve won a lot of games in the last ten minutes coming back, so I don’t think you can just score one goal and then keep them out.”

Olympic qualified for the Grand Final on the back of a spirited performance against FNQ FC Heat in Cairns last weekend, falling behind twice in the second half before prevailing 5-4.

Bellas said that performance exemplified his team’s courage and spirit in the big matches.

“The guts and the determination the boys showed was probably the best all season,” he explained.

Despite his side’s recent form, Bellas said he would look to tweak his team’s tactics for the decider and said the patchy Mallawa Complex surface would influence his approach.

“I’ve been told that their pitch is bad. I haven’t been there for a couple of months, but even a couple of months ago it was bad and they reckon it’s now worse,” he said.

“People tell me you can’t play football on it, so I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

“We might change tactics a little bit, but it’s just about trying to make sure that when we change that the players are on the same wave length,” he added.

The Grand Final pits this year’s Premiers against last year’s Grand Final winners, but Bellas said he wasn’t too concerned by the hype and increased media interest surrounding the match.

“For the media it is probably the ideal match-up but we don’t care who we play - we just want to win the game,” he concluded.

Olympic won last year's NPL Queensland Grand Final on penalties after drawing 3-3 with cross-town rivals Brisbane City at Goodwin Park.