Words: Michael Flynn
Image: Ray Gardner

Western Pride coach Graham Harvey says a focus on work ethic and an absence of egos is the key for his squad in this year’s PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues campaign.

Pride this week confirmed a new look squad for the upcoming season that sees Harvey put his stamp on the team after taking the reins from previous coach Karl Dodd midway through last year.

The Ipswich-based club finished in the bottom half of the table for a third straight season in 2015 and are looking to finally translate potential into more consistent results this year.

Harvey said that involves drawing on the no-nonsense ethos of the Ipswich region the club represents and using that as a guiding principle in his off-season recruitment drive.

“It’s about bringing in players that understand what is required to play in the first team,” Harvey explained.

“We’ve had a lot of people come in through the door in pre-season who expected to be playing first team straight away. They’ve had to have a reality check.”

“The boys that have been taken on are realistic, have their feet on the ground and that hunger to do well with Pride and hopefully get opportunities to play higher up in the football pyramid in Australia or overseas.”

Harvey has retained a solid core of players from last year’s squad including defenders Jesse Rigby and Gabriel Hawash, midfield lynchpin Lincoln Rule and attacking threat Mitchell Bird.

The club also continues to provide a pathway to some of the best talents playing at local community clubs – adding defenders Lachlan Bond from Ipswich Knights, Ronan Geoghegan from Ipswich City and Corey Lucas from Western Spirit.

They have also drawn from rival PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues clubs with the signings of goalkeeper Duncan Short (ex-Olympic FC), midfielder Adam Endean (ex-Palm Beach SC) and midfielder Sean Karambasis (ex-Northern Fury).

Other key signings are former New Zealand Under 17 striker Geoff McIntyre, Brisbane Roar Youth product Jordan Lambi and fullback Alistair Wallis, who boasts experience in South Africa's top tier Premier Soccer League.

Key departures from last year include goalkeeper Bon Scott and striker Harrison Sawyer moving to the youth set-ups of Newcastle Jets and Brisbane Roar, respectively, while Ajdin Fetahagic made the leap to European professional football in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Also not returning is Pride’s all-time leading goal scorer Peter Drager, who switches to local Brisbane Premier League outfit Ipswich Knights.

Harvey said he believes his recruitment approach had covered the key positions and roles within the squad.

“I knew last year that many of these players were going and so we have deliberately recruited in those areas.”

Harvey also said that while the team are ambitious – and won’t rule out challenging for the top four – he won’t publicly declare any benchmarks for the league season ahead.

“The players are the ones that set their targets and out of respect to the boys we will keep that in-house at the moment,” he explained.

However, he conceded that improving on the club’s lacklustre returns in the first two years of the Westfield FFA Cup is on the radar.

“Lots of clubs in the NPL have tasted success in that competition and with the television coverage that comes with that I would be foolish to say that we aren’t targeting that,” he concluded.

Western Pride FC Squad – PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues 2016

Duncan SHORT, Joel HAACK, Daniel McHENERY, Shaun CORE, Lincoln RULE, Jesse RIGBY, Nielen BROWN, Mitchell BIRD, Sean KARAMBASIS, Lachlan BOND, Jordan LAMBI, Gabriel HAWASH, Will MCFARLANE, Jake MINNETT, Corey LUCAS, Doug BROWN, Dylan WILLIAMS, Ronan GEOGHAGEN, Daniel KLEINHANS, Nick HAWORTH, Geoff MACINTURE, Adam ENDEAN, Alistair WALLIS