Carley in for fight

May 17 2014

Shepparton News

Craig Carley could have been forgiven for thinking he had peaked.

Maybe even that his best days were behind him.

Approaching 30 and with an already impressive list of achievements to his name, the Cobram Victory premiership coach and striker could hardly be blamed for settling for a Regional Premier League title tilt with new club Shepparton South.

But Carley is a born competitor and when newly-formed National Premier Leagues outfit Goulburn Valley Suns came calling, he was quick to get on board.

‘‘I went and had a meeting with them (technical director Melvyn Wilkes and board member Jimmy Kalafatis) and they sold it to me there and then,’’ Carley said.

‘‘At the start, it was a bit of let’s see which players jump on board as well, but once I had spoken to Melv for the first time, I was pretty much set I wanted to join . . . just the level of competition and the challenge again of playing at a higher standard sort of out weighed all the other factors.

‘‘It’s certainly good to be challenging yourself against the best in the state again.’’

It should come as no surprise Carley was on top of the hastily-assembled club’s list of targets.

Born in England as the eldest of six children, Carley was part of London club Fulham’s academy program as a youngster, before a successful trial at AFC Wimbledon.

After a brief spell at the Dons, he received a call from former English Premier League defender Tony Gale who was director of football at Walton Casuals.

There he had tutelage from the likes of Les Strong, Tony Cottee and Alan Devonshire — the latter pair fully capped England internationals — and banged in 28 goals from midfield, earning him a game for England’s C team for players outside the professional leagues.

He moved to semi-professional outfit Met Police, where he developed into a prolific striker and during a second stint at Wimbledon, where he played alongside New Zealand and A-League striker Shane Smeltz, secured an all-expenses-paid trial at South African side AmaZulu.

Usuthu offered Carley a two-year professional contract, but he turned it down to remain in England with his partner at the time — a move he regrets to this day.

But South Africa’s loss was Australia’s gain.

Carley arrived at Victory in 2010 and took over as coach the following season.

He led the club to its inaugural senior premiership as player-coach in 2012 and put the club on the map by masterminding three improbable runs in the revived State Knockout Cup, including wins against various Victorian Premier League teams.

In between he managed to meet the love of his life, Sara Morris, at club president Tony Startari’s restaurant.

After four years at the Victory, Carley took a break from coaching and joined Shepparton South.

Then the Suns came along.

The club has had its teething problems, but there has been one constant — Carley’s name on the scoresheet.

The marksman has found the net seven games in a row for a total of eight goals.

Four have come from the penalty spot and a fifth from a follow-up after another spot kick was saved, setting him well on the way to a personal target of 10 to 12 goals for the season.

Carley owes plenty to rampant winger Ben Clarke, who has consistently drawn fouls in the box.

‘‘If I ever nicked a move anywhere, I would have to take him with me to keep the goals going,’’ Carley said, with a laugh.

Ironically, Carley had barely taken a penalty before this season.

‘‘The last one I took was for Victory the first year I was here, then we had Matty Gray, who was a normal penalty taker, and Jamie England for the last couple of years,’’ he said.

‘‘Before the start of the season, we had a bit of a penalty competition and I just felt confident taking them and when that first one came up ‘Sarks’ (Kristian Sarkies) handed me the ball and said ‘this is yours’.

‘‘I would always put my hand up and being a striker you always want to score goals, so you take them however they come.’’

Carley had the honour of scoring the Suns’ first senior goal, but he’s not one to cling to personal milestones.

‘‘I would rather swap all my goals and see the Suns finish a lot higher up in the league,’’ he said.

‘‘For me, a win is staying up in this division.’’

While in many ways Nick Kalafatis is the heart of the fledgling club, Carley is fast becoming its face.

Many in the Goulburn North East Football Association community are critical of the recent obsession with imported players — some for good reason — but there would be few, if any, that have garnered more respect than Carley and done more for the game in their adopted region.

Off-field he is refreshingly honest and open, never afraid to speak his mind, and a more-than-willing junior coach.

On it, he is quick, clever and hard-working, loves a step-over and, most importantly, has a keen eye for goal.

Those traits make him a fan favourite and have already been acknowledged by Suns coach Peter Zois, who has been in the job barely two weeks.

‘‘I’ve always liked looking at Craig Carley, he’s always very good and someone who pushes others and has a good vibe about him in training,’’ Zois said.

‘‘He likes to lead from the front. He’s vocal and you can’t fault his effort regardless of the result. When the chips are down, he’s always one who stands out.’’

Carley was confident the Suns boasted the quality and the desire to turn their season around and was personally relishing the challenge.

‘‘I never doubted my ability, but you always get the feeling of am I going to be in the squad this week? And have I done enough in the game before? And it’s good to have that competitive buzz again.

‘‘It certainly brought back that little bit of hunger again, which I may have lost a slight touch last year.

‘‘People come up to you in the street and say ‘how did you go this week?’ and stuff like that and it’s good to see, because you’re not just representing one of the teams in Shepparton, you’re representing all the teams.’’