Premium Content
Subscriber only
Gold Coast Knights captain Roman Hofmann has cautioned his side not to be complacent as it prepares to face a Magpies Crusaders team that he says has the potential to finish in the NPL Queensland top four this season.
The 2019 grand final winners will enter the match as favourites owing to their state league pedigree of seasons past, but Hofmann said Mackay’s start to the 2021 season meant Saturday’s clash would be a hotly contested affair.
“Based on what I’ve seen they look like a team that will be pushing towards the top four possibly,” Hofmann said.
Dunn scores winning goal in first match of 2021 season dailymercury.com.au - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dailymercury.com.au Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Premium Content
Subscriber only Mackay product Denzel Bobongie says he wouldn t want to play for any other NPL Queensland side than his hometown Magpies Crusaders. The 17 year old is entering year two in coach Tom Ballantyne s senior squad and is eager to add to his two NPL Queensland caps from last season. It was something of a trial by fire for the talented teenager - thrown into the thick of the action against perennial powerhouse clubs Peninsula Power and Brisbane Strikers. But the midfielder showed enough in his cameos off the bench for Ballantyne to see a bright future in the promising number eight.
Premium Content
Subscriber only
Magpies Crusaders coach Tom Ballantyne feels his squad is âsix months aheadâ of where it was this time last year following Saturday nightâs interclub hitout at Magpies.
The state league club pit the senior squad against its best youth players in an in-house contest that left all involved feeling positive about the clubâs 2021 prospects.
âThat was really impressive tonight,â Ballantyne said in the wash.
âWe wrote four things on the board tonight: intention, effort, energy and passing. Those were the basics of what we talked about and they all came out.â
It was the first chance for new faces like Sam Skinner and Josh Addo to prove their wares in a simulated match environment and the early signs were promising.
Premium Content
Magpies Crusaders coach Tom Ballantyne has high hopes for new midfield signing Sam Skinner.
The 17-year-old Rockhampton product will join the NPL Queensland club 12 months after first landing on its radar, with enviable traits Ballantyne hopes to harness.
âSam came up last year to trial and we were super impressed with him then, but he was probably still a little too young at that point,â Ballantyne said.
Now heâs another year older, with another year playing local premier league in Rocky, which was good for his development.â
Now readying for his first NPL pre-season, Skinner presents as a âblank canvasâ for Ballantyne to work with, as the coach looks to add another attacking threat to his line-up.