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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.
Josh Addo will play for Magpies Crusaders next season.
Not the speedster of Melbourne Storm fame, though; rather the New Zealand-born 20 year old with dreams of one day cracking the A-League.
Mackay’s Addo shares many traits with his more famous rugby league namesake – notably a penchant for pace, power and playing with a physical presence.
He comes to Mackay via Avondale FC, where he played a key attacking role in the club’s NPL Victoria U20s set-up and managed two senior games in 2019. Magpies Crusaders recruit Josh Addo. Photo: Callum Dick
The right-footed wide man, who can also be deployed as a nine or even 10 where required, endured a turbulent 2020 as coronavirus twice postponed the NPL Victoria season.
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Subscriber only Magpies Crusaders will field a potent goalkeeper tandem in the upcoming NPL Queensland campaign after securing the signature of incumbent shotstopper Jayden Tower. The club announced Tower s return via Facebook on Monday morning. Tower was coach Tom Ballantyne s main man between the posts during Magpies Crusaders stint in the Mackay Premier League last year. He made his NPL Queensland debut against Gold Coast United early last year, before Magpies Crusaders were dumped from the restructured competition following a COVID-19 induced break. The club has since recaptured former starter Willem Lejeune to be the lead man on its return to the state league set-up but in Tower, Ballantyne has a more than capable back-up.
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Magpies Crusaders are back training with a skeleton crew ahead of a return to the NPL Queensland on March 6.
With the bulk of his playing roster yet to touch down in Mackay, coach Tom Ballantyne has been working mostly with the local contingent, comprising U23, U21 and U18 players.
Ballantyne himself only returned to Mackay last week after more than a month with family in Adelaide over the Christmas period.
He said it was good to be back in the thick of pre-season preparations.
âWe still have lots to arrive â last week we were minus about half of them I would say,â Ballantyne said.
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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.