NPL Western Australia joined its Northern Territory neighbours as being the envy of Australian football when its competition re-launched in early July.
Only one round was played prior to the season’s temporary suspension – which has since been null-and-voided – with a new 11 round competition organised to see out the year.
After a five week ‘mini-preseason’ competitive football returned to Western Australia on July 3 when 25-time Champions Perth Soccer were held by Bayswater City to a one-all draw.
Perth captain Jordan De Leo says while the break was an inconvenience, it was good to ”take a step away from football’’ after a busy 2019 which saw the club advance through to the semi-finals of the National Finals Series.
”Having that break was actually quite nice to take a step away from football,’’ he said.
”In terms of communication the club has always been good…everyone knew what the expectations were and the standards we had to uphold when we returned.
”We had two weeks of running and no contact with a lot of our friendlies being intra club. But going up against teams and going in for those tackles and 50/50 balls has been really good.
”We pride ourselves on our fitness so a lot of that five weeks was fitness based. From a cardio standpoint we’ve been able to match it with a lot of teams so far.
”What we have noticed is a lot of our games that we’ve won have come in the last 20 minutes and we put that down to our cardio. When we’re working like dogs, we know that the results will all be worthwhile in the end.’’
The reigning NPL WA champions are without a win since the season restart – having only managed a draw in the opening three rounds.
Like Western Australia, NPL South Australia also recommenced its season on July 3. Tasmania, Northern NSW and ACT are also back in action while NSW and Queensland are set to resume in the coming weeks.
Victoria is the only state to have cancelled its competition.
Featured Image – Football West
