Canberra Times article

This article first appeared in Mondays' Canberra Times.

Player Watch.

Canberrans need to adapt if they want a game in the A-League.

Former Belnorth and Belsouth junior Adam Casey scored his first goal for Sydney FC last week against Wellington Phoenix when he played as a striker. This week Coach Branko Culina moved him to right back.




Casey’s contribution was again significant. With the score at 0-0, Olyroo Casey cleared off the line.

“I was standing on the back post. Luckily I hadn’t moved out, and I just reacted quickly and cleared it. Clint Bolton made the rebound save,” said Casey.

“I see myself as a forward. But you have to be versatile. When Branko rang me during the week I said I would play where selected, but I prefer forward. When you see the players we have in the squad you play wherever you can get a game. I can play anywhere down the right hand side.

“The game against the Roar was frustrating. I was anchored in defence a fair bit and found it hard to get forward. But we got the result, our first win, and that takes the pressure off us a bit.”

Melbourne Victory’s Matthew Kemp is another player able to play a number of positions. Kemp, whose brothers David and Stephen both played for Belconnen United in the Capital Football Grand Final yesterday, played right back for Melbourne Victory in their 2-2 draw with Newcastle Jets on Friday night. He has played left-back and centre back already this season after just five rounds.

Former Socceroo and Central Coast Development manager Alex Tobin says, “the modern game is fast. Players have to be fit. In the old National Soccer League, you could get by with just being skilful, not anymore. I wouldn’t say skill isn’t important, just it’s important to be fit. With the numbers of players limited to twenty two or twenty three, versatility is the key. When we sign a player we look at how many positions a player can play.”

One Canberran whose position seems secure is Perth Glory’s Nikolai Topor-Stanley. Another strong performance at full-back from Topor-Stanley but the Glory still went down 1-0 to league leaders Central Coast Mariners.

Canberra referee Ben Williams was on duty in the Wellington Phoenix v Adelaide United game. Despite former United hard man Ross Aloisi playing against his old club, Williams had little to do as the teams played out a 2-2 draw on the official FIFA fair play weekend. Back to normal next weekend I suppose!

The Matildas drive to the 5th FIFA Women’s World Cup quarter-finals has impressed many. A local Chinese businessman was so excited by the Matildas performance he offered them $50,000 if they made the quarter-finals!

Caitlin Munoz and Sally Shipard played in the historic 2-2 draw with Canada on Thursday in the World Cup. Lydia Williams was on standby overnight to takeover if number one keeper Melissa Barbieri failed to recover from an ankle injury.