Dan At Chelsea (& Verons Hummer).
Jeff H
This is your first season at
Wilston Athletic, what do you think about your new club?
Dan A
I like it, there's a great sense
of community at Wilston with many people working tirelessly behind the scenes.
It's probably the smallest club I've played at, but I think that's what makes
Wilston the club that it is,
everybody feels like they are
part of it, which is something that is hard to come by in Brisbane Football.
JH
The first team squad is
unrecognisable from last season, how are the new players fitting in? What's the
spirit like at the club?
DA
There have been many new faces
since last years squad, that's for sure. The new players are having no problem
fitting in. They realise that they are now at a club that does the right thing
by their players, so they are willing to work very hard to repay that faith.
This enthusiasm has also rubbed off on the players that have been at the club
prior to this season. So as you can imagine, there's great belief and spirit at
the club.
JH
You have played through one or
two injuries this season, how has that affected you and have you now fully
recovered?
DA
Luckily I haven't missed too many
games through injury, and the one's I have missed have not been crucial to our
season. I'm still recovering from a fractured wrist but luckily for me, I have
been able to keep playing through this injury, only missing the one fixture,
which I'm very happy about.
JH
At the beginning of the season
you where letting in very few goals but finding it hard to score, is the team
creating more opportunities now or are the front men beginning to hit form?
DA
It was very frustrating at the
start of the year, as we would totally
dominate teams but fail to convert possession into
goals. We have always defended well, conceding very few goals and creating
fantastic opportunities, but our finishing was sub standard. Now that the front
men are hitting the target regularly, we have been able to put teams away,
unlike the beginning of the year.
JH
Muzza has managed to recruit some
of your old team mates from Roachdale Rovers, what's it like playing with
these guys again?
DA
It's fantastic to be playing with
all the boys again. We were very successful under Muzza at Rochedale winning the
league convincingly that year . We had a good bunch of lads and there's no doubt
that he's the best coach in Queensland, so re-igniting that old connection has
really been pleasing. All the guys have found their best form (including myself)
under Steve, which was not the case at our previous clubs last year.
JH
The first team are piped (bag
pipes) onto the pitch at home games by one of the players, what's that all
about, are you a haggis muncher? I thought Wilston was a Portuguese club?
DA
ha ha the pipes rock! Yes,
Wilston is a Portugues club but that does not limit who we are as the first
team. Regardless of nationality, if you can play football, you're in, which is
typified by the fact that we have about 7 different nationalities in the team. I
think the pipes gives us an edge, as opposing teams usually have a look of
bewilderment as we walk out, they probably think we have some sort of identity
crisis!! But nothing beats the sound of those pipes as we sing the team song
after each victory!!!
JH
Promotion was top of the agenda
for you guys this season, what is the standard like in your division and do you
still think you can win the league now that you are 7 points behind the leaders
DA
Promotion is still well within
our reach. We dropped points in the first half of the season due to not being
able to put teams away. But now that we have rectified that problem, we are
going to be very hard to topple. The standard is higher than I expected it would
be at the start of the year. However, it is clearly evident we are the best
footballing team in the league, we are very hard to break down in defence, our
midfield is the best in the league, and now our strikers are hitting the target,
so I don't see us dropping too many points on our run home.
JH
You have a few lads, like
yourself playing in the first team that toured with the PSA to England a few
years ago. Did that experience help you as a player and what was the things that
you remember most from the tours?
DA
The tour was undoubtedly the best
footballing moment of my life (apart from France '98 of course!) Those few weeks
enabled us to gain an insight into some proper football & see a real footballing
close up & it does things, it really had a profound effect on every member of
the squad.
JH
*One last question Frenchy what
has happened to the french? You guys bombed out last World Cup with no points
and you are struggling again?
DA
2002 was very hard to get over,
thanks for bringing it up again!!! But seriously, I think we can do well, we
have to, Its Zizu's last world cup, we have to send him off a winner.
Good luck for the rest of the
season
Jeff Haydon.
*Interview taken before France beat Brazil !!!!!!