Class recruits are must for future

Murray Wenzel | 19th May 2010



BUNDABERG Toyota Spirit coach Richard Mitchell has admitted the club needs to source players from outside of Bundaberg if they want to be competitive.

Laurie Stephenson played his best game for the Spirit on the weekend.
Mike Knott

FOOTBALL: Bundaberg Toyota Spirit coach Richard Mitchell has admitted the club needs to source players from outside of Bundaberg if they want to be competitive next season.

The coach said he and his assistant Tony Roebuck had already been scouting for a possible striker or goal-scoring centre-midfielder to strengthen the team for the future.

While he stressed the idea of the Spirit was to develop the local talent, he said a “marquee player” would create a much-needed presence on the park.

“We need something to happen like that, there’s no denying that,” he said.

“Not taking anything away from the boys we have, but we are missing that quality player at the moment.”

“We can’t just fill it with imports though, it still needs to be a local team.”

Last season’s efforts to recruit two Solomon Island talents never came to fruition, while Sunshine Coast’s Kevin Clarke was the only outsider on the books this year.

Clarke’s foray was a brief one, with the utility already having left the squad.

With this in mind though, Mitchell still holds on to hope against the fourth-placed FNQ Bulls at Martens Oval this weekend.

“I know people are fed up with me saying we still have a chance, but I’ll keep saying it until I think otherwise,” Mitchell stressed.

“I will tell people when I think we’re diminished.”

He praised the weekend performance of young gun John Cullen in the side’s 5-2 loss to NQ Razorbacks, while he was happy to have fellow youth squad members Jack Hambrecht and Mitch Broom back on deck after three weeks in Queensland Schoolboys camp.

He also said it was the best game he had seen Spirit veteran Laurie Stephenson play.

“Laurie really kept their quick boys under raps, it was impressive to watch,” Mitchell said.

“But in the end it was a few silly goals that cost us again.”

Two Spirit goals were countered by two own goals in their latest loss — their seventh straight this year.

“They were just dead unlucky really, it’s about time we had some luck like that go our way,” Mitchell said.

While he commended the efforts of Jason McEwan in goal, Mitchell said Ben Heidenreich would resume as the first-choice custodian this weekend.

Eyebrows were raised when Heidenreich played for Bingera on the weekend after he had been ruled out of the Spirit match with injury.

But Mitchell said he was forced to make the call early in the week because of flight bookings.

“We had to rule out Ben last Sunday before the flights were booked, but it turned out he was fit much sooner than he expected,” he said.

“Ben will be back in goals for us on Saturday.”

Meanwhile the Bundaberg Spirit youth contingent will return to Martens Oval for the first time in more than a month this Saturday afternoon.

The debutantes face Logan City, who are coming off a 6-0 thrashing at the hands of the high-flying Sunshine Coast.

Coach Steve Bates said his troops were refreshed after three straight losses and excited to get back on the park.

Bates, who is based in Maryborough, said he was relishing the challenge to get the fledgling side in the winner’s circle.

http://www.news-mail.com.au/story/2010/05/19/football-class-recruits-are-a-must-for-the-future/