After an impressive 2022 campaign, which ultimately ended in a heartbreaking elimination final loss to Moama, all involved with Congupna Football Netball Club have been united in their ambition for this upcoming season.
In 2023, The Road wants to take the next step and become a genuine Murray Football League premiership contender.
On the recruiting front, Congupna has been as active as any of its counterparts, bringing seasoned guns BJ Squire, Elliott Cavallaro, Sam Poole, Matt DiBella and Dion Gleeson through the door.
While pre-season hype is all well and good, it does not count for anything if you can’t perform when the real business starts.
For Congupna coach Kevin O’Donoghue, who will share the reins with promoted assistant Ben Bingham this year, excitement has reached fever pitch as he finally gets to see his side in action this weekend in a clash against Barooga on their home deck.
“The whole group is super pumped to be getting back on the park, the first game is always very exciting after you’ve done the hard yards through pre-season and gotten through the practice games,” O’Donoghue said.
“Yeah we’ve picked up a few, but realistically we’ve just tried to cover what we’ve lost, and I think we’ve done a pretty good job of that, the challenge now is to gel as a group and play a good style of footy.
“We don’t focus too much on the outside noise, we will just go out on the park and play who is in front of us and do our best to beat that team on that day.”
First cab off the rank for The Road is a Hawks side that struggled to keep up with the top contenders last year.
But O’Donoghue, who is not one to take any opposition side lightly, said Barooga would present as a bit of an unknown entity on Saturday.
“There is absolutely a bit of an unknown about Barooga, they’ve picked up a few, but also lost a few, so just like any round one clash you simply don’t know what to expect,” he said.
“They might come out all guns blazing and make it hard work for us, traditionally they have been a very physical side and we expect a tough battle this week.
“The main message from us coaches has been just control your own destiny, so we will just be looking to bring our attacking style of footy and hopefully kick a big score.”
The Road will have all its big name recruits bar one don the jumper this weekend, with McNamara medallist Sam Poole ruled out of the season opener after injuring his hamstring in a practice match.
Elsewhere, Moama hosts reigning premier Mulwala in a rematch of last year’s preliminary final.
After an impressive off-season of recruiting, the Magpies have bolted into the top echelon of pre-season premiership fancies, and a statement victory against last year’s champion would serve as the perfect launching pad for their lofty aspirations.
“Well, they obviously won the flag. I’m not too sure if they've lost too many or picked too many more blokes up, but they're a good side nonetheless,” Moama coach Sam Sheldon told the Riverine Herald.
“It's a really good challenge, you know, they gave us a touch up last time we played them, so it should be good fun to get a crack at them first up.”
The remaining round one fixtures will have Tongala take on Echuca United, Cobram welcome Nathalia, Deniliquin do battle with Rumbalara and Finley face Numurkah under lights.
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