Rose preparing for battle at Bankwest

The decision to join Sydney United 58 prior to the 2019 season has more than paid dividends for Liam Rose as he prepares for his first National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s Grand Final with the club.

The defensive midfielder progressed through the Central Coast Mariners academy to eventually amass 71 A-League appearances for the club by the age of 21.

In 2018 he experienced a brief taste of European football with Ararat-Armenia, but only made six Armenian Premier League appearances before opting to return home and join Miro Vlastelica’s outfit ahead of the 2019 NPL NSW Men’s season.

Rose has treasured the extensive number of minutes he has received this campaign.

“My decision to join Sydney United 58 was mainly about playing and enjoying my football again,” he revealed.

“Over the past couple of seasons, I hadn’t had that regular game time and joy in playing football.

“I really wanted to get that back and I feel I have this year.

“They are a great bunch of lads who have made that really easy for me.

“There’s no doubt I’ve started to really enjoy my football again.”

Rose is more than satisfied with how the United 58 squad have managed to live up to their potential in 2019.

“Coming in I could see the quality of the squad, and we had a goal to make the finals,” he recalled.

“We did that, and now making the Grand Final we have one more big game to play and hopefully bring that trophy home.”

“As a team, we’ve been playing with a lot of confidence lately.

“Everyone is fighting for each other.

“It’s great to be a part of and we’re really looking forward to Saturday.”

Boasting a squad that contains a blend of exciting young talent and seasoned veterans, recent results reveal the winning mentality that Vlastelica has imprinted upon his roster.

And having already tasted Grand Final defeat in July’s TAFE Waratah Cup final, Rose is determined not to relive the same emotions this weekend.

“We have some very experienced players who have played in the A-League and all around the joint,” the former A-League midfielder said.

“We’re striving off each other and all pushing each other to improve which is of course making us better as a team.

“We’ll continue to push to our ultimate goal of winning the title.

“Hopefully we can finish off strong and achieve that on Saturday.”

By National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s Reporter Chris Curulli (Twitter handle @ChrisCurulli)