Wilkshire Ready for Wollongong to Return to Winning Ways
Wolves coach and ex-Socceroo Luke Wilkshire is ready for another big season in the National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s competition.
Looking to recreate the success his side had in 2019 when they secured their last Premiership, Wilkshire has spent the preseason strengthening the squad and is ready to put his work to the test in the league.
“We need a little bit more leadership off the back of last year, we were very young, very naive, I think,” he explained.
“So we brought in a little bit more experience this year with the likes of Nick Littler and Guy Knight coming back to the club which makes a difference for us.”
With big ambitions for football in the Illawarra region and a passionate supporter base who want to see the Wolves succeed, Wilkshire spoke about his commitment to representing the region well.
“We’ve got a rich history down here in Wollongong,” he said.
“We aim to build a team that the region can be proud of, that the region wants to come and support and that the region enjoys supporting the brand of football and the way we play.”
While Wilkshire has culminated a team of talented players, he has highlighted that the strength of the team is the culture and the winning mentality of his players.
“The strength is the team, the group,” he explained.
“It’s a long season and you need everyone, the whole squad.
“We are here to work, we’re here to enjoy, we’re here to win, it’s very simple.
“There’s not one game that we go into that we don’t believe that we will win – this is a very close knit group.”
After the long break between the end of last season and the start of the upcoming season, Wilkshire explained that the love of the game has his team eager to return to the field and show the league what they’re made of.
“We’re all in the game for a reason,” he said.
“I think 99 percent of the time it’s because we love the game.
“You want to play, you want to be competitive and that’s the nature of the players so obviously itching to get back to competitive football.”
