Chris Lindsay ready for new era at the Sutherland Sharks

A new era is beckoning at Sutherland Sharks and experienced defender Chris Lindsay has been impressed by the progress made under the new coaching regime of head coach Damir Prodanovic.

With the challenges presented by a shorter pre-season than usual and an almost completely new squad, Lindsay said it had been a different sort of build-up to season 2023, but he was excited by the strides taken forward under the new coaches.

“It’s only about two players left from last season, so it’s been a big flip-around,” he said.

“We’re just getting everyone to gel, but the intensity has been excellent, and the gaffers have us playing some nice football already.

“It’s been a big improvement going into the new season.”

Lindsay said with a mountain of physical work having been done by the boys in pre-season, the focus over the remaining weeks before the season kick-off was on matchday refinement.

“The lads have worked their nuts off,” he said.

“The fitness is there; we’ve had a few games under our belt as well, so it’s literally just about getting it to click now.”

Whilst the turnover and short pre-season have presented challenges, Lindsay said it does come with some benefits.

“We’re so new that we’re a bit of an unknown quantity,” he said.

“I think that works in our favour a bit because it’s going to take teams a couple of weeks to figure us out how we’re going to play and the sort of weapons that we have.

“I think we’re going to be the surprise team of the year.”

A tough test first-up against Sydney Olympic will leave Lindsay and the Sharks under no illusions as to where they’re at.

“It’s a good test for us. We know how strong they are, so it’s going to show us exactly where we’re at as a team,” he said.

“But we’re going to Belmore to take maximum points, and I believe we’re fully capable of doing that.”