Pelekanos’ chance to shine with St George City

Like much of the St George City squad, young gun Dean Pelekanos believes he has plenty to prove in 2023.

The former Western Sydney Wanderers NPL captain helped the A-Leagues academy side to promotion from the League One Men’s to the top tier.

Still, it is in the colours of St George City that he will be testing himself in the state’s premier football competition.

The newly-promoted St George City outfit has made a habit of signing hungry young players from the A-Leagues academy system as they look to hit the ground running in the new-look NPL NSW competition and Pelekanos says the end result is a group of committed youngsters ready to give their all for the club.

“I think, as a whole, we want to show that we can hold our own in the NPL,” he said.

“There’s a lot of ex-Academy talent here, and I think the result of that has been there’s a lot of energy and a big will to win. The professionalism we’ve all brought with us from the A-League environment has stayed with us, and we all want to maintain the high standards we are used to.

“The way the club has helped us handle that transition has been brilliant, too. They’ve really taken care of the players, and you can tell that coming off promotion, they’ve gotten used to winning, and they don’t like losing, so I think it’s a good match.”

Pelekanos said that a shorter pre-season – with the competition kicking off this weekend – was always welcomed by the players, but it had presented some challenges.

“I think the tough thing has really just been gelling together,” he said.

“There’s a lot of new boys, but having said that, there have been big improvements between sessions. Every week we’ve been getting better, so we’ll be ready for round one.”

Former Blacktown City star and now Coach Mirko Juril, alongside Technical Director Aytek Genc and assistant Huss Akil, have left a strong impression on the boys in pre-season.

“They’ve really drilled into us how they want us to play, and they’ve impressed on us the winning culture of the club,” he said.

It’s clear that the new boys aren’t looking to simply make up the numbers, but Pelekanos says the debut campaign will be a marathon, not a sprint.

“It’s a long season. 30 games, no one – not even the A-League Men – really play that many games in a season, so it’s going to be long, but it’s also exciting,” he said.

“Squad depth is going to be crucial.”

St George kick-off the season against league stalwarts and local rivals Rockdale Illinden, and Pelekanos said he was happy to be starting off against a tried-and-tested NPL side.

“It’s a great chance for us to prove ourselves against one of the more established teams in the competition,” he said.