Marconi ‘perfect fit’ for football-hungry Swibel

Former A-League Men’s academy product Jordan Swibel says Marconi Stallions have provided exactly what he is looking for in his pursuit of senior game time.

Swibel has had a tough time nailing down consistent minutes in senior football so far in his career. Despite making his ALM debut with Sydney FC in 2020, the striker didn’t get the time on the pitch at the Sky Blues he needed. He decided to move over to the Western Sydney Wanderers, where similarly, he didn’t play as much as he wanted to.

After this, Swibel made the bold decision to move abroad to Israel where he signed with Hapoel Nof HaGalil in the second division. He said he had no doubts about making the move and found the experience of living abroad a rewarding challenge.

“To go overseas was something I had always dreamed about,” he said.

“Not only playing football but also living overseas as a young player in a foreign country was a shock to the system, so you grow up very quickly.”

Swibel has been in superb form since his return to Australia scoring seven goals in his first nine appearances in the 2023 National Premier Leagues NSW. He praised the impact of the senior players at Marconi since his move such as seasoned forward Marko Jesic.

However, he is looking for more from himself.

“Marconi was the perfect fit for me to go and get some game time and prove to everyone what I can do,” he said.

“I’m my own harshest critic so I think I can actually be doing a lot better.

“I think I can be on more goals than I actually am at the moment.

“I have a belief that I’m going to score goals. Whenever I get on the pitch, I’m going to have chances so it’s about me taking them.”

Swibel’s Marconi moved up to third last weekend following a comprehensive 4-0 win against Western Sydney Wanderers. With title ambitions this season, the team are eight points away from league leaders Rockdale Ilinden, but that’s not a concern at this early stage according to Swibel.

“The team’s doing well, but we know we can do better – consistency is the main thing,” he said.

“We do have a very new team so maybe you could put it down to gelling together in certain occasions, but that would just be looking for excuses.

“I think it’s just down to us at the end of the day. Our mentality with the teams that we face and just knowing that when we go out there we can beat anyone on our day.”

The Stallions take on NWS Spirit in round 10 who pulled off one of the craziest comebacks in NPL NSW history against Wollongong Wolves last weekend. Swibel says the team is wary of what Spirit can produce but they remain confident ahead of Friday night’s clash as they look to build some momentum in the season.

“That was a pretty insane result [Spirit’s win against Wollongong] for them, but we know when we come up against any team that we can’t take them lightly,” Swibel explained.

“We’ll be on full guard and make sure that we do everything we can do right, like we have in the past couple of weeks.”

Feature by Timothy Gibson, on Twitter @Timg123_