A long list absentees from the senior side has forced Gold Coast United to give their youngsters premature debuts this season.
While this hasn’t helped Gold Coast rise up the ladder, it has reinforced the depth of young talent in Queensland.
In round 20 of the A-league season, 17-year-old Mitch Cooper was given the captaincy in his debut game, while Jake Barker-Daish also lined up for his first senior match.
Due to the youthfulness of the squad, owner Clive Palmer and CEO Clive Mensink gave the captaincy to the Vanuatuan-born youngster.
Cooper played 90 minutes and Barker-Daish 83, but neither had great games. Nevertheless it was good to see the youngsters given a game to show the league and fans what they can do. Maybe it was just too many big steps at once.
My man of the match in the 1-0 loss to Melbourne Heart was Zac Anderson. The tall Central-Defender who was born in Ayr, Queensland (in between Mackay and Townsville) showed immense potential and will be a star of the future. Anderson defended brilliantly, making interceptions, reading the play and performing well in the air. He is certainly a player other clubs should look at more closely in the coming weeks.
Golgol Mebrahtu, the Eritrean born winger, also impressed. The 20-year-old showed his pace and his ability to run at defenders although his touch and finishing let him down. This season Mebrahtu has been in many similar situations to that of last Friday night, where he has fluffed his chances.
To be honest, I think he is cursed. Is it a mere coincidence – or perhaps bitter irony – that he is named Golgol, yet lacks the ability to score?
Like Mebrahtu on the left wing, Ben Halloran on the right too has had a great season and should earn an Olyroos call up soon. The versatile 19-year-old shows pace but unlike Mebrahtu he also has the ability to get the ball into the box and finish.
Halloran is already a key Gold Coast player at just 19.
Without the injuries and other absentees at Gold Coast some of these youngsters would not have been given a game this season. But this is what academy teams and youth teams are for: to give youngsters a game. Ideally, such players can be used sparingly during the early stages of their career to provide backup to more experienced players.
Eventually the A-League will benefit from it.
A number of Gold Coast’s fresh-faced debutants originally joined in 2009, when Gold Coast United and its youth team was established. These players won the National Youth League (NYL) two seasons in a row, the 2009-2010 and the 2010-11 seasons.
That’s right; their youth side won the NYL title in their only two seasons in the competition.
Gold Coast has also brought in youngsters in more recent years from other clubs such as Daniel Bowles from Brisbane Roar, Chris Lucas from Palm Beach, Daniel Bragg from Blacktown City, and Cooper and Barker-Daish from the AIS. This illustrates that they are not only capable of nurturing their own products but can find others and develop them too.
Credit must go to Queensland for being able to produce such young and great talent.
The Queensland Academy of Sport (QAS) should take part of the credit. Gold Coast United and Brisbane Roar players go to the QAS side during the winter, during the off season of the NYL, to help develop these youngsters.
The QAS plays in the Queensland State League (QSL), which means that these youngsters are given close to 12 months a year worth of football.
In the QSL these kids are up against fully grown adults and the experience pays off. They currently play at Meakin Park, Logan and players like Matt McKay, Shane Smeltz, Kasey Wehrman, David Williams and Isaka Cernak are just a few A-League stars to have come through the QAS.
The QAS, however, doesn’t have a current coach. Mike Mulvey, the now caretaker coach of Gold Coast United after Miron Bleiberg’s sacking and Gold Coast’s youth coach, held the position of QAS head coach between 2007-10.
Welshman Darren Davies took over after Mulvey but left after the 2011 season to take up a gig as Melbourne Victory’s youth coach.
With QSL set to start in March, and with technical director Peter De Roo joining the AIS, the QAS are yet to appoint a head coach.
Let’s just hope the QAS continue to produce such talent and that the new head coach can help them develop just like his predecessors. If so, Gold Coast Untied and Brisbane Roar will have a large set of talent to nurture and use at their disposal.
Maybe other A-League clubs may want to keep an eye out on football in Queensland.
western park posse
Guest
for what its worth, all this grandstanding about how QLD is a RL state blah, blah, blah, there are buckets of kids playing our game in QLD like everywhere esle in australia. Its only natural that there will be great players coming out of clubs and carrying on.
Rob Gremio
Roar Pro
Fuss, I have spoken about this a couple of times in the past, but basically there are a bunch of high schools that have Football Schools of Excellence, where the kids can take Football as a subject at school. Kelvin Grove College and Cavendish Road State High School are the ones that jump to mind. Tommy Oar and Adam Sarota, as well as Robbie Kruse, went to Kelvin Grove, while Dario Vidosic's dad was director of the Cav Road football program before becoming part of the Roar's coaching setup. So you can chalk those two schools up, as well as a private school at Daisy Hill - John Paul College - as part of the reason. Mike Mulvey is a great coach. Many years ago he was assistant coach at the QAS when I went through the system. I was coached by him there and he was excellent, very knowledgeable and had one of those great English dead-pan senses of humour. I have nothing but good things to say about Mike. It's just a shame he's at GCU... It's the only blot on his copybook for mine (I am, after all, a Roar fan). :) I truly wish him well.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
What's going on in Qld that they're able to churn out seemingly a never-ending line of technically-gifted young footballers? Halloran, Mebrahtu, Harold, Cooper, Anderson, James Brown have been outstanding this year for GCU. Then you add the Brisbane Roar dynamos from past years: Oar, Zullo, Sarota, Vidosic, Robbie K ... even Mitch Langerak is a Queenslander! And, full credit to Mike Mulvey for developing his talent in the GCU Youth team. I hadn't heard of Mike Mulvey until he took charge of GCU but, after listening to Mulvey's post-match press conference ( http://www.foxsports.com.au/football/039they-showed-belief039/video-e6frf423-1226278921777?sectionvertical=football ) I reckon GCU have unearthed another gem.
Roarchild
Guest
Cheers for this article, I found it a very interesting read and enjoyed learning where all the kids are from.
futbanous
Guest
Was impressed by Gold Coast last night,Mike Mulvey is the constant over the last few years with the youngsters at QAS then GCU & now head coach. .One thing I can definitely say that is positive about the existence of GCU is that it gives these youngsters another arena to display their skills at the highest level available in Australia. Shame this club is a dysfunctional one,because its future on the park could be bright.