The biggest game of the National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s season is here – the Grand Final.
With 175 days between the first game of the 2022 season to the Grand Final, it’s been a long road for both Manly United and Blacktown City to get here, in one of the most tightly-contested competitions in years.
Both having knocked out the 2022 Premiership winners, Sydney Olympic, throughout their finals campaign, the second and third highest ranked teams in the competition will come head to head for the fourth time this year to take out the Championship title.
Manly United’s journey to the big dance hasn’t been without its challenges, with Adam Griffiths’ men battling through injuries and illness throughout the season.
Griffiths has instilled an incredible winning mentality within his team, which is full of talented and motivated footballers, many of whom are Manly locals.
While their side may be lacking some of the big names in the league, this group of players has managed to impress football fans with their disciplined and dynamic displays throughout the season.
Their winning mentality has been one of Griffiths’ focuses throughout the season, and as he moves on to his next opportunity in the A-League at the season’s end, a Grand Final trophy would be the perfect end to the former Socceroos time at Manly.
Among the talented cohort of Northern Beaches footballers is captain James Oates, who has had the incredible experience of playing Grand Finals at Wembley stadium to bring to the group as he leads them to the pinnacle of the season.
Oates has been a consistent source of strength within the team throughout the whole season, along with Alen Aganovic, who has had some sensational performances to bring a big impact when it matters.
Brazilian midfielder Bruno Mendes has also been a shining light within Manly’s squad, as has Seiya Kambayashi, whose technical ability has been applauded by many throughout the five months of competition this year.
The experience of Matt Sim will be there for all to see while Jesse Piriz will go about his business cleaning things up at the back.
Keeper Jack Greenwood has also been in great form this year and will be on his toes for a huge match on Saturday.
While there are plenty of other exceptionally talented players within the Manly line up, their biggest asset so far this season has been their tenacity and grit, something they will need to bring against the heavyweights that are Blacktown City.
The two sides have had three encounters so far this season, with some big score lines and exhilarating upsets keeping the competition between the teams well and truly alive.
Both teams have been praised for their impressive culture and commitment to excellence and while their coaches have quite different backgrounds and journeys to get to this point, they share the dedication to building the next generation of footballers and giving opportunities to those who have earned them.
Mark Crittenden has done just that throughout the season, rotating his talented squad to allow players to get their opportunity to shine.
Young ‘keeper Alex Robinson stepped into the shoes of injured Tristan Prednergast and held his own throughout the season, while Jordan Smylie has made quite the impact with 10 goals throughout the season.
Experienced talent like Daniel Collins, Grant Lynch, Mitchell Mallia, Mario Shabow and captain Matthew Lewis have continued to impress and have been critical in maintaining the composure of the team throughout the 25 weeks of competition.
The addition of Blacktown’s favourite sons Travis Major and Danny Choi has been incredibly valuable in the back end of the season, as the talented players bring depth and experience to the team.
One player that may not feature is Adam Berry who is been quality this year but unfortunately is under a injury cloud.
Jak O’Brien, Jackson Bandiera and Lachlan Campbell have however been unsung heroes and will be ones to watch out for.
While Blacktown could have secured the Premiership with a win over Olympic in the final match of the regular season, they instead took the hard route and went up against Manly United in the first round of finals, falling to a late Aganovic double.
As the two teams match up again they will both be looking to steer clear of repeating past mistakes in order to enjoy victory.
Both teams have the talent and the coaching expertise to be able to take a hold of the Grand Final match, with Griffiths able to draw on his experience as a player and Crittenden able to lean on his experience as one of the most respected coaches within the league.
Both teams are incredibly hungry to make their mark on the competition and savour the opportunity that is a Grand Final – something a lot of players will never experience, particularly as the league changes formats in 2023.
With their many similarities and many differences, it will be an exciting game as football fans wait to see who will be able to call themselves Champions in 2022.
Player Comments
Manly United: Matt Sim
On the Grand Final Mentality
After this, it’s all over so there’s no point leaving anything in the tank, worrying about next week or what could be and what could have happened, it needs to happen now and that’s the kind of mentality you need around the game.
You’ve got to enjoy the build up and the opportunity to play in these games, they are very hard to get to. I’ve been very lucky enough to be a part of some good teams that have got there, but it’s not something that is a given in football.
I know a lot of players who can go a long period of time and not make one, so you’ve got to really enjoy it and try to get out there and just give your best and don’t leave anything in the tank and don’t die wondering.
On Never Giving Up
It hasn’t been easy for us the whole way through, we’ve had a pretty challenging sort of year in terms of injuries and the biggest thing is that everyone in the squad, no matter who it is that has been called upon, has done their job.
That’s kind of the way that we play, we just never think we’re out of it even when we went 1-0 against Sydney Olympic, there was still that belief there to go get something out of the game.
These kinds of games suit our mentality because we won’t stop until it’s over and we’ll hopefully put our best foot forward for this game.
On Appreciating the Grand Final Moment
When I left Sydney United 58 this year, it was a pretty sustained period of success there and I was really lucky to be a part of that.
When I came to Manly I had to have that mentality again, that was what I was looking for.
When I spoke to Griff [Adam Griffiths] and seeing and knowing some of the other boys and seeing who else they were bringing in I was like, “oh there’s a real opportunity here to do it again.”
James Oates
On Sealing Their Grand Final Spot
We were so up against it going into that game against Olympic, so to get the result, everyone was just sort of blown away and completely fired up.
Now things have settled a little bit, we’re focusing on getting the result and not just participating in the final, we really want to win it.
I’ve played in I didn’t probably five or six Grand Finals, maybe the last couple and probably the biggest didn’t go well.
On How a Grand Final at CommBank Compares to Wembley
There was one at Wembley, where we were the heavy favourites and we scored in the first couple minutes so we thought it’d be a walkover, and then we ended up getting smashed 4-1.
They’re all learning experiences and hopefully I can bring that to the lads’ attention and just let them know that they can’t take it for granted.
It’s really special, to play it in a big stadium means more…there’s nothing like playing under bright lights and in a big, fairly new stadium.
On Two Sensational Finals Finishes
We’ve always believed in ourselves, but those two results in particular just give us that extra bit of belief and I don’t think we would have got that result against Olympic if we didn’t do what we did with Blacktown.
Blacktown City
Grant Lynch
On the Journey to the Grand Final
We made it hard for ourselves, we had a poor performance when we played Olympic last time and we wanted to come out and make it right.
It’s my first Grand Final in six years here so I’m very, very excited.
On Enjoying the Grand Final Moment
You definitely can’t take these moments for granted.
You’ve just got to take every moment in this competition, it’s a very hard competition.
All the teams are so close heading towards the back end of the year, so I’m gonna enjoy every moment.
On the Blacktown City Environment
The team dynamic is super important and it’s something that Critto [Mark Crittenden] has built in this team over the time he’s been here.
It’s an incredibly good group, we’re very, very close, we’ll go out together and there’s a lot of social related stuff. We think it’s important, it helps us when we’re trying to battle in those games and those really hard moments and it’s incredibly rewarding.
I’m very, very happy to be in such a great environment.
Mitchell Mallia
On Persevering To Get to the Grand Final
We did take the long way to the final but the spirits are high.
We’ve kept grinding no matter what the result is and we’ve taken every game as it comes and the luck fell our way tonight and hopefully it continues next Saturday.
On Grand Final Preparation
We’re trying to just stay focused, not trying to get ahead of ourselves or get overwhelmed with the situation.
We’ve just been taking every training session seriously, we have a game plan and we’ve been sticking to it and it will be the same deal come Saturday.
On Grand Finals Compared to Regular Matches
The nerves probably set in a few days before.
It’s the last Grand Final of a competition as well so it will go down in history.
We’re trying not to get too overwhelmed, it is just a normal game at the end of the day, but we know there’s a lot at stake and we’ll be working hard to lift the trophy.
Secure your spot at CommBank Stadium on August 27 to watch the state’s best go head-to-head for the coveted prize.
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