February 20th, 2018
Every Month
- Mikulski’s Memo
- Thunder Talk
- Thunder Spotlight
- Where’s Thunder
- Road to Russia
- Thunder & You
In This Issue
- SWQ Thunder U10/11 Girls Team
- Clothing Shenanigans
- Lachlan Percy Memorial Game
- Thunder Men Continue To Impress
- Who You Gonna Call?
- SWQ Thunder & Bunnings
Mikulski’s Memo
Hello Everyone
We were all waiting anxiously for the beginning of the new 2018 season which happened to start early. The season started with the Womens, from the U13's all the way through to the seniors playing Western Pride in Gatton. I am very happy with the way all players presented themselves and the way they played and represented their club. I witness some great play amongst teams, whether it was individual brilliance or outstanding team work. The following two games they played against Brisbane United FC and Capalaba Bulldogs. There were some great wins within these fixtures, as the girls look to further make a mark on the competition.
The Youth boys played a varying number of games. Where the 16's competed in 3 games and the other teams played in 2. The boys continued to show their quality within these matches especially the under 16's who won 2 matches emphatically. The mens have been playing some amazing football. Demonstrated by the results, where the under 18's have won 2 from 2. The under 20's have 1 win and 1 loss, the loss coming from a strong Brisbane city side who they almost beat. The Seniors have been improving every week, recording 1 loss, 1 draw and 1 win in this respective order. The win really showed the amount of quality the young team has to offer, as it looks increasingly likely they could go far this season. All of the players showed their structure as well as their physicality, where a never give up attitude showed through amazing goals and great defence.
To summarise, I am very happy with the performances and progress of all the players, coaches and managers for their professionalism demonstrated following the start of the season.
Technical Director, Albin Mikulski.
Thunder Spotlight
Introducing our SWQ Thunder Team Captains for thé 2018 NPL Season.
SWQ THUNDER MEN - Jacob Bigby
SWQ thunder Women - Melanie Lloyd
SWQ THUNDER U20 Youth
- Jordan Howard
SWQ thunder U18 Boys
- The U18 Captains position will be shared among the team on a weekly basis due to player movement from U18s to U20 Youth.
SWQ thunder u17 girls
- Rosie Peak & Maddy Lockwood (Co-Captains)
SWQ THUNDER U16 Boys
- Edward Poulton
SWQ thunder u15 boys
- Henry Wells & Jack DiBortoli (Co Captains)
SWQ thunder u15 Girls
- Casey Evans
SWQ thunder u14 boys
- Noah Lawson
SWQ thunder u13 boys
- Jake McGuire
SWQ thunder u13 Girls
- Halle Nielsen
SWQ THUNDER
U10/11 Girls Team
Due to the SWQ Thunder U12 female players moving up into the U13 Team to play WNPL, we are unable to fufil the Girls SAP requirements of a U11/12 age group.
However, with a combined group of U10/11 girls all still very eager and enthusiastic about playing under SWQ Thunder, and receiving 3 nights a week training with quality coaching, Football Queensland South West have given approval for this group of girls to play in the U11 Challenge division in the local Toowoomba Football Leagues junior competition for this year.
This is a strong competition starting Saturday 21st April till the end of August. Predominantly a boy’s competition, the girls will be tested against some strong young teams, gaining loads of experience and getting ready to move into the SAP Program next year.
Presently this group have only 10 players, therefore SWQ Thunder are looking for 2 more girls born 2008 or 2007 to join the club and come into this all girls team, experiencing quality coaching at a higher level, whilst creating new friends and having fun along the way.
Contact the Coach Stefano Hlaca on 0418 778 670 if you are interested.
Background Picture: SWQ Thunder Women
THUNDER TALK
- Thunder Players have been scoring HATTRICKS again, Menphys Smith put 3 goals past the keeper (Pre Season U15 Boys vs Ipswich Knights), Mohammed Elamir netted 3 goals (Pre Season U16 Boys vs Ipswich Knights), Anthony Grant scored 3 goals (Pre Season Men vs Gold Coast Knights) and Alyssa Cox put a fantastic 4 goals past the keeper (U15 Girls vs Capalaba FC).
- Thunder Goalies have been keeping CLEAN SHEETS this month, Marcus Johnston (Pre Season U15 Boys vs Ipswich Knights), Jayden Richardson (Pre Season U18 Boys vs Ipswich Knights) Kyria Mills (U17 Girls vs Capalaba FC)
- Thunder Men’s International recruit Federico Brusaca was on the receiving end of a RED CARD in the first game of the NPL Season vs Brisbane Roar Youth played at Gatton! We will all miss seeing Federico in the next game while he waits out his suspension.
- How many fields in Brisbane are named CJ Greenfield Reserve. Well, as one of our Thunder Men’s players learned recently, more than one. Said player turned up at the wrong field for the 4th Kappa Silver Boot Game and was late for kickoff!
- One of our not so popular ex Goalies was spotted sucking on a lollipop during his recent match (yes for the whole match) vs Thunder Men! We all held our breath in hopes that he might choke on it..... oops typo was that meant to be that he wouldn’t choke on it? #whoeatslollieswhileplaying
- Thunder Football Family was very happy to see Senior Men’s Player KEAGAN SHERIDAN back on the field vs Redlands United after an injury lay off. Good to see you back on the park Keagan!
- Lighting problems stopped the Thunder Men vs Brisbane City match for 15 minutes early in the first half. Supporters and players were surprised when the Brisbane City Stadium turned completely dark after the lights turned off of their own accord. Play started again after a short 15 minute break. #didtheypaytheirbill?
- Not only did we beat Brisbane City on the field but looks like SWQ Thunder has Brisbane City beat in the Photography stakes too! #thatsnotacamera,nowthatsacamera. #sizereallydoesmatter
Background Picture: Keagan Sheridan - Thunder Men
Clothing shenanigans
A big thank you and great job to our clothing co-ordinator Sue Lister and her volunteers! We received 10 or more (we stopped counting!) boxes - which we had to load into the van ourselves and then unload again! - on Friday morning. After a lot of work we had them sorted arranged and unpacked ready for collection Friday afternoon!
All of the gear looks great and the teams will be looking good in their uniforms.
The day was not without some fun when one of our volunteers ended up flat on her back in the garden after her box moving partner let the team down and couldn’t hold up her end of the box - those boxes were HEAVY!
Lachlan Percy
memorial game
We’d love to see you all come along to West Wanderers FC (Hume St, Toowoomba) on Thursday 22nd February to support both SWQ Thunder FC and West Wanderers FC Men and Women in these very special matches in remembrance of Lachlan Percy who we lost in a tragic accident in September 2015.
Lach (or Perc) played for West Wanderers from U6 through to U11’s and loved his junior football with the club and made many wonderful memories with his family & friends on the West Wanderers fields. Lach then moved to SWQ Thunder FC from U12’s through to U16’s and into the Senior teams playing for the U18’s, U20’s and made his debut for the Senior Men at 17 years old (where he also managed to tear his medial ligament and had to undergo knee surgery to repair it!)
Lach played with (and against) many of our current SWQ Thunder and West Wanderers players not only with Thunder but also in school football and Futsal competitions over the years. He is well remembered, much loved & dearly missed for his cheeky, lovable character and for being a true friend and great teammate.
- Thunder Women vs West Wanderers Women 6.00pm
- Thunder Men vs West Wanderers Men - 7.30pm
BBQ & Bar Available on the night.
Thunder Men Continue
to Impress
The great start to the 2018 season has continued for the Thunder Men.
Silver Boot (Sunday 21 January)
Thunder Men took on Lions FC in the third round of the Kappa Silver Boot pre-season competition. With both teams winning their first two games the winner of this game would progress to the Semi Finals, as the winner of Pool D, and the loser would finish second in the pool and play a consolation game against the second place team in Pool C. The game lived up to expectations with both teams creating many opportunities but unable to score. Thunder Goalkeeper, Reiley Mason, made his senior debut and had a strong game along with the Thunder defensive line led by Federico Brusaca' and Wade Hall. Despite dominating the final third of the game the Lions highly rated attack were unable to break down the Thunder defence with the game finishing at 0-0 after 90 minutes. Under the rules of the competition the game then went into a penalty shoot out to determine which team would progress. Lions FC prevailed 5-4 in penalties with former Thunder Goalkeeper, Luke Borean saving a well struck penalty from Thunder's Player of the Match, Wade Hall.
Silver Boot (Thursday 25 January)
With Thunder finishing second in Pool B they were matched up against Gold Coast Knights in a consolation game. Thunder started strongly but found themselves down 2-0 after 20 minutes thanks to two quality strikes from distance from a fired up Knights team. Federico Brusaca' then decided to take things into his own hands with a surging run from centre back ending in a striker worthy finish in the 37th minute. This goal saw the half time score of 2-1 in favour of the Knights. The second half however was all Thunder with 7 unanswered goals. The goals came to Anthony Grant (47' 77' 81'), Jackson Franke (61'), Nicholas Edwards (63'), Lathan Dunn (70') and Nykodah Smith (74'). The game was a perfect way for the team to wrap up the pre-season campaign finishing with 3 wins and a draw. Lathan Dunn had an outstanding game in an unfamiliar position of right back and Anthony Grant was a constant threat up front.
NPL Round 1 (Tuesday 6 February)
The opening game of Thunders NPL season against Brisbane Roar Youth was postponed from Sunday 4 February in Brisbane due to wet weather. With Roar unable to find a ground in Brisbane for the rescheduled fixture they were forced to take on Thunder at Gatton. Roar opened the scoring in the 12th minute when Rahmat Akbari latched onto a wayward pass from the Thunder defence to coolly slot past Reiley Mason. Thunder squared the ledger just six minutes later when Emmanuel Philip blasted a loose ball inside the Roar box into the back of the net. The half time score remained at 1-1. The second half saw both teams create chances before Federico Brusaca' was shown a red card in the 69th minute for an aggressive tackle on a Roar attacker. This ultimately led to the demise of Thunder's chances with Roar using the numerical advantage to score the winning goal in the 77th minute for a 2-1 victory.
NPL Round 2 (Saturday 10 February)
Thunder travelled to Cleveland Showgrounds for their Round 2 clash with Redlands United. With Federico Brusaca' suspended for this game Thunder welcomed the return from injury of star defender Keagan Sheridan. The first quarter of the game saw Redlands make the most of their chances with goals in the 11th and 22nd minutes for a 2-0 lead. This then seemed to spur Thunder into action with Chris Hatfield scoring a Goal of the Year contender in the 24th minute shooting from 25 meters out and curling it into the top corner. Redlands then conceded an own goal after a dangerous free kick from Jackson Franke was headed into their goal by a forlorn defender. On the stroke of half time Anthony Grant put Thunder in front with a tidy finish after a scramble in the box. Thunder went in to half time with a 3-2 lead and all of the momentum, this continued after the break with Chris Hatfield securing his brace with a great individual goal in the 48th minute for a 4-2 lead. Thunder then seemed to go back into their shell with Redlands scoring in the 53rd and 90th minute to salvage an entertaining 4-4 draw. Chris Hatfield was outstanding up front for Thunder and Keagan Sheridan sealed his return with a NPL Team of the Week performance at centre back.
Background Picture: Chris Hatfield - Thunder Men
Who you gonna Call?
(Well probably no one at Thunder cos we don’t have a phone! - but we have lots of other avenues for communication!)
Thunder Contacts
Some information to help our SWQ Thunder family to get in touch with the right person to help with your queries throughout the year. So, how do you contact the appropriate person in Thunder to help you out.
- Team Managers are the best option to be pointed in the right direction.
- You can also email swqthunderfc@gmail.com for general queries
- Finances/Individual Sponsorship/Fees can be contacted by emailing accounts@swqthunder.com
- Media/FB Team can be contacted either by private message to the Thunder FB page or by emailing media@swqthunder.com
- Clothing queries can be sent by private message to the Thunder FB page or via email to slister@bigpond.net.au
- Corporate Sponsorship queries can be sent via email to rahomes@bigpond.com
- The SWQ Thunder FC website may also be a useful resource for our Thunder family - click here to view.
All contact by email will be responded to in a timely manner but please be aware that the volunteer board members that monitor these accounts have full time jobs and emails are most often checked after hours.
SWQ Thunder FC does not operate a full time administration office. The Thunder office at Brook St is a shared space with Football Queensland South West who do not have access or authority to assist with SWQ Thunder queries.
ALL Thunder business at Brook Street is by Appointment Only. (This is so a SWQ Thunder representative can be on site to assist you - this also minimises the disturbance to Football Queensland South West and their business operations) Please enter by the signed Thunder Entrance only.
SWQ Thunder does not have a dedicated phone number - please be aware that the Football Queensland South West offices phone number is not a contact for SWQ Thunder FC! (I know that’s a lot of South West’s just to confuse you!)
SWQ THUNDER & BUNNINGS
SWQ Thunder will be running the very popular Bunnings Sausage Sizzle on Saturday 5th May at the New Bunnings store, Ruthven St.
We will need volunteers!!! and we thank you all in advance for helping out... we are looking for:
- 1 or 2 people from each team to help cook/serve food and drinks for one hour each during the day.
- 2 Activity Managers - one each to open and close the day off
- If any of our Thunder family have connections to a Butcher or Baker that we can purchase from to support our Club please contact us.
Please send an email to Mandy at rahomes@bigpond.com to volunteer for the time that best suits you.
Where’s Thunder
Wrap up of the NPL Competition Ladder and where the Thunder teams are on the ladder (current at time of publishing).
This years NPL U13 Boys to U20 Yth ladder through the Game Day App includes both the NPL and some FQPL competition teams. - Go Figure!!! (I will endeavour to seperate them to give just the NPL ladder - but bear with me and forgive any errors !)
#whatshappeningfq #confusingmuch
NPL Swq thunder fc
- U13 Boys - 10th out of 11 teams.
- U14 Boys - 11th out of 11 teams.
- U15 Boys - 11th out of 11 teams.
- U16 Boys - 5th out of 11 teams.
- U18 Boys - 2nd out of 11 teams.
- U20 Yth - 7th out of 11 teams.
- Men - 7th out of 14 teams.
**Junior Boys teams have a Game in hand.
WNPL SWQ Thunder FC
- U13 Girls - 7th out of 13 teams.
- U15 Girls - 6th out of 13 teams
- U17 Girls - 6th out of 13 teams.
- Women - 11th out of 14 teams.
**Some WNPL teams have a Game in hand.
Road to russia
Four months till kickoff! and we finally have a coach for the 2018 World Cup! So just who is Bert van Marwijk (And just a tip DON’T call him Aussie Bert, so far he seems all business!)
Bert most recently was head coach of Saudia Arabia's National Team, who beat us in the Asian qualifying rounds to put the Socceroos in 2nd place, in 2010 as Coach of Netherlands he made the final vs Spain, although lost 1-0 in extra time. He has aslo won the UEFA Cup as coach of Feyenoord. Bert represented the Netherlands as a player and retired in 1988.
We get to see our Socceroos in action soon with 2 friendlies coming up in March. On the 23rd we will take on Norway in Oslo. Five days later we come up against Colombia on the 28th March, also an away game. So put these dates in your calendar!!!
And since we are going through a heatwave here in Australia, I thought I would do a comparison of the weather in Russia! Not sure which is better the heat or the cold (Ice age cold!)
And luckily the weather will improve by the time we are there for the World Cup
Thunder & You
NPL Junior Draw
Football Queensland had only released the first 5 weeks of the draw for the U12 to U16 Boys NPL competition. The full draw has now been released.
Reminders
- Clothing Orders to be completed via Majestri by 22nd February
- Save the Date March 10th 2018 - SWQ Thunder Season Launch - Compulsory Event
- Saturday 5th May, Bunnings Sausage Sizzle (Volunteers Required - Contact Mandy via email rahomes@bigpond.com)
- Mother’s Day Raffle - tickets are available at trainings and home games until May.
- Don’t forget to mention that you are from SWQ THUNDER when you make any purchases at the Rebel VIP event this weekend - happy shopping!
Credits:
DSL Photography