New coach’s big plans for Knights

IRYMPLE Knights coach Phil Karallis wants to build for the future by giving greater exposure to the club’s burgeoning talents.

The Football Federation Sunraysia S-League outfit is likely headed for a change in formation under the new gaffer to offer younger players a greater on-field responsibility.

The 2022 runners-up will put some of these new plans to action during the opening rounds of the S-League Rudi Horvat Cup, a pre-season round-robin tournament over the next two Sundays.

Karallis identified that Joe Monteleone will play at centre back, George Karallis and Kieran Burrows are set to play on the flanks either side of the striker, and Sam Leimgruber could be repackaged as a right-back after scoring three goals on the wing in 2022.

Stalwarts such as Chris Romeo and Luke Pain will continue to lead from the front and provide plenty of experience for the younger core.

“I may be changing the formation a bit and I’m really looking to give our young a go and bit more responsibility as they are the future of the club,” Karallis said.

“We’ve had big numbers across the pre-season. We would have started in January and every sessions we’d had 20 to 30 players so I’ve been really pleased with that.

“Maybe there was extra interest from the World Cup, I’m not sure. But it’s been a great turnout.

“We’ve got a couple of boys who are here from Vanuatu who are really keen to play and we have some good young players who are breaking into the senior ranks.”

Knights will face grand final adversaries Mildura City and Three Colours following a first-round bye in Sunday’s round robin competition.

Karallis said despite a recent 5-0 practice match victory over Renmark, there’s still room for improvement.

“We see it as more of a chance to get out there and have fun, but also to experiment with a few things and try out new formations,” he said.

“We’ve got a lot of players who can cover in different positions or when others are missing which is important.

“We just hope we can be competitive this season.”

Rudi Horvat Cup games begin at 8.30am on Sunday at Soccer Park, with Senior Women on the pitch from 1.20pm, and Senior Men from 1.40pm.