Teen stars to propel North’s promotion push

NORTH Geelong Warriors director of football Josip Skoko is confident the club’s conveyer belt of junior talent will have it in the mix for NPL promotion this season.

The 51-cap Socceroo said he sees a bright future for his home club ahead of the NPL2 season start later this month, with a host of talented youngsters poised to push their claims for senior selection as the club aims for a lofty finish.

Skoko’s son Noah and Daniel Gudasic are among the teenage stars that could “feature heavily” in North’s push to reach the state’s top tier.

Luke Zivcic, Luka Volerevic and Kai Williams are other under-18 eligible players earmarked for a tilt at the NPL2 club’s senior side this season.

“There are five or six boys who are really high quality, who played in the under 16s last year who we think will be pushing for senior game time,” Skoko said.

“The majority of these boys were in my under-16s side last year, so it’s really great to see them transition to senior teams, which is not easy.

“We’ve kept most of the players from last year, our young players have another year of training and development under their belt. We’re not their to make up the numbers, we really want to have a crack at this league and aim for a top-four finish. We think we have the players for it.”

Typically, the top two teams from Victoria’s NPL2 division earn promotion to the top tier; but this year’s promotion intake remains unclear, after COVID halted plans to expand the NPL1 league.

North Geelong was seventh in its 12-team division, with 18 points from 14 matches, in 2021 until COVID-19 lockdowns cut the season short.

Striker Caleb Mikulic headlines the club’s signings for 2022 after crossing from top-division mainstay Melbourne Knights.

Mikulic scored four goals in 22 league appearances during the past two interrupted seasons, after returning from a stint playing at Vienna, Austria.

Mikulic started his Warriors career in fine style, scoring important goals to help North Geelong lift the Geelong Community Cup last month.

The new striker netted in the semi-final alongside Noah Skoko in the 2-0 semi-final win over Corio, and scored the winner in the final against arch-rivals Geelong SC, sealing a 2-1 victory.

The Warriors have geared up for with a string of strong pre-season results, with the Cup win followed by win against A-League club Western United’s under-23 outfit.

The Warriors kick off their 2022 season on March 19 away to Northcote City, before an opening home game the following week against Moreland Zebras.