sport, local-sport, Rockdale City FC, Sutherland Sharks, Sydney FC, NPL, Paul Reid

There is no room for sentiment for Rockdale City player-coach Paul Reid when his side begin their NPL 1 campaign against Sydney FC on Saturday night. Reid played the final season of his distinguished career with Sydney FC in 2013 before joining the Suns where he became player-coach in 2015, taking over from Branko Culina. The midfielder, capped twice by Australia, has also been employed as a community football officer with the Sky Blues for almost four years. His connection with both clubs has given each a place in Reid’s heart, but there will be no split loyalties at Lambert Park, Leichhardt. “When it comes to football I’m a Rockdale player and that’s at the forefront of my mind,” he said. “We had a bit of a laugh about it with [Sydney FC coaches] Robbie Stanton and David Zdrilic in the off-season. But when we cross that line on Saturday it will be all about getting the three points for Rockdale." Rockdale have retained most of the players that many believe underachieved in finishing fourth last season but the Suns have also added quality to their squad. Along with the capture of former Asian Champions League winner and Socceroo goalkeeper Ante Covic, Rockdale have signed Jordan Figon from local rivals Sutherland, Sydney Olympic pair Harris Gaitatzis and Brayden Forge and prolific Blacktown City under-20s striker Jordan Grozdanovski. Reid is adamant fighting for the title will be the only acceptable outcome this season. “I’m not going to deflect from it. There are a lot of expectations to be up there at the end of the year and a lot of pressure on us,” he said. “Last season was only my first full season and Matt Ribarovski and I have sort of built this team together. We did have a good team last year and I think under-performed in finishing where we did. We all knew we could finish a lot higher. “But we’ve definitely got a stronger team than last year and all the players want to finish on top. And if we’re not thinking like that then we probably shouldn’t be playing.” Kick-off is at 7.45pm. Meanwhile, Sutherland will host Manly United in their opening game at Seymour Shaw Park, Miranda on Saturday night. Kick-off is at 6.30pm.

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No split loyalties for Rockdale City Suns coach Paul Reid in 2017 NPL 1 season opener against Sydney FC Andrew Parkinson