Crookwell aim to continue strong run upon season return

Prior to the beginning of the lockdown on August 15, Crookwell had collected four straight wins in the Southern Tablelands Football Association regular season, along with a win, a draw, and their solitary loss in this period in the combined STFA and Highlands Soccer Association Champions Shield.

Crookwell player, Nick Harrop, said this streak began after the team had identified which patterns contributed to their success and focused on turning them into habits.

"We knew what our good performances looked like and felt like," Harrop said.

"We knew the habits that were features of those games that we needed to replicate to have good performances more consistently.

"Knowing the things you need to play well and actually executing them are two different things, but I think the fact that we were conscious of what we needed to do to get the best out of ourselves helped."

The future of the competition is uncertain, but the STFA has expressed its desire to complete the season if possible after the lockdowns have ended.

It has now been two and a half weeks since Crookwell took to the field, which Harrop believes will make it difficult to recapture their form.

"I think it will stifle our momentum a bit," he said.

"Going back to the long weekend in June, we had a bye, a couple of cancelled games due to weather, and coronavirus scares, so we'd only just gotten back into it with four games in three weeks.

"We definitely didn't need another break."

Though it will be a significant challenge for the side to remain fit in the interim, particularly without the motivation of training together as a team, Harrop believes the Crookwell players will be more than ready to return to the field mentally when their forced hiatus ends.

"I think we'll come back and we'll be good to go," he said.

"We know what we need to do and we'll be motivated to do it. Fitness will definitely be an issue, but it will be for all teams."

The longer the lockdown continues, the less likely it is that the STFA will be able to finish the regular season. If the season goes directly into finals upon return, it will be a trial by fire for Crookwell against the top teams in the competition.

"We'll be lucky to finish in third place," Harrop said.

"We had a tougher run home than a lot of our opposition, and we had an extra game on top of that. So we're in a position where we're a bit higher up on the table than what our overall season reflected.

"From that point of view, we've got that underdog status and I think that'll take a bit of pressure off us."

The STFA has promised to provide updates about the status of this year's competition as soon as they are available.

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