Declaration Of Intent
It would be an especially businesslike season-closing dinner for the year, held at the Grilled Birds clubhouse with their reclaimed Ruby Challenger Cup on display. Head coach
Dan Alstani made it clear that he had set his sights higher, though, as he referenced his team's ongoing record winning streak in his address.
"They say to strike when the iron is hot - and to me, it's practically melting now!"
Indeed, the Birds squad has been acknowledged as being at its strongest in decades, what with most of their stars hitting their prime. The concern has been whether they will be able to make the most of it in the next few years, as assistant coach Abdul bin Jantan emphasized. "I've seen some very promising Grilled teams in my time, that never quite fulfilled their potential. The current collection of players is amongst our most well-balanced ever, so let us see if they can make that final step."
The decision for Grilled Birds Player of the Season was basically between
Chia Kwang Tse and
Chad Thach, with the former eventually selected over the Golden Boot winner for his inspirational behaviour separating essentially-identical goal records.
Ananda Hettiarachchi did draw special mention from Alstani, for his indispensable role in the team's overall functioning.
"He should be first on the teamsheet." Chia agreed. "We are just a different team without Ananda."
The Birds looked to their academy for the Young Player award, eventually settling on injury-stricken defensive prodigy Mohd Azwan Hisham. The pacy sixteen year-old fullback had been desperately unlucky to spend some weeks in treatment, but his sheer natural facility when fit remained undeniable, despite those detours.
Head scout Tham Beng Li expressed his wish for Azwan to reach his full potential, diplomatically avoiding comment over the cases of Lum Chin Ming and Chok Jin Kang, whose slower-than-hoped development had oft been critiqued in the club forums. Other than Azwan, 15 year-old playmaker Brennan Dao probably drew the most anticipation, with the choice also seen as a minor slight on the showings of
Zaini Zainuddin Junaidi and
Virgil Huang in the senior squad.
Difficult seasons for Farmer Bunnies and Grilled International were not entirely bereft of bright spots, and the Buns honoured longtime Number Three
Prakash Bhujbal for his national callup and consistently solid shifts in defence amidst their major shakeup. Striker
Gan Ruogui had his admirers for largely single-handedly carrying the Buns' attack, and
Sawyer Won would have to settle for the junior version after leading the team in official starts.
Bunnies boss
Vishnu Tallapaka made it a point to encourage the lads in the Rancher Rabbits, beginning with Wan Hafiz Khaled and Willy Choe, who should be graduating very soon. Tallapaka would finally be unable to resist a call-out to son Shankar, who has by all accounts been a model citizen in the youth ranks. "He's doing okay, I hear - but he knows that there are many ahead of him."
Grilled International's relegation to the fifth division then completed the trifecta of fates, with
Sazwan bin Hj Muhd Salleh's attempted morbid joke as he took to the stage not going over too well for the audience. 36 year-old Sri Lankan goalkeeper
Darshana De Abrew was a controversial pick to say the least, which brought comments that it was more of a long service award, after a season that was best forgotten.
It did look somewhat more rosy with the youth ranks, and there was no looking past 19 year-old forward
Nabil bin Mohd Zulkhairi, who led the club with eight goals - including some brave last stands - for his second YPOTY trophy. "He deserves better." senior player
Phua Li Kong commented. "But at least it should be an easy year ahead."
