New Lambton coach Tom Davies says his club hold no fears about the return of promotion-relegation as he prepares them for their NPL men's debut in 2023.
The Golden Eagles will become the 12th club in the Northern NSW NPL men's competition, which is set to feature movement to and from the second-division Northern League One from 2024.
While the details of the system's return are yet to be determined, the new-look Northern NSW Football board have this month promised it will be back after next season.
South Cardiff, who were wooden spooners in 2015, were the last club to be relegated from the NPL. Valentine were promoted for 2016, before the system was abandoned because of concerns about the lack of NPL compliant clubs in the second tier.
Lake Macquarie then Cooks Hill have been added, based on meeting a criteria, to the NPL in the time since. A decoupling of the NPL youth from the senior competitions announced this year has paved the way for the return of a results-based promotion-relegation system.
It means senior clubs like Cooks Hill and New Lambton will be battling for survival in just their third and second NPL seasons respectively, while their youth teams' position will hinge on their own performances.
Davies said it was "good to have a year's grace, especially for the younger players" for the NPL seniors in 2023 but he welcomed the challenge of promotion-relegation in 2024.
"The promotion and relegation, I don't think that's going to scare us at all," Davies said. "I think the club and myself would be happy to see that come in.
"I think it's really good for the environment in Newcastle, and that's why we've pushed really hard with what's going with the youth as well. The club was really behind that and that there's opportunities for clubs who do get the right group of players together, they can get the success they want.
"The first year is just about getting our culture and our environment right. The year after, in the end it's about playing the better football. Those that don't will suffer the consequences, which I think is good for the NPL and second division as well."
New Lambton entered the second tier in 2017 and have won the past three premierships, all under Davies.
The coach is backing his line-up from last season, with the NPL additions so far of Kent Harrison, Louis Townsend (Olympic), Kai Bradley (Jaffas) and Sam Maxwell (Edgeworth), to be competitive in 2023.
"Next year is obviously a massive challenge in terms of going up that next level," he said.
"The boys are really excited and we're really excited in terms of what we're trying to build as a squad. Obviously we're conscious that we do need to bring in a couple of players, we're looking to strengthen with four or five and retain the core group we've built the last couple of years.
"We're really looking to give those players the opportunity to play at NPL level. It's what a lot of them have been aspiring to the last couple of seasons. Most of them are around that 24-25 age group, with some younger boys in and around that, and in the end we'll have a very competitive, strong squad for where we are at for the first year."
Davies won't target a position on the ladder in 2023 but believed they could follow in the footsteps of Cooks Hill's debut, where they finished ninth with six wins and three draws.
"I want to be competitive and we want to be pushing those teams around the bottom to middle third and really be pushing the top teams as well in the games," he said.
"That's the biggest challenge, to make sure you are in every game, which I think Cooks Hill did. They were in pretty much every game last year, except maybe one or two.
"For me it's about getting the right building blocks on the park and thinking 'what's that look like in a year or two?' But for here and now, the players are pretty ambitious in what they want to achieve.
"We won't put any position on that, but come the start of the season, we'll see how we are going as a group."
Davies, 29, will be a fresh face in the NPL coaching ranks. A high school teacher, he moved to the Hunter from Tasmania about six years ago. His playing career, which took in stints in the Victorian and Tasmanian NPLs, was cut short by injury at age 23.
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