Talk is cheap if you don’t want to back it up.
And Coffs Coast Tigers have so far managed to back up their pre-season talk of continued improvement which could leave them as the only club yet to be beaten after three rounds of the Coastal Premier League Men’s competition.
It would take a few Easter Miracles for that to happen – Bellingen would need to be upset by seventh-placed Sawtell and Port United would have to have a slip-up at Kempsey – but football can be a funny game.
“I absolutely flogged the boys in the pre-season and told them last season means nothing if we don’t perform this season,” Tigers coach Luke Stow said.
“It’s just a splash in the water. Consistency is what we’re aiming for and it shows they actually believe it because this year we’ve started off pretty well.”
Coffs Coast will have their most difficult assignment of the season when they tackle Coffs City United on Tuesday, but the coach was looking forward to the challenge.
If he had his way, he’d play the competition heavyweights every week.
“I don’t think it matters to me when we play them, honestly, I like the challenge and I want every game to be difficult,” Stow said.
“As much as it’s good to win 8-0 and 9-0, I’d rather win 1-0 or 2-0 because it means we’ve earned it.”
And while the Tigers roared to a 5-0 win over Sawtell last weekend, the bar has been raised again.
“Even after the performance on the weekend, which was one of the best I’ve seen us play in a while, I was still looking to improve in the change rooms and the boys were quite shocked,” Stow said.
“But I think they get it and that’s the best thing. Every time they get to where I want them to be, I want them to improve again and they keep stepping up.
“It was between eight and 10 games last year that we were undefeated so we’ve continued that trend.”
The Coastal Premier League Men’s Easter fixtures kick off on Thursday where Macleay Valley host Port United and Southern United take on Taree Wildcats.
Boambee travel to Korora on Easter Monday where they face Northern Storm, Sawtell take on Bellingen and Kempsey Saints host Port Saints.
The Tigers and Lions wrap up the round on Tuesday 19 April on the synthetics.
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