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Subscriber only Mackay product Denzel Bobongie says he wouldn t want to play for any other NPL Queensland side than his hometown Magpies Crusaders. The 17 year old is entering year two in coach Tom Ballantyne s senior squad and is eager to add to his two NPL Queensland caps from last season. It was something of a trial by fire for the talented teenager - thrown into the thick of the action against perennial powerhouse clubs Peninsula Power and Brisbane Strikers. But the midfielder showed enough in his cameos off the bench for Ballantyne to see a bright future in the promising number eight.
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Magpies Crusaders coach Tom Ballantyne feels his squad is âsix months aheadâ of where it was this time last year following Saturday nightâs interclub hitout at Magpies.
The state league club pit the senior squad against its best youth players in an in-house contest that left all involved feeling positive about the clubâs 2021 prospects.
âThat was really impressive tonight,â Ballantyne said in the wash.
âWe wrote four things on the board tonight: intention, effort, energy and passing. Those were the basics of what we talked about and they all came out.â
It was the first chance for new faces like Sam Skinner and Josh Addo to prove their wares in a simulated match environment and the early signs were promising.
Josh Addo will play for Magpies Crusaders next season.
Not the speedster of Melbourne Storm fame, though; rather the New Zealand-born 20 year old with dreams of one day cracking the A-League.
Mackay’s Addo shares many traits with his more famous rugby league namesake – notably a penchant for pace, power and playing with a physical presence.
He comes to Mackay via Avondale FC, where he played a key attacking role in the club’s NPL Victoria U20s set-up and managed two senior games in 2019. Magpies Crusaders recruit Josh Addo. Photo: Callum Dick
The right-footed wide man, who can also be deployed as a nine or even 10 where required, endured a turbulent 2020 as coronavirus twice postponed the NPL Victoria season.
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Subscriber only Magpies Crusaders will field a potent goalkeeper tandem in the upcoming NPL Queensland campaign after securing the signature of incumbent shotstopper Jayden Tower. The club announced Tower s return via Facebook on Monday morning. Tower was coach Tom Ballantyne s main man between the posts during Magpies Crusaders stint in the Mackay Premier League last year. He made his NPL Queensland debut against Gold Coast United early last year, before Magpies Crusaders were dumped from the restructured competition following a COVID-19 induced break. The club has since recaptured former starter Willem Lejeune to be the lead man on its return to the state league set-up but in Tower, Ballantyne has a more than capable back-up.