Josh Risdon and the Perth Glory have continued their pre-season campaign with a training session down at Beale Park, Spearwood to help celebrate Country Week.
With their season-opener against Adelaide United just 10 days away, Perth Glory have continued their pre-season campaign with a training session down at Beale Park, Spearwood to help celebrate Country Week.
The Glory were given a warm welcome as they went through their paces in front of hundreds of school kids, who had traveled from regional areas such as Albany, Esperance, Geraldton, Goldfields, Newman, Karratha and Peel to participate in the week-long carnival.
Young defender Josh Risdon played a lot of his junior football in Bunbury and has fond memories of Country Week.
“I’ve been to two of these carnivals – I did the Under 12’s and under 14’s,” Risdon said.
“It was great getting to come down and spend a week with your mates and play against other country towns. We won both times as well so it was good.”
“It definitely helped my football development and made me realise I wanted to play professionally. A year after the 14’s I made my decision and moved up to Perth to play with ECU Joondalup,” he added.
Following an hour-long training session which included small-sided games, skill sessions and shooting drills, the players signed shirts, posed for photos and mingled with young fans as the countdown to the start of the Hyundai A-League continued.
It’s been a long pre-season for the team but Risdon thinks the current mix of young and experienced players at Glory hold them in good shape for the start of the Hyundai A-League season, emphasised by the team’s impressive 3-0 win over Sydney FC on the weekend.
“It was great in Sydney,” Risdon said.
“We started off really well for the first half an hour and dominated the game, and ended up coming away with a 3-0 win which was a real positive result for us.”
“We have got quite a lot of young players, especially up front, who provide us with a lot of energy and will hopefully help us out this season.”
“Everything is going well – touch wood – and everyone is looking forward to the first game. It’s a shame it couldn’t be at home but I’m sure if we get two positive results away from home, it will set us up for a good start to the season.”
The Glory’s next public appearance will see it travel back up to north of the river with a player-signing session at Whitford-s Shopping Centre on Thursday night between 5-7 p.m.
