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News.com.au
14 minutes ago
- News.com.au
Experienced goalkeeper Dean Bouzanis returns to A-League to join Brisbane Roar
New Brisbane Roar goalkeeper Dean Bouzanis is adamant he has nothing to prove in his return to the A-League after a disappointing season in England. Bouzanis, 34, is back in Australia after a five-year stint in the UK that included spells with Sutton United, Reading, Stevenage and Charlton. The 2024-25 campaign proved to be the toughest for Bouzanis, who made just one appearance for the entire season while on loan to Stevenage from Reading. In February, he parted ways with Reading via mutual consent to sign a short-term deal with League One (third-tier) club Charlton, where he warmed the bench during his two-month stint. 'Last (season) was a bit difficult for myself due to circumstances out of my control, but playing in England, I've learnt a lot,' Bouzanis said on Monday after his first Roar training session. 'I've played a lot of games over there. It's cut-throat, it's an industry where you have to win, there are no excuses, so I feel I can bring my experiences that I've learnt over there back to the A-League.' Bouzanis, who also had two previous spells in the UK and was once on the books of Liverpool, had made the decision in 2020 to return to Britain – following a stint with Melbourne City – to be with his then partner, current Matildas captain Steph Catley. The pair later become engaged but the relationship ended last year. Bouzanis would not comment on the split, instead preferring to focus on what he wanted to achieve with the Roar. 'I'll just let my football do the talking.' he said. 'I've played a lot of games overseas. I've come back, I want to enjoy my football, I want to do the best I can and give everything I can. 'For me it's about coming into work every day with a smile on my face, and doing the best I can in order to perform at the highest level. 'I'm coming back not just to settle, but I want to win.' Sydney-born Bouzanis will take over as Brisbane's first-choice goalkeeper from Matt Acton, who wasn't offered a new deal by the club despite impressing during the latter stages of last season. Macklin Freke, who has another season to run on his Brisbane contract, will be Bouzanis' deputy. Bouzanis, a former Australian under-20 and under-23 representative, has been reunited in Brisbane with new Roar coach, former Melbourne City mentor Michael Valkanis. 'He's a very detailed coach, and has very high standards. He won't shy away from it. He knows what he wants, he plays an attacking style of football, and an aggressive style of football that's exciting to watch,' Bouzanis said of Valkanis. 'It's a lot of hard work, but it's an enjoyable style of play.'
News.com.au
an hour ago
- News.com.au
Port Adelaide's Willie Rioli nearly walked away from the game during fallout from player threat ban
Port Adelaide forward Willie Rioli has revealed he almost quit the game after being caught sending threats to opposition players but he's stayed to continue to champion the cause of indigenous players. Rioli was suspended for a game in May and hit with fines after revelations of a social media threat to Western Bulldogs defender Bailey Dale with a further two instances of similar aggression to opponents coming to light. He earned support from Port chairman, David Koch, who suggestion Rioli was subjected to 'culturally insensitive' remarks, which was shot down by the Bulldogs in a war of words between the two clubs. It was putting Port in the spotlight for the wrong reasons, and the fallout from the incident moved Rioli to contemplate walking away. 'Definitely it gets to a point where it's a bit too much sometimes,' Rioli told Port's club podcast, Peeled. 'And yeah I have spoken to my manager and the club a couple of times about walking away from the game, which I am not shy to talk about. 'More so ... trying to not be putting any more pressure on the club. Get them out of the spotlight as well, in terms of not have to deal with my issues so much as a person off-field.' Remarkably, Rioli even said he took a 'bit of the blame' for a drop off in indigenous player numbers, a feeling dating back to copping an 18-month suspension for tampering with his marijuana-tainted urine sample while at West Coast. 'I do hold a bit of blame myself a little bit for some of the stuff I have been through, in terms of clubs not trusting Indigenous players,' he said, declaring righting that wrong, and improving perceptions was why he's still playing. 'I felt that was my driver to come back to footy ... be the light in terms of 'we can go through this'. 'I look at the drop in terms of Indigenous players in the competition ... that gives me the motivation to stick around longer, to help the next generation do better than what we are doing or what I am doing. 'I want the next (Indigenous) generation to be better than what we are right now. 'And I want them to have their confidence to make mistakes and not be judged by their mistakes.'
News.com.au
an hour ago
- News.com.au
Muswellbrook, Goulburn Tuesday preview: Winx and you'll miss it
Kind of. Enter Wayne Wilkes ' home-bred first-starter Bellerata. Granted, Bellerata was foaled 10 years after Winx arrived but her own dam, Uratta Belle, wasn't just a contemporary of Winx, she was once a rival. Housed on the Central Coast by Kylie Gavenlock, Uratta Belle was sent out a $4.40 favourite in the IBIS Milano Restaurant Handicap (1100m) at Warwick Farm on June 4, 2014. Try as she might, Uratta Belle finished a distant third to one of Chris Waller 's debutantes, namely, Winx. On Tuesday at Muswellbrook it will be the turn of Uratta Belle's second foal, Bellerata, to make her racetrack debut in the Godolphin Maiden Plate over 1000m. Bellerata was among the 116 foals from the first crop of Greg Hickman's All Aged Stakes winner Pierata. Wilkes' filly has trialled twice, finishing third of four in a December 30 heat at Taree before resurfacing at Port Macquarie on June 24 to clock in a close second of the half dozen runners. 'She has just got to do things right in the race,'' Wilkes said. 'She did a little bit wrong in her trial so I am just looking for a good educational run. 'She is a nice filly but she is still probably a bit young in the head too.' It may not be too long again before Wilkes is back in Sydney on a Highway quest. The Taree master is eager to test his handy chestnut Tanglewood Jimmy in another Highway after his barnstorming fourth in his first Highway back on Spring Champion Stakes day, 2024. Tanglewood Jimmy gets the job done with the big weight! ðŸ'° @Wilkes_Racing — SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) November 17, 2024 'I would like to find a nice 1600m Highway for the next start would be ideal,'' Wilkes says. 'Jimmy's' immediate mission will be Tuesday's Arrowfield Class 3 Handicap (1450m). It will be the horse's second run in 2025, the best part of a month after his eye-catching third at Muswellbrook in a 1280m Benchmark 66. 'I was very happy with him,'' Wilkes said. 'He was probably a little bit on the fat side first-up but still found the line. 'The 1400m will suit him, it's just if he gets the right run.' Both Bellerata and Tanglewood Jimmy will be steered on Tuesday by Wilkes' talented apprentice jockey/daughter Shae, whose tally of winners has reached 60 in quick time, with 23 of those wins are shared with her father. Trainer Wilkes' third and final runner on the Muswellbrook card today is Sheila's Fanta Sea who boasts a tidy CV of two wins, three seconds and two thirds. Sheila's Fanta Sea will no doubt find Tuesday's assignment decidedly easier than her last start when pitched against all-comers from around the state in a 1200m Class 3 TAB Highway at Royal Randwick. 'She just goes up a little bit in weight but she comes back to the country,'' Wilkes said. 'I nominated her for Scone as well on Friday and this is quite a tough race but I don't expect Scone to be much easier. 'She's had a couple of goes at Scone and hasn't done well there, whereas she has placed twice at Muswellbrook the only times she's been there.' Sheila's Fanta Sea boasts a fascinating pedigree. Her fifth dam is none other than Sweet Embrace who still holds the somewhat dubious honour of being the longest priced winner of the Golden Slipper. The Jack and Bob Ingham owned daughter of inaugural Golden Slipper winner Todman was sent out at 40/1 when successfully shedding her maiden status in the 1967 renewal. â– â– â– â– â– Cleary wants a win for 'Uncle Gerry' Trainer Joe Cleary aims to deliver the man he affectionately knows as 'Uncle Gerry' a parting gift when blue-blooded mare Juliette's Joy makes what could very well be her final racetrack appearance on Tuesday. Juliette's Joy was bred by Gerry Harvey and foaled down in New Zealand. Not only is she a daughter of New Zealand's nine-times Champion Stallion Savabeel, she is from the same family as the Harvey-bred 2003 Golden Slipper winner Polar Success. 'The wet track won't worry her, she is rock hard fit, 2100m – there's more positives than negatives,'' Cleary says. 'I have taken the blinkers off her, she's just been getting a little bit revvy with the hoods on so hopefully she can just get back and relax and find the best part of the track. 'And I think that will be it for her on Tuesday. I think she heads home after (today). 'She's been a ripper. She really cops her work and she enjoys her work and her racing but it is that time of the year when Uncle Gerry wants his mares home and I think she'll be one of them.' 'Uncle Gerry' can reciprocate by handing Cleary a present of his own should the in-form Pretty Vegas cash in on Tuesday. A daughter of Exosphere, Pretty Vegas made her way to Cleary's Queanbeyan HQ from Harvey's Baramul Stud in the Hunter Valley via Adelaide when offered at the 2021 Magic Millions. 'She is super consistent,'' Cleary said. 'I just thought I would stay away from Saturday's Highway and try and find her a confidence booster and I think I've found the right race for her on Tuesday. ' Keagan (Latham) seems to ride her really well, they seem to have clicked, and she carries weight okay. 'An outside barrier won't be a hindrance with the way the track is going to play, so it is probably a bonus drawn out to be honest, and she has trained on well since her good effort in the Highway (June 21). The Canberra Raiders tragic will also saddle-up stablemates Pick A Symphony and Crazy Atom. 'Pick A Symphony has still got his L-Plates but he is going to be a nice horse,'' Cleary said. 'Crazy Atom is screaming out of a bit of a journey and a bit of juice in the track and she is going to get both.'
