Open the champagne: Dapto Dandaloo captain Alvin Ceccoli receives the Illawarra Premier League grand final trophy from FFA officials after Ceccoli's side won the grand final 3-1 over Bulli. Picture: ANDY ZAKELI
Treble-winning skipper Alvin Ceccoli urged Dapto Dandaloo's young stars to remain at the club while Bulli's coach Ben Smith admitted he wouldn't stand in the way of his players if they yearned for higher honours.
Moments after hoisting the Illawarra Premier League grand final trophy aloft for a fourth straight time - three times with the old Dandaloo and this year under the merged Fury entity - Ceccoli said he would love to see the club's youth grade players pushing for first-team spots.
"We've got a great youth team and quite a few of those guys got an opportunity to play [first grade this year]," the former Socceroo said.
"The smart thing for them would be to stick around because there's a few of us that are getting a bit long in the tooth."
Having pushed competition heavyweights Dapto Dandaloo all the way in the league only to lose on goal difference, Bulli's young stars couldn't match the Fury in a 3-1 grand final loss on Saturday night.
When pressed on the ability of his side to improve next season, Smith said the club wouldn't stand in an individual's way if they decided to leave for greener pastures.
"I'd like to keep all the players and I think all the players enjoy playing here," Smith said. "But if they want to go to a higher level then they go with our blessing. All we've been focused on is the season now and we'll worry about that in the next few weeks.
"If you look at our season we haven't really reflected because we've been on the up and on the go up until [Saturday].
"But now we can look back and it's been an excellent season."
Man of the match Sam Munro, who won the Scott Chipperfield medal for a second straight year, said whatever personnel the Fury had at their disposal next term they will be pushing for a clean sweep of trophies at a local level.
"This year we've pretty much done everything as a new club," he said.
"Everything was against us and we came through in the last game [on Saturday]."