Following the decision of former premiership winning coach Stuart Beedie to step away from the game at the end of last season, Port were forced to make a change at the top heading into the 2017 campaign.

And it wasn’t long before the club had secured the services 2015 league championship winning coach Noel Spencer.

Spencer had been on the market after leaving the Fury at the end of 2015 and says joining Port was an easy decision to make. 

“Port has a proud history and they want to be successful so it was the sort of club I want to be involved in,” he said.

“They have got ambition and want to promote youth. That is everything I want to do as a coach.

“This year our average age would be 23-24. It’s a very youthful side, a very mobile side.

“We want to play a decent brand of football that will hopefully bring back some of the old faithful to Port Kembla this year.”

The off-season saw experienced defenders Peter Richardson and Robbie Brown depart while Japanese attacker Takao Terramoto also took the exit door.

But Port have brought in plenty of reinforcements, most of which cater to Spencer’s more youthful approach.

Justin Ivanovic, Blake McGinn and Ben Zucco have all arrived from the Wolves, with Kody Maude, Brad Jardine, Kyle Hazebroek-Southgate and Chris Smith also new additions.

Spencer, whose brother Jason will be an assistant, was happy with the squad the club had assembled and was setting the bar high across all three grades for the season. 

“We want to be competing for every trophy on offer,” Spencer said. “As a goal we want to get all three grades in the semi finals, depending how things go as the season rolls on, we can reassess but that’s definitely the goal.

“For me, it is all about the club and not just first grade so I want all three grades in the finals.”

After last weekend’s round one wash-out, Port will open their season at Wetherall Park on Sunday. The club will celebrate their annual pizza and pasta day on the afternoon against Wollongong United side which is expected to challenge for the silverware this season. 

“United have recruited quite well so we know it will be a difficult challenge,” Spencer said.

“It is a good day for the club with the pizza and pasta day on down there, but with our young side we are looking to put a bit of an upset in.”

In Saturday’s matches, Picton Rangers will host Albion Park White Eagles, Wollongong Olympic meet Corrimal Rangers, Tarrawanna face South Coast United while Woonona play Bulli on the club’s Old Boys Day.

Kemblawarra Fury are up against Cringila on Sunday. 

The Fury are playing their second match in the space for a week after beating Gosford City 4-2 in their round 4  FFA Cup clash on Wednesday night.