When Luke Wilkshire sat down to assemble his Wollongong Wolves squad for this year's NSW Men's National Premier League, he targeted one particular characteristic. Hunger.
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Players could have all the talent in the world, but if they didn't have the drive to do everything possible to help their team win, they were not welcome in Wollongong.
Now, as the Wolves prepare to lift the premiers trophy on Sunday, it's clear Wilkshire hit the mark when he recruited the likes of Lachlan Scott, Guy Knight and Harry Callahan.
"Hunger," Wilkshire said. "Hunger. The biggest thing bringing these guys together was we wanted players who were hungry. Players who wanted to work, players who wanted to improve and players who wanted to win. And we've got that.
"The squad's full of players who are good enough to step up to the next level and are hungry. They come to training straight from work and they want to get on the pitch, they want to improve.
"That's what makes it enjoyable for me, we've got players like that, they're so committed, so hungry, even after a long day's work, they want to get out on the field and train.
"I've pushed them hard, but I wanted to, and I told them I would. I want these players to be the best they can be and now they're getting the rewards for the hard work they've put in."
Knight and Callahan found their way to the Wolves via their championship success at Bulli, the pair helping the side break the club's 32-year championship drought in last year's Illawarra Premier League grand final.
For Callahan, the step up from the local league to the Wolves was a natural progression.
"It was always the goal," Callahan said. "To use the IPL as a stepping stone to move on to a higher level. I'm hoping to do the same with the NPL, keep moving forward.
"It's a good competition the Illawarra competition, people underestimate it a little bit, they think it's a bit of a walk in the park, but it's a good standard of football.
"You can tell with me, Knighty, Takeru (Okada), we've all fit in pretty good, it just goes to show what can happen in the future for others looking to do the same."
Knight agrees his time at Bulli laid the platform for a successful year in the NPL, with the midfielder featuring in all 21 matches for the Wolves this year.
Having had so much success, it could be easy for the hunger that caught Wilkshire's eye to wane, but Knight said the squad is determined to finish off the season in winning fashion.
"Every game we play, we want to win," Knight said. "It will be no different this weekend. Hopefully we can have a big crowd to watch another win.
"After this week, we have the Sydney FC match, which will be a real test against the best team in the country. It comes at a good time for us, we're in good form, everyone's keen for the match.
"Then we have finals, we'll take that no different to any other game. We know we can beat everyone, we've proved that, so we'll be confident."
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