Coniston coach Rob Jonovski has turned to a familiar face in a bid to win an Illawarra Premier League title, with star striker Van Elia joining the roster for their 2022 campaign.
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"Cono" were the fairytale side in this year's IPL, jumping up from 10th in 2020 to second before the season was cut short due to COVID.
Now, Jonovski hopes the injection of Elia into their attack will help them go to the next level. The pair helped orchestrate Corrimal's 2019 grand final victory and Elia is set to be reunited with former teammates Lukas Stergiou, Sam Matthews and Jason Zufic at Coniston.
Elia departed Corrimal in late 2020 to pursue an opportunity with the Wollongong Wolves, before returning to the IPL with Wollongong Olympic mid-season.
"I've worked with Van a lot over the years and I'm happy he's come back to work under me again," Jonovski said.
"It's no big secret that Van and I have a very close relationship, off the pitch as well. He understands what I'm about and he needs to work hard next year. I've been speaking to him and he's hungry for next year to start.
"I first met him when I was at the (Kemblawarra) Fury years ago and he came across with us to Corrimal. He had that stint with the Wolves last season and then with Olympic, now he's back with me next year."
Complementing Elia's signing are the additions of Tobias Norval and Tyson Black next season. Norval was runner-up in the IPL's 2020 George Naylor Medal while representing Cringila, before moving to Corrimal last season, while Black has shown great promise in recent years at Tarrawanna.
"I've been watching Tobias over the past couple of years and I think he's a fantastic player," Jonovski said.
"In the first game we played against Corrimal this year he was a standout. The guy likes to play ball to feet, which is very similar style to what I want our players to do as well. He's a fantastic guy off the pitch as well. He's strong, he's energetic and a very talented kid. He had other options to go elsewhere but he chose Cono, and I'm happy that he believes in what we do over here.
"We've also now signed Tyson, who is a young gun. I think he's going to excel at Cono with the midfield we'll have around him."
Coniston have also retained a core group of their talent with the likes of Stergiou, Matthews, Zufic, Jake Morlando, Kaydin Harrison, Adam Voloder, Connor O'Neill and Taka Kayano recommitting to the club.
However, Tomohito Fuijeda is preparing to join Victorian club Preston Lions; Anthony Krsteski, Michael Mendes and Steven Ugrinovski have left in pursuit of more game time at Cringila, while Dylan Perlowski and Matt Tschentscher are also set to leave Coniston.
"Our priority was to retain first and foremost, and then strengthen the squad. But we've also lost a few players as well," Jonovski said.
"We were a surprise packet for a lot of people this year, but not me. My squads over the past few years have shown that we're very competitive. I was happy with the way we kicked on this year, we were in the title race.
"One thing we spoke about in pre-season was earning the respect of the league and we achieved that this year. But we need to work hard and we'll be very competitive again next year."
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