It was not too long ago current Wolves left-back Walter Scott was plying his trade in the professional A-League competition with teams Perth, Wellington and Macarthur, as well as obtaining a hand-full of appearances for the Young Socceroos and with his current form at the Wolves in the semi-professional NPL NSW competition, he may be not too far from reaching those heights once more.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The signing of left-back Scott and the re-signing of right-back Marcus Beattie meant new coach David Carney could play the way he wanted to play with the Wolves and that is with marauding full-backs that dictate football matches.
So far in the Wolves first two matches, this plan has been very evident. And despite Beattie also playing well, Scott has completely stood out. In the Wolves draw and win to start the season against APIA and Sutherland respectively, Scott has bagged two assists and even won a penalty for his side against the Sharks.
His performances have not gone unnoticed and Scott himself admits that he is enjoying playing football again heading into the Wolves' Friday night fixture against Marconi.
"I've been saying to a couple of my mates and people that have watched me for a long time that I haven't played this with sort of confidence in a long while," he told the Mercury.
"Sort of since I was around the Aussie set-up as a young 17, 18-year-old and really knocking on the door of the first team at Perth Glory [have I been in such good form]. But for myself I just haven't really had this much fun in a long time so that's really the main thing for me. Just winning games is what keeps everything fun.
"It could be a very different answer next week depending on the result but I just think we're really focused on Marconi and we had good sessions during the week and I'm feeling good about it we just need to turn up with all guns blazing again," Scott said.
The 23-year-old also attributed his great form down to his teammates, saying that due to the nature of the closeness of the group, it makes it much easier to play his own game and that everyone knew their jobs on the pitch.
He added the confidence he had in bombing forward as a full-back was boosted by some of the side's defensive rocks behind him.
"At the moment I'm filled with confidence and lots of enjoyment when I'm playing," he said.
"My timing and my link up with a few of the boys has been really easy. The boys are putting it away in the box which is cool and I'm getting a few assists. Most importantly the clean sheet on the weekend [against Sutherland] was paramount for us. So it's good and I'm just really enjoying it so far.
"You just have so much confidence around you and everyone runs so boxed-off in their roles that it gives you that freedom to express yourself and go and do your thing going forward because you know 'Chrissy' [Chris McStay] and 'Sammy' [Samuel Riak] as well as on my side [of defence] Banri [Kanaizumi] too are all so strong and that's one of our main strengths as a team is sort of knowing our roles and working for each other because we're all such great mates and hopefully it just keeps on building and getting better as we continue to go on through the season."
With an eye on the upcoming fixture against the Stallions, Scott added the side knew what they would be up against.
"You know what you're going to get against Marconi," he said.
"They have a great history, they play to their strengths and it is a bit of a long game and they like to stretch stuff. They're very physical and they're good at the dark arts of football and I really respect that. It's something that we could probably improve on in our game. The message from the 'gaffer' is just to play our game, don't over-complicate things and then put our chances away. I think it's hard for teams to go with us for 90 minutes.
"The first two games [of the season] were very different from each other but we've sort of been able to go about our business quietly which is good.
"We were disappointed with that first game obviously but to come away with points in the first round is always important and especially against APIA. And then the second round you really saw us put together a performance that was longer than 45 minutes and that has set us up well for this Friday basically. It is really becoming evident how exciting and challenging the season is going to be."
We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say.
Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on the Illawarra Mercury website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. Sign up for a subscription here.
To read more stories, download the Illawarra Mercury news app in the Apple Store or Google Play.
Jordan Warren
Illawarra Mercury sports journalist. Feel free to get in touch jordan.warren@austcommunitymedia.com.au.
Illawarra Mercury sports journalist. Feel free to get in touch jordan.warren@austcommunitymedia.com.au.
