GUNNEDAH FC has put its best foot forward ahead of the 2019 Northern Inland Football first grade season with a stunning Johnson Cup performance.
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Taking on sides from across the region, Gunnedah held its own to finish the tournament in third place, behind premier league sides Oxley Vale-Attunga and Tamworth FC.
With several new faces joining the club during the off season, the annual tournament acted as a final hit out ahead of FC's first regular-season game against Quirindi FC on April 6.
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Gunnedah FC head coach Andy Cygan told the Leader the club had enjoyed a successful pre-season.
"We have probably trained about 25 times in the lead up to this season," Cygan said.
"At the moment we have more registered players than we have ever had, so hopefully we are in a good position for this season."
The club will be looking to avenge a disappointing finish to last season, with the first grade side coming up short in the grand final.
"We didn't do a hell of a lot wrong last year," Cygan said.
"It was disappointing not to come away with the win but that's in the past.
"This year we started pre-season training a lot earlier than normal and we are training twice a week, so we are really pushing this year."
Cygan said he had high hopes for both the first and reserve grade sides.
"I'd like to think we can get both teams to a grand final," he said.
"That's our aim and because of the depth of the squad this year we will be having some experienced players, such as myself, playing in our reserve grade team.
"So with that in mind and with the variety of new players we have this year, two grand finals is certainly our aim."
Gunnedah's Johnson Cup campaign gave the head-coach an insight into some of the season's potential top performers.
"We have a new guy named Duncan Thompson, who I think will be a powerhouse for us," Cygan said.
"There's young guys like Eli Rankmore and Rowan Keilor as well, and we still have Rob Prior, who in my opinion is one of the cleanest strikers around.
"Prior scored for us today [Sunday] despite carrying an injury, so hopefully he will impress for us throughout the season."
Cygan said he was looking forward to implementing a "bit of a different game structure" in round one.
"Too many times last season we were referred to as a long-ball team so I really want to focus on playing from the back," he said.
"We have worked on that and we can't wait to get into it."