Sound of Thunder

By Stuart Teather
A NEW coach, a swag of new players and most importantly a new division — Dandenong Thunder is a new-look club.
The Thunder won a promotion to the Victorian Premier League (VPL) after finishing second in division one in 2008, and the club is looking to consolidate its position in Victoria’s top soccer league in season 2009.
New coach Stuart Munro has come on board and he brings a wealth of soccer knowledge to the club.
Munro played professionally in his native Scotland for over a decade, with most of his time spent at Scottish Premier League side the Rangers.
He moved to Australia in 1997, has been involved in a number of clubs since then, and has been at Oakleigh for the past three seasons.
He said there had been plenty of challenges since coming on board at Dandenong.
“We spoke when I first joined the club about becoming a more professional club, becoming a premier league club,” he said.
“I wanted to put a bit of a stronger infrastructure in place in regards to the coaching staff and the medical department, and the whole off-field side of things.
“It’s difficult because I didn’t see a lot of (the players) last year, but we’ve done about three-and-a-half months pre-season … during that time I’ve had a chance to assess them.”
Munro has brought in a swag of new players to the club, including Sam Bailey, James Thomas and Jack Hingert from the UK.
He also picked up two UK players from division one club Southern Stars in Aron Wilford and Colin Quirk.
Quirk was a standout for the Stars in 2008, and was a major factor in the side’s huge winning streak in the second half of the season.
“Colin caught the eye and obviously Aron as a defender as well,” Munro said.
“I just thought the two of them were above the first division at the time, obviously I was pleased they were both still in Australia when I was putting together the Dandenong Thunder squad.”
As for how the season will unfold, Munro was optimistic about his side’s chances.
“I don’t know how good or bad we’re going to be, that’s something the first three or four games will help me see.
“I think we’re going to be competitive; I don’t think we’ll run away with it at the top of the league, and hopefully we won’t be struggling at the bottom.”