NORTHERN Storm FC have enjoyed record numbers at pre-season training ahead of their Australia Cup clash against Westlawn Tigers in Grafton on Sunday 19 February.

A colossal 57 players have been through trials and training in anticipation of the 2023 NCF Premier League and the Australia Cup.

Despite encouraging results in pre-season, Northern Storm co-coach Cariag Caruana is taking nothing for granted.

“Pre-season has been good, they’ve been working hard and getting stuck-in with focus,” he said.

“To date, we’ve been averaging about 35 players per session and as many as 42 on one night.

“We’ve had over 57 different players training and trialling, so that’s pretty good numbers.”

After three seasons in the Coastal Premier League, the Northern Storm have eluded the Westlawn Tigers who have played in the Clarence and Northern Leagues.

“They are an unknown quantity, I’m sure it will be a decent game,” said Craig.

“There’s a lot of good footballers that come out of Grafton and we’ve had a couple come down here in the last few years.

“We know they produce quality, we’re sure of that.

“We’ve picked up a lot of experience after three years in the Coastal Premier League, hopefully that works in our favour.

“We must be good from the start and make sure we pick up where we left off.”

Caruana played down their 7-0 win against Maclean FC last week.

“Last week was just a trial, it doesn’t really mean much, it gets real this weekend.

“We are putting in the hard work, we started our training with a run, the balls went away so we could focus on fitness.

This weekend is no different, we must start again and earn the right to play our football.”

Kick-off is 3pm on Sunday 19 February at Barnier Park, Grafton.

By David WIGLEY