Blacktown City FC ready to fire in 2025
with Matt “ Duck Man ” Austin
Blacktown City FC started the 2024 season with a blast last year . They scored a 6-3 home win against the 2023 Premiers Apia Leichardt and stunned the competition with an electrifying start . It was a bumpy ride though with a draw against St George Saints followed up with another solid 3-2 win against Sutherland Sharks in round 3 .
Mark Crittenden and his men have been working towards this for several years since the 2-0 Grand Final win against Manly United at Comm Bank Stadium in 2022 . The last few rounds of the season ended with a 2-1 against eventual Premiers Marconi in round 29 at Marconi Stadium in Bossley Park , a massive 4-0 win against Hills Utd followed up with an extra time quarter final win against St George City . Unfortunately , their run finally came to an end against Marconi who picked up a win against Blacktown .
2025 has seen Critto make several
Blacktown City ’ s men ’ s team celebrate another goal . Credit : Blacktown City FC .
changes to his playing roster for the new season . Former Edgeworth Eagle Keanu Moore , ex-Bonnyrigg White Eagles player Maksim Jez , former Preston Lions ace Jakob Cresnar , ex-Western Sydney Wanderer Dimo Dimo , Jarred McKinley from the NWS Spirit FC and former Newcastle Jets young gun Zac Bowling will all be donning the Blacktown City kit in 2025 .
The club said its farewell to a number of stars with Joey Gibbs , Mario Shabow , Tristan Prendergast , Tyren Burnie as well as Julian Rodriguez and Jayden Trenkoski all set to wear different jerseys for 2025 .
Blacktown ’ s senior women ’ s program in only it ’ s 3 rd season has the goal to be playing women ’ s NPL1 in three years . The senior women ’ s team are in full swing and head coach Michael Hawthorne has been recruiting . All three youth girls teams for 2024 made the finals and the u16s won the NSW Championship for the season . Courtesy of the NSW Office of Sport , the club are in the final stages of completing a $ 1 million renovation of the change rooms
Blacktown City FC women ’ s team .
at Landen Stadium , providing a dedicated locker room for their senior women ’ s team .
The club ’ s membership program has introduced a new gold and silver membership program with dedicated seating for all of the members in the main grandstand . They have also finalised a marketing sponsorship with Mate and their sports software , Elevate Sport 360 . Mate has sponsored and assisted the membership with marketing for several professional sporting clubs in Australia such as the Central Coast Mariners and Brisbane Roar in the A League , and the Pert Wildcats in the NBL .
Mate see Blacktown City being able to represent the largest LGA in NSW as a marketing opportunity and will be
working with the club to drive their community awareness and membership campaigns . One of their ambassadors , Maty Ryan , played junior football for Blacktown City prior to launching his international playing career .
Blacktown have also conducted several stadium upgrades including installing a permanent commentating booth on the southeast side of the stadium in partnership with Proview Scaffolding , also a club sponsor . To further brighten up the stadium the club have committed to repaint the exterior of the stadium .
It ’ s an exciting new opportunity for Blacktown City FC in 2025 and if you want to get on board , the gold membership is $ 199 , which is an absolute steal .
Peter Murphy , NSW Rugby CEO has big goals
with Matt “ Duck Man ” Austin
NSW Rugby had a difficult year in 2024 , but there is a silver lining with the appointment of Peter Murphy to the CEO role . He will help steer the Waratahs forward and give them some solid direction and leadership that the biggest state in Australian rugby requires .
Peter is no stranger to the world of rugby or NSW . He is the current Head of the NSW Positive Rugby Foundation which he has held for the last four years , as well as previously being an executive director of the Australian Rugby Foundation which he held for four years .
Peter is very passionate about the community work that the NSW Positive Rugby Foundation and Australia Rugby
Dylan Pietsch . Credit : Rugby NSW .
Foundation do in the community . Their social work focuses on solid community issues such as mental health , physical well being and contributing to greater community needs like being involved in community and sporting groups that contribute to individual wellbeing , and the overall wellbeing of the communities in which they are involved .
Peter told me that he is very focused on the recent NSW Pacifica tournament . There were between 700 – 1000 attendees over several days of the tournament in the west of Sydney . The Positive Rugby Foundation have a model called Rugby For Good that addresses social needs and responsibility , such as Rugby Tackle Life . It is focused on rugby life , mental health , physical wellbeing and more .
Peter ’ s vision sees Western Sydney being a rugby hub and one sign of this commitment to the cause will see the introduction of a NSW Women ’ s Head of Rugby along with one of the biggest strategic jobs in Australian sports , the Head of Western Sydney Rugby .
It is a strategy / manager role working with village and district clubs , development officers and Peter himself , to foster the growth of the game in the biggest sporting market in Australia . It will be a tough task coordinating with clubs and community groups and managing competitions , while helping to grow the game and help procure investment in the game in the west of Sydney .
Peter advised me there is a hub in Dubbo looking after western NSW , a hub in Coffs Harbour looking after northern NSW and a hub in Sydney looking after greater Sydney . It is a long geographical area from Camden up to Castle Hill and Dural . It captures western Sydney and includes Eastwood , Two Blues and West Harbour who are all Premier rugby clubs competing in the Shute Shield .
He is positive about the great green shoots around the Pacifica cultural area . He was also very excited to announce that Western Sydney will have four games played at Homebush in the RWC 2027 .
Rugby NSW also has Allianz Stadium available which is a world class venue . Previously , the World series 7s played were played at CommBank Stadium and there is the potential to host matches at Penrith as well after the stadium upgrade .
Rugby definitely has its place in the Australian marketplace particularly in western Sydney which is the 3 rd largest economy in Australia outside of Melbourne . Murphy is aiming to tap into small / medium business , large commercial organisations and philanthropists who want to focus on getting kids involved in the sport .
Peter Murphy , NSW Rugby CEO . Credit : Rugby NSW .
There is a heavy focus on social needs for the community as well . Murphy would like to provide an opportunity for people to play rugby around the world and play 7s and 15s rugby like Dietrich Roache and Dylan Pietsch , an Indigenous player playing in Western Force from Narrandera who went to Kings School and previously played 38 matches for the Waratahs .
The Rugby For Good model is all about why we fell in love with rugby , playing with your mates and getting the opportunity to play the game around the world . Murphy is also looking at a domestic violence program and one that tackles social issues . The NSW Government are interested in being involved with promoting these programs too .
It ’ s a great time for NSW Rugby in 2025 with blue skies ahead .
BLACKTOWN CITY INDEPENDENT theindependentmagazine . com . au HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR ! ISSUE 47 // FEBRUARY 2025 21