The Playstation 4 National Premier League returns to Canberra this weekend with a 5-game slate across Saturday and Sunday featuring a number of big occasions.

The Riverina Rhinos will play their first match in a Capital Football competition on Saturday, when they make the trip to the Capital to face Canberra FC at Deakin. The Rhinos will be looking to make an impact in their first PS4 National Premier Leagues matchup, but will face a tough test against last season’s Grand Finalists.

Canberra FC have retained some of the key members of last season’s squad, including formidable forward Thomas James, who will keep the visitors on their toes with his pace and trickery.

 

The second 3pm kick off on Saturday will see the FFA Centre of Excellence welcome Woden-Weston FC to the AIS grass fields. The Centre of Excellence side are in their second year as a group, and having had time to gel, will be looking to really make an impact on the local competition. 

Woden-Weston will be wanting to make a strong start to this season after last year’s efforts, where they finished bottom of the table with only three wins to their name. Shoring up the defence will be a key for Head Coach Tony Olivera, with the 55 goals conceded last year second only to the Canberra United Academy for leakiest defence. 

 

Belconnen United will welcome Gungahlin United to McKellar Park for the Saturday evening round one kick-off at 5:30pm as they both aim to start on a strong footing. The home side made it into the Top Four last year but were soundly beaten on Day 1 of the Finals series by a rampaging Canberra FC, but should make it again this year barring a sudden closing of the gap to fifth.

Gungahlin missed finals by a massive ten points last season, and a strong start will be imperative if they hope to finish in the Top Four in Season 2017. The Gunners did not pick up a win until Round 4 last season, a winless run which likely cost them down the track of the season. The two clashes between these two finished 4-0 and 4-2 respectively to Belconnen and the visitors here will want to turn that around this year.

 

Monaro Panthers will begin the Sunday slate with a 2:10pm kick off for the Match of the Round, as they celebrate the start of the clubs 50^th season with a clash against reigning Premiers Canberra Olympic. The Panthers will not be favoured in the matchup but will take motivation from the celebratory mood of the day. This matchup last season saw a series split, as Monaro took the chocolates in Round 9 courtesy of a 3-1 win while Olympic finished their season with a 4-0 triumph at O’Connor.

Frank Cachia replaced departing striker Philippe Bernabo-Madrid with former Tigers ace Stephen Domenici, and otherwise has a very similar side to the all-conquering outfit from last year. Cachia will be looking for the perfect start to a defending season and to make a statement to this year’s challengers.

 

The final game of the weekend has Tigers FC hosting Tuggeranong United at Nijong Oval. Tigers will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing Charity Shield result two weeks ago when they were soundly beaten by Olympic 5-2. The loss of Domenici to Olympic has been offset by Mark Shields’ arrival, however the former Monaro striker only appeared briefly in that loss and it remains to be seen what impact he can make at his new club.

 Tuggeranong have added eight new faces to their core of last year, keeping 17 of their season 2016 playing group. Predominantly a young squad, what Tuggies lack in experience they will make up for in energy and skill no doubt. Their first clash against Tigers last year finished 2-6 to Tigers, but they grabbed a 1-0 win in the final round of the season which proved to be the pivotal result to hand Canberra Olympic the title, and Tuggies will be keen on a repeat of that.