Western Sydney National Youth League coach, Arthur Diles, says the Wanderers are aiming for a maiden Grand Final victory when they take on Melbourne City on Saturday.
Australia’s best young talent will be on display at Newcastle Jets' McDonald Jones Stadium tomorrow afternoon at 2pm, with the NYL decider being shown live on Fox Sports.
The Wanderers face reigning champions City after booking their spot in the Grand Final after a 3-0 win on the final day of the season against Newcastle Jets.
Western Sydney topped their group ahead of Sydney FC by one point and will be playing in their first decider.
Diles said the national spotlight will give his players a chance to showcase the club’s exciting young talent.
“The build up has been exciting for the players,” he said.
“The fact that they can play in-front of a large crowd this week means they can showcase themselves in front of a live TV audience.
“But it’s an opportunity to play in front of more than just a couple of hundred people that we normally do each week.”
Several Wanderers' players have made the step from youth to senior team over the last two seasons including Tass Mourdoukoutas who played against Wellington in Round 16.
Exciting striker Abraham Majok made his A-League debut last season and the South Sudaneese refugee has been a star in the NYL this term, scoring nine goals in eight games including two hattricks.
Western Sydney have also dominated the Young Socceroos squad with Kosta Grozos, Moudi Najjar, Tate Russell, Fabian Monge and Mathieu Cordier winning selection recently.
Ahead of tomorrow’s game, Diles was hesitant to single out just one standout player that fans should look out for.
“I don’t like answering those types of question to be honest,” he said.
“We have a very strong side with a lot of good players. We have eight Young Socceroos at the club and the majority of them are playing in the NYL.
“Melbourne City also have a lot of national team youth players, so it’s fitting that clubs like ours are identifying and producing young talent and are in the final together.
“Melbourne has a good history of being in the NYL final and this is our first time so we are looking forward to it.”
The NYL decider will be the first of a triple header of matches to be played at Newcastle Jets' home ground tomorrow.
Following the Y-League 2018 Grand Final, the Jets will host Melbourne Victory in the A-League (5:35pm), before Newcastle also face Melbourne City FC in the W-League (8.15pm).
Diles says he would like to see more NYL teams play in this kind of atmosphere.
“To be honest with you, our players are not exposed to this enough,” he said.
“In the old NSL every week your youth team would play before your senior team.
“It allowed players in the youth team to play in front of thousands of fans.
“It assisted the players in their development because it put them under instant pressure because you were playing in-front of 3000 to 5000 people for the last half an hour of the second half.
“It’s a shame that people don’t get to see these talented kids play week in and week out.”