A schnitzel and words of advice: How Cooks Hill prepared for David-v-Goliath Cup battle
It will be the biggest moment in the young club's history.
Cooks Hill's fairytale run in the nationwide knockout soccer competition is the stuff dreams are made of.
The inner-city club, founded in 1997, was playing third-tier football in Northern NSW a decade ago.
Now, they are set to face off with Newcastle's A-League side at No.2 Sportsground (7.30pm) for a shot at a Cup quarter-final appearance.
To say they are underdogs is a massive understatement.
The Cup giant-killers have finished ninth in NPL Northern NSW this season.
"We're going to be without the ball a lot of the time," Cooks Hill coach Chris Zoricich, who also works in the Jets youth system, said.
"Being involved with the [Jets] under 23s, I know the pace of the movement, the pace of the ball is going to be a little bit of a shock to the system compared to the week in, week out we get at NPL level.
"The sooner we can get used to that and not be overwhelmed by it, then we'll be fine."
Cooks Hill produced a stunning 2-1 upset over back-to-back NPL premiers Broadmeadow to progress to the Cup's round of 32.
A come-from-behind 3-2 victory over NPL South Australian side Adelaide Croatia in Adelaide followed.
"What we've achieved so far is fantastic, and we'll always have that," Zoricich said.
"No one can take that away from the players. But there's one more job to do, and I just want the boys to put on a really good performance so they can come off, even if the result doesn't go our way, they can come off and say, 'We gave it a bloody good go, we gave it our best shot and we didn't leave anything out there'.
"That's all you can do. At the end of the day, if our best isn't good enough then that's fine."
On Monday night, Zoricich arranged for former national league players Craig Deans, Scott Thomas and Joel Griffiths, a former Socceroo and part of the Jets' 2007-08 A-League championship-winning side, to address his squad.
"They're coming in to speak to the boys just to give them their experiences on big games and what they've been through, hopefully they'll take something from that," Zoricich told the Newcastle Herald on Monday.
"Then we're having a team dinner at Harrys Schnitzel. Today is more about the emotional and mental side of it, and then tomorrow will be more tactical, about how we're going to approach it and what we're going to do.
"On the day, there will be very little to say, it's up to the players then. I'm just trying to pump them up as much as possible, make them feel good and say, whatever has gone on this season, that's in the past. It doesn't really matter.
"It's a one-off game here, and anything can happen in a game of football, as we know, so we've just got to go out there and give it everything we've got."
It has been a hectic finish to the season with Australia Cup games, a backlog of midweek catch-up matches after rain wreaked havoc on the competition and a Northern NSW State Cup showdown with Weston, which Cooks Hill won on penalties on July 26.
With finals already beyond their reach heading into the NPL's final round last weekend, Zoricich rested a number of players to freshen them up for Wednesday night.
Cooks Hill's senior squad is relatively young but also includes 36-year-old club captain and defensive midfielder Daniel Clements, who along with Dan Yaxley and Alex Gillespie joined Cooks Hill in 2017 and helped the club earn promotion to NPL in 2022.
"The players are excited," Zoricich said.
"I'm telling them to soak everything up. I don't want them to have any regrets. I want them to enjoy it. I want them to enjoy the exposure that they're getting because it might not come around again for a few of them. We're just going to enjoy the occasion.
"We have a pretty young squad. The majority of them are between the 19 to 23 age group and a couple in between, and then you've got the old codger Dan Clements, who was the fittest of all of them during pre-season. He's done very well for us this season."
Clements shook off illness to produce a Herculean 90-minute effort in Adelaide three weeks ago and was relishing every minute of the club's Cup journey.
"I never expected to be playing NPL again when we stepped back to play for Cooks Hill," Clements said after the club's round-of-32 win.
"We were going to get them promoted and then sail off into the sunset, and yet, here we are.
"I honestly never thought we'd be in this position, and it really is something that's making me very happy at this late stage in my career, to be able to enjoy something like this with a great bunch of boys.
"I'm just trying to soak it in, but the excitement is through the roof. I'm really excited for the volunteers and the people behind the scenes at this club, to be able to do what we've done is fantastic, and it's given a stage for some of the younger boys as well."
Words of advice from players who have plenty of big-game experience and a feed at Harrys Schnitzel was how Cooks Hill prepared for a David-versus-Goliath showdown with the Newcastle Jets in the Australia Cup round of 16 on Wednesday night.
It will be the biggest moment in the young club's history.
Cooks Hill's fairytale run in the nationwide knockout soccer competition is the stuff dreams are made of.
The inner-city club, founded in 1997, was playing third-tier football in Northern NSW a decade ago.
Now, they are set to face off with Newcastle's A-League side at No.2 Sportsground (7.30pm) for a shot at a Cup quarter-final appearance.
To say they are underdogs is a massive understatement.
The Cup giant-killers have finished ninth in NPL Northern NSW this season.
"We're going to be without the ball a lot of the time," Cooks Hill coach Chris Zoricich, who also works in the Jets youth system, said.
"Being involved with the [Jets] under 23s, I know the pace of the movement, the pace of the ball is going to be a little bit of a shock to the system compared to the week in, week out we get at NPL level.
"The sooner we can get used to that and not be overwhelmed by it, then we'll be fine."
Cooks Hill produced a stunning 2-1 upset over back-to-back NPL premiers Broadmeadow to progress to the Cup's round of 32.
A come-from-behind 3-2 victory over NPL South Australian side Adelaide Croatia in Adelaide followed.
"What we've achieved so far is fantastic, and we'll always have that," Zoricich said.
"No one can take that away from the players. But there's one more job to do, and I just want the boys to put on a really good performance so they can come off, even if the result doesn't go our way, they can come off and say, 'We gave it a bloody good go, we gave it our best shot and we didn't leave anything out there'.
"That's all you can do. At the end of the day, if our best isn't good enough then that's fine."
On Monday night, Zoricich arranged for former national league players Craig Deans, Scott Thomas and Joel Griffiths, a former Socceroo and part of the Jets' 2007-08 A-League championship-winning side, to address his squad.
"They're coming in to speak to the boys just to give them their experiences on big games and what they've been through, hopefully they'll take something from that," Zoricich told the Newcastle Herald on Monday.
"Then we're having a team dinner at Harrys Schnitzel. Today is more about the emotional and mental side of it, and then tomorrow will be more tactical, about how we're going to approach it and what we're going to do.
"On the day, there will be very little to say, it's up to the players then. I'm just trying to pump them up as much as possible, make them feel good and say, whatever has gone on this season, that's in the past. It doesn't really matter.
"It's a one-off game here, and anything can happen in a game of football, as we know, so we've just got to go out there and give it everything we've got."
It has been a hectic finish to the season with Australia Cup games, a backlog of midweek catch-up matches after rain wreaked havoc on the competition and a Northern NSW State Cup showdown with Weston, which Cooks Hill won on penalties on July 26.
With finals already beyond their reach heading into the NPL's final round last weekend, Zoricich rested a number of players to freshen them up for Wednesday night.
Cooks Hill's senior squad is relatively young but also includes 36-year-old club captain and defensive midfielder Daniel Clements, who along with Dan Yaxley and Alex Gillespie joined Cooks Hill in 2017 and helped the club earn promotion to NPL in 2022.
"The players are excited," Zoricich said.
"I'm telling them to soak everything up. I don't want them to have any regrets. I want them to enjoy it. I want them to enjoy the exposure that they're getting because it might not come around again for a few of them. We're just going to enjoy the occasion.
"We have a pretty young squad. The majority of them are between the 19 to 23 age group and a couple in between, and then you've got the old codger Dan Clements, who was the fittest of all of them during pre-season. He's done very well for us this season."
Clements shook off illness to produce a Herculean 90-minute effort in Adelaide three weeks ago and was relishing every minute of the club's Cup journey.
"I never expected to be playing NPL again when we stepped back to play for Cooks Hill," Clements said after the club's round-of-32 win.
"We were going to get them promoted and then sail off into the sunset, and yet, here we are.
"I honestly never thought we'd be in this position, and it really is something that's making me very happy at this late stage in my career, to be able to enjoy something like this with a great bunch of boys.
"I'm just trying to soak it in, but the excitement is through the roof. I'm really excited for the volunteers and the people behind the scenes at this club, to be able to do what we've done is fantastic, and it's given a stage for some of the younger boys as well."
Words of advice from players who have plenty of big-game experience and a feed at Harrys Schnitzel was how Cooks Hill prepared for a David-versus-Goliath showdown with the Newcastle Jets in the Australia Cup round of 16 on Wednesday night.
It will be the biggest moment in the young club's history.
Cooks Hill's fairytale run in the nationwide knockout soccer competition is the stuff dreams are made of.
The inner-city club, founded in 1997, was playing third-tier football in Northern NSW a decade ago.
Now, they are set to face off with Newcastle's A-League side at No.2 Sportsground (7.30pm) for a shot at a Cup quarter-final appearance.
To say they are underdogs is a massive understatement.
The Cup giant-killers have finished ninth in NPL Northern NSW this season.
"We're going to be without the ball a lot of the time," Cooks Hill coach Chris Zoricich, who also works in the Jets youth system, said.
"Being involved with the [Jets] under 23s, I know the pace of the movement, the pace of the ball is going to be a little bit of a shock to the system compared to the week in, week out we get at NPL level.
"The sooner we can get used to that and not be overwhelmed by it, then we'll be fine."
Cooks Hill produced a stunning 2-1 upset over back-to-back NPL premiers Broadmeadow to progress to the Cup's round of 32.
A come-from-behind 3-2 victory over NPL South Australian side Adelaide Croatia in Adelaide followed.
"What we've achieved so far is fantastic, and we'll always have that," Zoricich said.
"No one can take that away from the players. But there's one more job to do, and I just want the boys to put on a really good performance so they can come off, even if the result doesn't go our way, they can come off and say, 'We gave it a bloody good go, we gave it our best shot and we didn't leave anything out there'.
"That's all you can do. At the end of the day, if our best isn't good enough then that's fine."
On Monday night, Zoricich arranged for former national league players Craig Deans, Scott Thomas and Joel Griffiths, a former Socceroo and part of the Jets' 2007-08 A-League championship-winning side, to address his squad.
"They're coming in to speak to the boys just to give them their experiences on big games and what they've been through, hopefully they'll take something from that," Zoricich told the Newcastle Herald on Monday.
"Then we're having a team dinner at Harrys Schnitzel. Today is more about the emotional and mental side of it, and then tomorrow will be more tactical, about how we're going to approach it and what we're going to do.
"On the day, there will be very little to say, it's up to the players then. I'm just trying to pump them up as much as possible, make them feel good and say, whatever has gone on this season, that's in the past. It doesn't really matter.
"It's a one-off game here, and anything can happen in a game of football, as we know, so we've just got to go out there and give it everything we've got."
It has been a hectic finish to the season with Australia Cup games, a backlog of midweek catch-up matches after rain wreaked havoc on the competition and a Northern NSW State Cup showdown with Weston, which Cooks Hill won on penalties on July 26.
With finals already beyond their reach heading into the NPL's final round last weekend, Zoricich rested a number of players to freshen them up for Wednesday night.
Cooks Hill's senior squad is relatively young but also includes 36-year-old club captain and defensive midfielder Daniel Clements, who along with Dan Yaxley and Alex Gillespie joined Cooks Hill in 2017 and helped the club earn promotion to NPL in 2022.
"The players are excited," Zoricich said.
"I'm telling them to soak everything up. I don't want them to have any regrets. I want them to enjoy it. I want them to enjoy the exposure that they're getting because it might not come around again for a few of them. We're just going to enjoy the occasion.
"We have a pretty young squad. The majority of them are between the 19 to 23 age group and a couple in between, and then you've got the old codger Dan Clements, who was the fittest of all of them during pre-season. He's done very well for us this season."
Clements shook off illness to produce a Herculean 90-minute effort in Adelaide three weeks ago and was relishing every minute of the club's Cup journey.
"I never expected to be playing NPL again when we stepped back to play for Cooks Hill," Clements said after the club's round-of-32 win.
"We were going to get them promoted and then sail off into the sunset, and yet, here we are.
"I honestly never thought we'd be in this position, and it really is something that's making me very happy at this late stage in my career, to be able to enjoy something like this with a great bunch of boys.
"I'm just trying to soak it in, but the excitement is through the roof. I'm really excited for the volunteers and the people behind the scenes at this club, to be able to do what we've done is fantastic, and it's given a stage for some of the younger boys as well."
Words of advice from players who have plenty of big-game experience and a feed at Harrys Schnitzel was how Cooks Hill prepared for a David-versus-Goliath showdown with the Newcastle Jets in the Australia Cup round of 16 on Wednesday night.
It will be the biggest moment in the young club's history.
Cooks Hill's fairytale run in the nationwide knockout soccer competition is the stuff dreams are made of.
The inner-city club, founded in 1997, was playing third-tier football in Northern NSW a decade ago.
Now, they are set to face off with Newcastle's A-League side at No.2 Sportsground (7.30pm) for a shot at a Cup quarter-final appearance.
To say they are underdogs is a massive understatement.
The Cup giant-killers have finished ninth in NPL Northern NSW this season.
"We're going to be without the ball a lot of the time," Cooks Hill coach Chris Zoricich, who also works in the Jets youth system, said.
"Being involved with the [Jets] under 23s, I know the pace of the movement, the pace of the ball is going to be a little bit of a shock to the system compared to the week in, week out we get at NPL level.
"The sooner we can get used to that and not be overwhelmed by it, then we'll be fine."
Cooks Hill produced a stunning 2-1 upset over back-to-back NPL premiers Broadmeadow to progress to the Cup's round of 32.
A come-from-behind 3-2 victory over NPL South Australian side Adelaide Croatia in Adelaide followed.
"What we've achieved so far is fantastic, and we'll always have that," Zoricich said.
"No one can take that away from the players. But there's one more job to do, and I just want the boys to put on a really good performance so they can come off, even if the result doesn't go our way, they can come off and say, 'We gave it a bloody good go, we gave it our best shot and we didn't leave anything out there'.
"That's all you can do. At the end of the day, if our best isn't good enough then that's fine."
On Monday night, Zoricich arranged for former national league players Craig Deans, Scott Thomas and Joel Griffiths, a former Socceroo and part of the Jets' 2007-08 A-League championship-winning side, to address his squad.
"They're coming in to speak to the boys just to give them their experiences on big games and what they've been through, hopefully they'll take something from that," Zoricich told the Newcastle Herald on Monday.
"Then we're having a team dinner at Harrys Schnitzel. Today is more about the emotional and mental side of it, and then tomorrow will be more tactical, about how we're going to approach it and what we're going to do.
"On the day, there will be very little to say, it's up to the players then. I'm just trying to pump them up as much as possible, make them feel good and say, whatever has gone on this season, that's in the past. It doesn't really matter.
"It's a one-off game here, and anything can happen in a game of football, as we know, so we've just got to go out there and give it everything we've got."
It has been a hectic finish to the season with Australia Cup games, a backlog of midweek catch-up matches after rain wreaked havoc on the competition and a Northern NSW State Cup showdown with Weston, which Cooks Hill won on penalties on July 26.
With finals already beyond their reach heading into the NPL's final round last weekend, Zoricich rested a number of players to freshen them up for Wednesday night.
Cooks Hill's senior squad is relatively young but also includes 36-year-old club captain and defensive midfielder Daniel Clements, who along with Dan Yaxley and Alex Gillespie joined Cooks Hill in 2017 and helped the club earn promotion to NPL in 2022.
"The players are excited," Zoricich said.
"I'm telling them to soak everything up. I don't want them to have any regrets. I want them to enjoy it. I want them to enjoy the exposure that they're getting because it might not come around again for a few of them. We're just going to enjoy the occasion.
"We have a pretty young squad. The majority of them are between the 19 to 23 age group and a couple in between, and then you've got the old codger Dan Clements, who was the fittest of all of them during pre-season. He's done very well for us this season."
Clements shook off illness to produce a Herculean 90-minute effort in Adelaide three weeks ago and was relishing every minute of the club's Cup journey.
"I never expected to be playing NPL again when we stepped back to play for Cooks Hill," Clements said after the club's round-of-32 win.
"We were going to get them promoted and then sail off into the sunset, and yet, here we are.
"I honestly never thought we'd be in this position, and it really is something that's making me very happy at this late stage in my career, to be able to enjoy something like this with a great bunch of boys.
"I'm just trying to soak it in, but the excitement is through the roof. I'm really excited for the volunteers and the people behind the scenes at this club, to be able to do what we've done is fantastic, and it's given a stage for some of the younger boys as well."
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"They were not paying their players on time and they were not paying their players any superannuation," Mr Winter said, adding that by November 2024 Danzaki also had a newborn baby to support. "It is in this context ... that Mr Danzaki makes a very foolish decision." Mr Winter pointed out that Western United had since gone into administration and their A-League licence was revoked over the weekend. He said the matter had drawn significant media attention, particularly in Japan, and Danzaki's mother had refused to speak to him since he was charged. "He accepts he has dishonoured himself and dishonoured his family," Mr Winter said. He asked for Danzaki to be given a "significant fine" for the offending. Magistrate Nick Goodenough confirmed he was not considering imprisoning the pair. Hirayama also pleaded guilty to seven betting corruption charges and his lawyer Molly Deighton said he recognised he made a "very poor decision" engaging in the conduct. Danzaki and Hirayama will be sentenced on August 22. Former A-League club Western United's "significant financial strain" led a player to commit betting fraud by recklessly tackling the opposition to receive yellow cards, his lawyer claims. Ex-midfielder Riku Danzaki pleaded guilty to seven charges at Melbourne Magistrates Court on Wednesday over a betting fraud he committed with a friend who played in an amateur soccer club. The fraud netted the 25-year-old about $16,000 across three games between April and May and his co-accused - Bayside Argonauts striker Yuta Hirayama - received about $5200. Danzaki admitted deliberately receiving yellow cards for reckless tackles on opposition players, including games against Sydney Football Club on April 27 and Adelaide United on May 9. He and Hirayama discussed placing bets on games both in person and on the LINE messaging app. Hirayama would place bets on Danzaki's individual performance, including that Danzaki would receive a yellow card, while knowing he would deliberately try and receive them. The pair agreed to split the winnings from their bets - 70 per cent for Danzaki and 30 per cent for Hirayama. In a match against Auckland, on May 3, Danzaki tried to get a yellow card twice, by kicking opponents in reckless tackles, but the referee did not give him one. He was then taken out of the match but his substituted player received a yellow card so Sportsbet paid out the bet. The pair netted about $10,000 from the match and went to the Melbourne CBD to "celebrate their betting success", prosecutor Alex Turner told the court. Their rort came undone after they tried to place a single fraudulent bet on a game between Western United and Melbourne City on May 22. Tabcorp rejected their bet because of concerns over a large stake on one player and reported suspicious wagering to police. Danzaki's lawyer Lewis Winter said his client was "profoundly ashamed", embarrassed and remorseful and accepted the offending was serious. "He accepts that he's undermined the integrity of the A-League profession and undermined the integrity of these betting markets," the defence lawyer told the court. Originally from Japan, Danzaki joined the A-League as a Brisbane Roar player in November 2020 before moving to the Scottish first division, Mr Winter said. But Danzaki wasn't getting game time in Scotland so he left to go to Western United in Melbourne. "He had to pay a $40,000 contract termination fee to the club in Scotland," Mr Winter said. "When Mr Danzaki arrived in Australia he's already under some financial stress." He said Western United were already under "significant financial strain" when Danzaki joined them, in mid-2023. "They were not paying their players on time and they were not paying their players any superannuation," Mr Winter said, adding that by November 2024 Danzaki also had a newborn baby to support. "It is in this context ... that Mr Danzaki makes a very foolish decision." Mr Winter pointed out that Western United had since gone into administration and their A-League licence was revoked over the weekend. He said the matter had drawn significant media attention, particularly in Japan, and Danzaki's mother had refused to speak to him since he was charged. "He accepts he has dishonoured himself and dishonoured his family," Mr Winter said. He asked for Danzaki to be given a "significant fine" for the offending. Magistrate Nick Goodenough confirmed he was not considering imprisoning the pair. Hirayama also pleaded guilty to seven betting corruption charges and his lawyer Molly Deighton said he recognised he made a "very poor decision" engaging in the conduct. Danzaki and Hirayama will be sentenced on August 22. Former A-League club Western United's "significant financial strain" led a player to commit betting fraud by recklessly tackling the opposition to receive yellow cards, his lawyer claims. Ex-midfielder Riku Danzaki pleaded guilty to seven charges at Melbourne Magistrates Court on Wednesday over a betting fraud he committed with a friend who played in an amateur soccer club. The fraud netted the 25-year-old about $16,000 across three games between April and May and his co-accused - Bayside Argonauts striker Yuta Hirayama - received about $5200. Danzaki admitted deliberately receiving yellow cards for reckless tackles on opposition players, including games against Sydney Football Club on April 27 and Adelaide United on May 9. He and Hirayama discussed placing bets on games both in person and on the LINE messaging app. Hirayama would place bets on Danzaki's individual performance, including that Danzaki would receive a yellow card, while knowing he would deliberately try and receive them. The pair agreed to split the winnings from their bets - 70 per cent for Danzaki and 30 per cent for Hirayama. In a match against Auckland, on May 3, Danzaki tried to get a yellow card twice, by kicking opponents in reckless tackles, but the referee did not give him one. He was then taken out of the match but his substituted player received a yellow card so Sportsbet paid out the bet. The pair netted about $10,000 from the match and went to the Melbourne CBD to "celebrate their betting success", prosecutor Alex Turner told the court. Their rort came undone after they tried to place a single fraudulent bet on a game between Western United and Melbourne City on May 22. Tabcorp rejected their bet because of concerns over a large stake on one player and reported suspicious wagering to police. Danzaki's lawyer Lewis Winter said his client was "profoundly ashamed", embarrassed and remorseful and accepted the offending was serious. "He accepts that he's undermined the integrity of the A-League profession and undermined the integrity of these betting markets," the defence lawyer told the court. Originally from Japan, Danzaki joined the A-League as a Brisbane Roar player in November 2020 before moving to the Scottish first division, Mr Winter said. But Danzaki wasn't getting game time in Scotland so he left to go to Western United in Melbourne. "He had to pay a $40,000 contract termination fee to the club in Scotland," Mr Winter said. "When Mr Danzaki arrived in Australia he's already under some financial stress." He said Western United were already under "significant financial strain" when Danzaki joined them, in mid-2023. "They were not paying their players on time and they were not paying their players any superannuation," Mr Winter said, adding that by November 2024 Danzaki also had a newborn baby to support. "It is in this context ... that Mr Danzaki makes a very foolish decision." Mr Winter pointed out that Western United had since gone into administration and their A-League licence was revoked over the weekend. He said the matter had drawn significant media attention, particularly in Japan, and Danzaki's mother had refused to speak to him since he was charged. "He accepts he has dishonoured himself and dishonoured his family," Mr Winter said. He asked for Danzaki to be given a "significant fine" for the offending. Magistrate Nick Goodenough confirmed he was not considering imprisoning the pair. Hirayama also pleaded guilty to seven betting corruption charges and his lawyer Molly Deighton said he recognised he made a "very poor decision" engaging in the conduct. Danzaki and Hirayama will be sentenced on August 22.
