Each Illawarra Premier League club's New Year's Resolutions revealed

A new year will bring fresh hope for all 12 IPL sides as they begin their quest for glory in the region's top flight.

Plenty of storylines are already brewing. Grand final champions Coniston have lost a number of key players, Shellharbour have been promoted and Wollongong United have a new coach in Rob Jonovski.

But what does each team need to go right for them next season? Let's find out.

66 goals was the league best and in the end it was what won Albion Park the league championship in George Antoniou's first season at the helm.

Perhaps even more importantly is that the goals were shared around. Cameron Morgan (15) and Taiga Kitajima (12) were the top two scorers in the team but goals were chipped in from almost everywhere.

The White Eagles will be hungry for more after failing to make the grand final, so expect them to hit the ground running once more next season and they will be hoping for more goals to be flowing.

There is no doubting the quality of football that Bulli produce, but can they trust the process and keep sticking to the formula?

With Julio Miranda at the helm the answer would be yes. The experienced coach knows exactly how he wants his team to play and when it comes off it is brilliant. That 7-1 drubbing of the then defending grand final winners Wollongong Olympic sits high in the memory bank. They also beat then defending league champions Wollongong United in 2023.

Those two results alone proves that Bulli can be title challengers next season, but they need to keep consistency throughout the entire 22 games.

Wollongong Wolves under-20s duo Denim Nou and Jake Almond join the club, along with promising SD Raiders young gun Sam Sisounon.

Rising stars Deakin Browlee and Logan Mathie headline the list of re-signings, while veteran skipper Ben McDonald has also inked a new deal. Sam Davies will miss the season due to hip surgery.

Going back-to-back is tough, but it is made even harder when you lose the crux of your team to other clubs.

That is the reality for Coniston. It was already confirmed that Sam Matthews and Jason Zufic would be playing with Rob Jonovski at United in 2024, as well as Takayuki Kayano moving on for an NPL opportunity at Macarthur Rams. Lukas Stergiou will play for Wollongong Olympic, Matt Floro will join newly-promoted Shellharbour, Nic Tomasiello will play for Port Kembla and Cassidy Tanddo joins St George City.

But reinforcements are to be announced. And whilst these signings are still unknown, coach Franc Pierro said he was confident to be challenging again in 2024.

"But we're building nicely into the new year. We've got some former players returning to the club and a lot of fresh faces. We're putting it all together and it's exciting," he told the Mercury.

They may be young at Corrimal but they are bold believers in their system.

Following their 4-3 win against Wollongong United in round four, co-captain Keegan Matias said: "we do play the best brand of football in the league. I'm not afraid to say that but we do. But we just lack in having that experienced side and the physical aspect which we are starting to get back and starting to get on top of."

Whilst the season did peter out in the end, there was no doubting the potential.

After nabbing the likes of Tory Musemeci from Albion Park and Ryan Emerton from Bulli, they will have that little bit more experience and quality going forward which will help the youngsters continue to grow.

Cringila have had their best couple of seasons in recent memory and a lot of that is down to the attacking prowess of captain Peter Simonoski, Anthony Krsteski, Michael Mendes and Stefan Dimoski up top.

For the Lions the goal is to go one better. That grand final was made for them to win, but instead it did not go their way.

The team will remain relatively unchanged you would imagine, however they have added veteran IPL defender Jack Keating which will only make them stronger.

If Simonoski can bag another 31 goals and the aforementioned strikers can chip in around him, Cringila will be fighting for silverware once again.

It was an indifferent first season in the Premier League for Helensburgh. But now Andrew Paine is gone and the Thistle have gone back to the future in the appointment of experienced IPL figure in Paul Michlmayr.

Most recently assistant to Stuart Beedie at Port Kembla, Michlmayr returns to the team he once coached with the task of building on Helensburgh's solid first season back in the top flight.

A positive start will again be crucial to top five hopes. In 2023, Helensburgh were at one point the only unbeaten team with eventual league champions Albion Park. Whilst in the end they would have rued not turning some of those draws into wins, staying unbeaten for so long was a positive.

It will be intriguing to see the differences in the Burgh under a new coach.

There is no denying the loss of captain Jordan Nikolovski to Wollongong United is a huge loss.

But luckily for them, a number of young stars put up some sensational showings in 2023, none more so than Sebastian Tomasiello.

The 18-year-old won the both the club's player of the year and player's player award for the season just gone and the platform is there for him to step up once more.

Zac Mazevski is another one that has the potential to put his name in the spotlight. Will there be more that step up once the season begins?

Shellharbour were deservedly promoted into the Premier League after their league championship triumph in the District League.

But now they will need to take it up another gear in a stronger competition.

Whilst they have not made any official signings (other than Floro), the Mercury understands that they have made some notable acquisitions.

This will be key when coming up against some of the IPL's heavyweights. But with experienced coach Rod Williams at the helm, expect Shellharbour to be more than competitive.

After recently re-signing to go again as coach for South Coast United, Greg Valic said his side would be well poised for success.

SCU scored some massive wins in 2023, most notably against league champions and rivals Albion Park as well as against grand final champs Coniston.

But in the end those wins were not enough to trouble the finals places. But there is no doubt it leaves Valic with plenty to build on.

"Last year, I think we definitely had an improved season upon previous seasons," he told the Mercury earlier in December.

"And given that we've been able to maintain the majority of our squad, things are really looking up for next season. If we can continue to build and improve, we're looking at doing our best to finish as high up the table as we can."

2023 was a low point for Tarrawanna after finishing 11^th.

The Blueys have had a recent history on punching above their weight in the IPL, finishing in the finals spots for a number of years running under former coach Peter Willis.

Jason Wenig took over from Scott Chipperfield for the season just gone and with the likes of talented youngsters Nick High and Taro Regan Williams, as well as experienced heads Dan Chapman, Adam Rodriguez and Darren Stone, Tarrawanna were hopeful of finals football.

In the end it did not eventuate.

All eyes will be on the Blueys in 2024 to punch above their weight once again like they did for many years before.

Wollongong Olympic were gunning for back-to-back championships but in the end were found out when it mattered most.

Aside from a Bert Bampton Cup success, as well as beating league champions Albion Park on their home turf, Olympic could not turn their individual quality into team success.

But that was just it. In the big games Olympic showed up, but shock losses to the likes of Bulli and Port Kembla during the season highlighted the lack of consistency.

But make no mistake, Olympic will be the one of, if not the odd-on favourite to win the league in 2024. The addition of Coniston captain Lukas Stergiou only boosts their stocks further.

In the end it was a disappointing year for Wollongong United off the back of the one prior where they won the league championship, made a grand final and performed admirably on the national stage in the Australia Cup round of 32.

They missed out on finals in 2023 and coach Billy Tsovolos stepped away from the role.

But things are looking optimistic for the club after signing former grand final winner with Corrimal Rob Jonovski. The experienced IPL coach has made a number of signings including luring Coniston grand final winners Sam Matthews and Jason Zufic to Macedonia Park.

But bringing Port Kembla skipper Jordan Nikolovski to the club may prove a masterstroke. Luke, Thomas and Nav Darjani will also play for Wollongong United, as will Josh Galevski and Klime Sekutkoski. The latter returns to United after gaining NPL experience after seven years at United prior.