Jarlath O'Rourke hopes surprise package Crusaders can shock Irish League rivals
Jarlath O’Rourke hopes a new-look Crusaders squad can take the Irish League by surprise and feels it’s a “hugely exciting time” for the Seaview club.
Declan Caddell has overseen a wholesale change throughout this summer with 11 players departing, including experienced stars such as Billy Joe Burns, Philip Lowry, Jimmy Callacher, Adam Lecky, Daniel Larmour and Jordan Stewart.
He has placed a further emphasis on youth while also looking outside of the Irish League for talent – Crusaders have signed five players from Scotland alongside Finley Thorndike, Kurtis Forsythe and Brendan Hamilton.
All eight of their new players are aged 25 or under, giving a youthful look to Crusaders’ panel.
They’ve scored plenty of goals during pre-season, albeit against lower-ranked opposition, putting nine past East Belfast and beating Dromara Village 12-1.
Newly-appointed skipper O’Rourke is excited by the potential of his side and feels they can shock a few this season.
"It’s a hugely exciting time,” he said. “The new players have brought a lot of energy, a lot of new ideas, players taking on new ideas, so it is an exciting time.
"I know the fans are looking forward to the season and have been impressed with what they’ve seen within pre-season. I’ve been impressed too with how all the new players have conducted themselves both on and off the pitch.
"Everything has been going well, we have a good pre-season under our belts and had a lot of team bonding which was important too.
"I feel like there’s great togetherness and I’m really looking forward to the season.
"We’re going into the league as an unknown, I’m sure a lot of people are looking at us not knowing what to expect from our players, but we can use that to our advantage and take them by surprise.
"That won’t last long because there’s a lot of video footage out there as well, but it’s going to be exciting for us.
"It was Decky’s first season so I’m sure he has lots of takeaways, both positive and negative. I’ve hugely enjoyed working with him.
"He has shown fantastic faith in me by making me captain and I want to repay him this year.”
Since the Premiership was transformed into a 12-team top-flight back in 2008/09, Crusaders have successfully finished in the top-half every season.
Before Dungannon Swifts broke into the top-half last term, the same six teams had occupied those positions for five consecutive seasons, but O’Rourke believes the Irish League landscape is changing with a whole host of clubs competing for Europe.
"The league is getting better and going from strength to strength,” he added. “With the investment coming into the league, teams are doing business early in the market and you’ve seen a lot of clubs get better squads.
"It’s going to be even more competitive than what it has been. Three or four years ago, you could have picked the top-six, but now there’s nine or 10 teams now who have ambitions of finishing in the top-six.
“It’s excellent for the league and there’s a real excitement about it. You have to embrace the challenge. There’s nothing guaranteed in this league."