THEY'RE motivated by new rivalries, they've improved their standard of football and in season 2021 Panorama FC will be targeting their maiden Western Premier League crown.
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When the regional competition was revived last season Panorama FC was one the clubs who jumped at the chance to test themselves.
In the end Panorama fell one win short of the decider, going down 1-0 in their semi-final to eventual league victors Dubbo Bulls.
It was an experience that the Panorama players relished and they are eager for more in 2021.
"One hundred percent it helped our standard, it was just what we needed to be honest. After sort of the last few years of the Bathurst open comp it got a bit stale, I think guys really enjoyed stepping up and playing at a higher level and also getting to play against teams they'd not played against before," Panorama president Beau Yates said.
"It was a real jump in quality from the last few seasons for sure.
"We loved the new rivalries, obviously we already had that great rivalry with Lithgow, but moving forward that rivalry with the Barnies boys and a couple of teams from Dubbo was fantastic. I'm sure those rivalries will continue on this year and in years to come."
Ricky Guihot will return as coach and Brent Osborne as manager for the new season and Yates confirmed a bulk of the 2020 squad has been retained as well.
One player who won't be back is midfielder Mitch Cooper, who was named in the 2020 WPL Team of the Year. But Yates feels they can cover the gap he will leave.
"We've lost Mitchell Cooper, he's gone off to uni in Wollongong and he's our biggest loss. It's shame he's gone, but we're talking to a few other guys and seeing what we can come up with," he said.
"We've got that core group coming back, we've got roughly 10-12 guys coming back and are looking at a couple of new boys added in. We'll have a good squad."
In Yates' opinion the key to success for Panorama will be a greater consistency on the paddock and hard work at training.
"We had a few good games last year and we also had a bit of a run were we'd play one good game then put in a couple of bad ones, so it's just having that consistency week-in, week-out," he said.
"But as long as we're training hard and keeping fit I think we'll have a great season to be honest.
"The boys are really excited and pumped up for this year coming off the back of such a great, successful season for the WPL last year."
While Yates is excited to see what Panorama can do in the new season, he's also keen to see the WPL grow in popularity and be sustainable well into the future.
The initial WPL ran from 1994 to 2012 before lack of interest saw it collapse.
"I think it's really got a place for the next however many years it wants to go for. I think this year it's going to be massive with bigger crowds," he said.
"All the teams are back, Waratahs are coming in and Mudgee look like coming in, so it's going to be really good this year."
