FORMER Wagga City Wanderer Luke Stevens is hopeful signing with Canberra club Tuggeranong can be a platform toward bigger things long term.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Stevens and another young gun in Young's Patrick Hislop, who won the Pascoe Cup player of the year award in 2019, will turn out for United next season.
Tuggeranong played in this year's National Premier League ACT division one this year, but have joined Wanderers in division two after they were relegated when the season was cut short.
Stevens, who is moving to the capital for university, is unperturbed about the demotion and the 19-year-old attacking dynamo hopes to continue to impress the right people.
"I committed pretty early on and had a couple of conversations with the coach and said it (relegation) isn't a concern for me. I'm pretty confident they're a club that will be aiming to get back into NPL1 next year," Stevens said.
"There's a few Wagga boys (former Wanderers Dylan Berkrey and Frazer Burns) playing for Tuggeranong and I felt like they'd be a good fit for me.
"I've played under-18 Wanderers with Pat Hislop previously. I sent him a quick message and asked if he wanted to play and he was very keen on it. I'm excited to play with him again."
Stevens believes he's ready to make another leap in his career after being entrusted with being one of the Wanderers' go-to players in 2021.
"I felt like personally I progressed well this year. This year allowed me to take on a bit more responsibility with some experienced players leaving," he said.
"It put some pressure on me to start performing. I think Mitch (Tuggeranong coach Mitch Stevens) saw me in an FFA Cup game and for me next year is about trying to take my game to the next level now.
"With the progression of the A-League, Canberra are planning on hopefully getting an expansion side too and that's definitely something to aim for.
