Cholakian raring for grand final redemption
By Chris Curulli
Claudia Cholakian is the only player to have featured in every single game for Manly United over their past three seasons.
During that time she has played her part in the highs and lows of 57 consecutive games for the club.
The attacking midfielder, affectionately known by many around the club by the high school nickname ‘rabbit’ due to her speed and stamina, is as well qualified as anyone to savour the journey from a disappointing 9th placed finish last season to grand final qualification a year later.
The 24-year-old first joined the club eight years ago. She took one year off to go overseas on exchange – that season happened to coincide with Manly’s famous 2017 championship win.
The attacking midfielder admits she still rues the missed opportunity to be a part of such an achievement and is ecstatic she will have the chance to participate in her first NPLW Grand Final this Sunday.
“I was just thinking this season that it was such as shame I missed that year,” she reflects.
“I’ve been here eight years, and what are the chances that the one year I’m away is the year that we win? I worried that might have been my opportunity missed.
“But now we’re in again and I get the chance to play in a grand final which is what I always wanted, I can’t wait to get out there.”
On her return to the club in 2018 Cholakian was under no illusions that she had to work her way back into Chris Williams’ first team plans.
The added challenge proved to be fuel for her most fruitful season to date, as her impressive performances saw her finish the club’s top scorer with 10 goals and rank highly the competition’s player of the year standings.
2019 proved a little more difficult for the side as some key players departed and they finished in 9th place, missing out on finals football for the first time in five years.
Cholakian is impressed by the rebuild the club has managed since then.
“Obviously 2019 wasn’t great,” she recalls.
“We lost a lot of those solid girls in the backline, had a lot of young players come through and we really had to start again which was a bit of a blow after the season I had.
“But this year has been an amazing turnaround. Obviously we’ve made some great signings with the Newcastle girls (Cassidy Davis, Libby Copus-Brown and Tara Andrews) and we’ve managed to get Remy (Siemsen) back with her not being able to go overseas.
“I think that’s made a world of difference, but we’ve all really gelled as well – I know sometimes when you bring players in, it’s not always as easy as it sounds to help them fit it on and off the pitch.
“It really helps that they all have the same attitude we do, to work hard and play for each other and at the end of day, if all your players have that attitude, you’ll get as far as we have.”
Cholakian has been one of Manly’s most consistent unsung performers this season, chipping in with three goals and a number of important assists.
Her third came at a crucial time, with a header at the back post drawing Manly level in the 84th minute against Sydney Olympic last Saturday.
The strike came after she was shifted out to left wing-back for the first time this season in what provided to be a decisive tactical tweak from the Manly coaching staff.
“It’s funny because a lot of people said I probably wouldn’t have got that goal in the number 10 position I was playing before,” Cholakian says.
“Wing back is not my favourite position but I knew in that situation I had to keep working hard and get forward as much as possible but then drop so we don’t concede a third goal.
“I said to myself, ‘I don’t want to go out and think I could have done more, I could have made that run.’
“I’m glad I didn’t let my head down and go ‘oh well this is it’. It paid off just having that positive attitude.”
Cholakian’s mindset is emblematic of the immense team spirit Manly have fostered this season.
“I am so proud of the girls, it was such an amazing team effort to come back like that,” she reflects.
“A lot of teams could have easily thought at 10 minutes to go and 2-1 down to Sydney Olympic ‘we’re probably not going to make it’. It is quite easy to have attitude even when you don’t want to.
“But I wasn’t surprised that we came back, that’s just typical of Manly’s attitude and particularly the team this year.
“We’ve always worked to the last minute- we keep going, no matter what, even when we’re six or seven up or even when we are losing.
“So I’m extremely proud of them all, especially the way we worked hard and kept fighting for it.”
Moving forward, Cholakian hopes another strong season has put her in contention for a W-League move, especially considering the mass exodus of Matildas overseas in recent months.
She has previously enjoyed interest and trials at a handful of domestic clubs and was able to juggle her two jobs with a stint training at Sydney FC last season.
“I’ve had a few trials so I definitely want to play W-League,” she says.
“It feels like it’s something that I’m most certainly capable of, it’s not too different from the NPL. I can’t even imagine someone in the grand final who’s not going to have W-League experience – there’s only going to be a handful.
“I’ve enjoyed playing in this league so I think that if I can get opportunity to do it in the W-League as well that’ll be great.
“I’m definitely going to fight for it and I do think that I’m capable of it, so hopefully I can just get that opportunity to prove that.”
This weekend, Cholakian has her sights set on sending out long-term boss Chris Williams – the coach who brought her into the club – in the best possible fashion.
Sydney Uni’s formidable record to date may see them enter Sunday’s match as short-priced favourites, but it is evident Manly are approaching the contest with no fear.
“I wouldn’t want to play against anyone else – you want to be in the grand final because you want to play the best team, and hopefully beat the best team,” Cholakian said.
“I think we’ll definitely respect them, but I think it also adds to the excitement because from our perspective we don’t have anything to lose as there’s no pressure on us to win.
“I think we were really competitive last time we played them, so we’re just going to go out there and work really hard.
“We’ll take confidence from the fact that we challenged them last time we played them. As long as we put in that effort I think we definitely have a chance of beating them.
“Obviously we want to send Chris (Williams) off on a high, but as long as we give 100% and he’s proud of the way we play that would be enough to make him happy – obviously a trophy in the cabinet would definitely help!”
Sunday’s grand final will kick off at 4pm at Valentine Sports Park.
Football NSW will share information later in the week regarding spectators and the COVID-19 plan at the venue.
The match will be live streamed on NPL.TV, which is now available on the iOS and Android app stores. You can catch all of the action live or on demand by signing up for free HERE.