As a teenager, Nectar Traintis had heavy expectations to live up to as a footballer within his household, with older brothers Chris and Peter plying their trade for Sydney Olympic when the Mariners defender was growing up.
Now with 14 games of professional football under his belt, the former Olympic youth player believes this environment helped shape him into who he is today.
“Personally, I don’t think there was any pressure”, the 19 year-old told Kick360, “what my brothers showed me and knowing the aspects of what it takes to become a professional footballer certainly made it a lot easier for me to go into that environment”.
Many were certainly expecting him to follow in his brother Peter’s footsteps; his now 31-year old brother played 23 times for Sydney FC in three seasons at the Sky Blues between 2012 and 2015, and Nectar is close to already matching that tally in just his first season of professional football.
It’s been a great start to the 2022-23 season for Triantis. After making the move from the Western Sydney academy, the stalwart defender is having a breakout season to remember so far.
He spent nearly five years in two separate A-League academies which also included a four-year stint at Sydney FC. Triantis played alongside some tip talent, including current St Mirren and Socceroos midfielder Keanu Baccus and Phillip Cancar, whose run of form at the end of last season earnt him a move to Scottish side Livingston.
Playing and taraining alongside those players and seeing their progress made Triantis more determined to succeed.
“Obviously it’s eye-opening to see that and you aspire to be like those players in Baccus and Cancar, it’s good to see.”
Central Coast Mariners boss, Nick Montgomery has assembled an extremely youthful squad in Gosford and Nectar believes the trust from the 41-year-old Englishman has allowed him to grow so quickly.
“It’s the trust in the management, that gives me an opportunity to show myself and my capabilities and the abilities I have,”
“Every single day, he doesn’t waste a second on and off the field he makes sure everything’s 100% and that’s the way I like it,” he declared.
After being released from the Wanderers – only making one appearance in two years – Triantis was extremely excited at the prospect of moving to the sunny Central Coast.
“It was a move that I obviously wanted and that fit me and fit the clubs model. It’s a move that so far has been done very well, certainly the midway of the season but for me, it’s been a very good season.”
He didn’t start the first two games of the season, but he was inserted into the starting side in the Mariners’ first win of the season against Western United, and he hasn’t looked back since. He has played in every game since with all but one of them being starts.
Triantis has been a shining light and a major part of the success that Central Coast is having so far this season. He almost socred his fIrst professional goal against his former club the Wanderers recently, but his goalbound shot took a touch off Jason Cummings, which means his wait for a maiden goal continues.
That hasn’t stopped Triantis from garnering interest from abroad, with rumours circulating that clubs from Europe are closely watching the defender. The 19-year-old touched on how difficult it is to stay level-headed amidst transfer interest from Europe.
“Personally, you can’t think about it too much. You just have to try to adapt as quickly as you can and further the level that the boss wants you to play at”
Photo by Scott Gardiner/Getty Images
