Club president John Paul Wilson said anticipation was growing among the squad but it was tempered by a pragmatic and down-to-earth attitude.
“We’re thinking one step at a time only. Of course winning the tournament again would be good and qualifying for the final stages in Fiji would be nice.
“But in a competition like this, anything can happen, so we have to remain focused on one game at a time,” he says.
Tupapa Maraerenga have history in the Oceania club competition and last season’s victory in the OFC Champions League Preliminary in Tonga was not their first foray into Oceania’s showpiece club event.
The Cook Islands champions took part in the OFC Club Championship in 2000, defeating PanSA 2-0 in a controversial edition that saw the American Samoa champions stripped of all their results after fielding ineligible players.
Tupapa finished fourth in their group, three points adrift of Samoa champions Titavi.
Group winners, Tafea from Vanuatu, went on to finish runners-up behind Wollongong Wolves.
Wilson says the OFC Champions League Preliminary stirs memories of the past and excitement about the future.
“We’re in the middle of our domestic season in Rarotonga and our players are looking forward to the tournament.
“The OFC Champions League Preliminary gives us something else to be excited about outside of our own competition,” he says.
The domestic campaign has started solidly with a 3-0 win over rivals Matavera.
The Tupapa Maraerenga squad has a familiar look about it and like any other football club in-season, they are managing injuries and resources sparingly.
“We have one or two niggly injuries but apart from that we’re looking quite good.
“We’ve added a goalkeeper Liam Little, a defender Hone Fowler and a striker Sam Margetts,” he says.
Little and Fowler have won the OFC Champions League previously with New Zealand giants Auckland City and Waitakere United, respectively.
Margetts has played in the ASB Premiership with Hawke’s Bay United and Waikato FC.
Apart from those three imports, there is local talent to catch the eye with Grover Harmon and Geoffrey Strickland also included in the squad.
Tupapa Maraerenga kicks-off its OFC Champions League Preliminary on Tuesday 15 October when they face Lotoa’hapai United.
Last year the two teams shared the points in a six-goal thriller at the Loto-Tonga Centre and Wilson is cautiously optimistic.
“We have to remember that anything can happen in a tournament like this.
“But we won the competition last year so maybe we can pull it off again,” Wilson says.
The opening match kicks off at 12pm local time at Pago Park Soccer Stadium.

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