Wetney, who won the player of the tournament award at last year’s event, says the Kurukuru have come a long way since then and the players are sharper than they’ve ever been before.
“We have matured and now we are more confident as futsal players,” he says.
The star striker feels that the 2010 vintage is more balanced, with equal strength in attack and defence.
Wetney counts himself as being among those who have shown an improvement after gaining some valuable overseas experience earlier this year.
He enjoyed a stint with Australian side New South Wales Thunder and, along with Kurukuru captain Elliot Ragomo, played for the Thunder in the Asian Football Confederation Club Futsal Championship in Iran.
Solomon Islands certainly proved they will again be the team to beat with an emphatic 9-2 win over New Caledonia during the first round of action last night.
Wetney got his name on the scoresheet twice while Ragomo scored a hat-trick and Micah Lea’alafa, who also scored twice, and Lenson Bisili joined in with the net-bulging fun.
The Kurukuru will face a much sterner test when they take on New Zealand’s Futsal Whites tonight at 8:30pm at Vodafone Arena but will be in confident mood after their dismantling of New Caledonia. The Kiwi defence is unlikely to be as generous but anything other than a Solomon Islands win would still be seen as a major upset.
Surprisingly, it is not the likes of New Zealand or Fiji that Wetney singles out as potentially being the Solomons’ toughest challengers though.
He thinks dark horses Tahiti are the side the Kurukuru should be most wary of.
“I am saying this based on my experience in the OFC Futsal Championship,” he says. “Tahiti are the team we have struggled against.”
The French Polynesians gave Solomon Islands their biggest scare during the race for the 2008 title, finishing runners-up and pushing the Kurukuru hard in a match the eventual champions could only manage to win 4-2.
The Solomons will meet Tahiti again at 6:30pm on Thursday and Wetney says his team mates will not be underestimating them, or any other side for that matter.
“We have respect for all the teams in the competition so we will be playing at our best level. I will be playing at 120 per cent for my country,” he says.
“I am aiming to maintain my title as the best player in Oceania and also hope that I can win the golden boot award this time.”
All the matches from the OFC Futsal Championship Fiji 2010 will be streamed LIVE online at oceaniafootball.com
To watch the action click here
For the latest SIFF news visit www.SIFF.com.sb