By Kieran Yap 8/9/23
Above South Melbourne goalkeeper Miranda Templeman in her FV Emerging days. Photo Gold Leaf Creative.
Miranda Templeman has gone to a Youth World Cup, and provided Melbourne Victory with some of their best highlights of last season, but on Saturday afternoon, she will run out for South Melbourne in what may be her biggest game yet.
The 20 year old goalkeeper has been an important figure at one of Victoria’s biggest clubs. After missing the finals last season, the club invested heavily and wisely. Among the new recruits was the Templeman after an A-League season that delivered some breakout performances.
Templeman missed the opening rounds of the NPLW, but in the second half of the season, South gained momentum on their way to a third place finish and Grand Final appearance against Bulleen.
“We’ve had a really good run in,” she said to Impetus Football.
“There’s a real hunger amongst the group to achieve something great this year. We’ve had all the senior teams across the men’s and the women’s make it to the Grand Final this year so clearly there is something that the club is doing right and it’s just a really positive culture.
“We’ve had a few injury troubles towards the middle of the season, but when everyone was fit and raring to go we were able to generate some real momentum and at the right time as well.”
Templeman arrived at South Melbourne following some impressive performances for Melbourne Victory. Her penalty save against Sydney FC and a strong display against Adelaide helped make her an instant fan favourite despite spending the season as a backup to Casey Dumont.
The breakthrough performances were the culmination of a lifelong ambition from the Western Australian.
“I’m from Perth so Mackenzie Arnold was always a idol for me. To achieve the goal of starting an A-League game was amazing. Watching it back you can kind of, almost see me settle into the environment a bit more.
“Every situation I had last year was kind of a last-minute thing. I came on twice for injury. The starting game against Adelaide I only found out about 10 minutes before I got on the bus. That was definitely a challenging moment for me, but something I learned a lot from.
“Being able to get into that head space really quickly is something that any second keeper needs to develop. I really enjoyed that, hopefully I can keep progressing and earn more game time at that level.”
At South Melbourne, she is the starting goalkeeper, and one of three new A-League recruits to the team along with Leticia Mckenna and Meisha Westland. Her role may have changed, but Templeman’s attitude remains the same.
“It’s definitely a different mindset.
“The thing that doesn’t change is that the team comes first.
“It’s a different role that I’m playing in each scenario, but ultimately the goal is do my job for the team. In NPL that’s taking on a lot more of a leadership role, coming in as one of the A-league players in that environment.
“I feel like I add a lot to the team that had already got a lot of talent. To be able to come in and fit into such as great culture at South is something that I really enjoyed.
“It’s also great for my development. I’m still young as a goalkeeper so game time is massively important for me, and that’s something that I’m able to obtain at NPL level compared to A-League where it’s more of a learning environment.
“Casey last year taught me so much. I’m just trying to absorb as much knowledge as I can, then on the weekend it’s about how much I can support the players that are starting.”
South Melbourne go into the Grand Final with the second best defensive record in the league. The centre back pairing of Leah Varley and Brianne Reed have been among the league’s best. It is a unit that Templeman has enjoyed being a part of and she can’t speak highly enough of them.
That defensive group was crucial to South Melbourne reaching the Grand Final. On the road to the decider, they faced the free-scoring Boroondara Eagles, who netted 61 times in the regular season.
They faced The Eagles twice in the last two games, with runaway Golden Boot winner Kurea Okino kept to rare goalless games. It was a sign of the organization and skill of the backline, and Templeman’s new Victory teammate was inevitably a challenge for the defence, but one they overcame.
I’m really looking forward to playing with her,” she says of Okino.
“She took the clean sweep at the Gold Medal night, it’s very well deserved.
“She was a focus going into the game, both the last regular game and the semi-final. We kind of talked about us as a defensive unit.
“Organizing and communication was a real big focus. The movement amongst the Boroondara forward line has been amazing all season.
“As a backline we were really effective in how we were passing players on and always communicating. To keep Okino goalless for two games of football is some feat. I feel like we did a good job of shutting her down, but I’m excited to see what she can do in an A-League environment this year.”
This weekend, they face another strong opponent. Bulleen are the only side that has conceded fewer goals than South, although the Danielle Wise led attack has fared slightly better. South Melbourne has scored 40 goals, compared to Bulleens 36.
It all makes for a very even contest. The last time these teams met in the league, it was a high quality 1-1 draw. South Melbourne conceded a late equaliser on that day. The performance has given them the confidence that they can win this Championship and provided fuel for revenge.
“I think we still have some hard feelings about the last-minute equaliser. We definitely have a score to settle, and I think the girls are really motivated to go into this game.”
As an added subplot, Templeman will be up against some of her current and former Victory teammates. Bulleen have Paige Zois, Maja Markovski and Beattie Goad among their ranks. But the A-League has not started yet, and that will all be put aside when the Grand Final kicks off.
“Obviously they’ve got a front line that I’m quite familiar with. I’ve played with a lot of the players before either at junior national team level or at Victory.
“It’s a team im quite familiar with, it’s got a lot of Victory players throughout. Theres definitely been a bit of banter during the week, but when it comes to Saturday its going to be a real battle.”
The Grand Final will take place at The Home of The Matildas at Latrobe’s Bundoora campus. South Melbourne are expected to be well supported there as always, and Bulleen’s fans will be out in force too.
The match itself has the potential to split Melbourne Victory supporters who have favourites on The Lions team, and their cult hero goalkeeper on the other.
Templeman says that the choice should be simple.
“Theres probably more (Victory players) in the Bulleen squad,” she laughs.
“But I think it’s a really exciting storyline to our season, if they want to barrack for the winning side, they should probably stick to the blue.”
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