With the season kicking off tomorrow, Impetus writers have had access to five of the teams’ media conferences this week. They report below (13/10/23).
Above: Sydney FC lift last season’s A-League Women title. Photo: Kris Goman for Impetus.
Canberra United
By Ryan Miller-Woods
Ahead of their opening-round match of the A-League Women’s season against Adelaide United on Sunday, the media heard from Canberra United Head Coach Njegosh Popovich and defender Cannon Clough.
Towards the end of last season, Canberra came very close to making finals as they finished in fifth, just missing out on goal difference by just two goals to Melbourne Victory. Despite the improvement from the season before, United would have felt disappointed knowing just how close they came.
With how last season went for the club and how it ended, Popovich was asked about building upon that in the first few rounds of this upcoming season of the A-League Women.
“You’re always building aren’t you, you’re always looking to improve…You don’t go into a season thinking you’re not going to make the top four.”
When asked about whether Canberra is focusing on themselves going into Round One rather than what Adelaide will bring to the match, Popovich said, “It’s always about us. I’m a firm believer that if we do what we need to do well, then it doesn’t matter what the opposition does.”
Going into this season, the thing that is the most apparent with Canberra is just how youth-oriented the team is with an average age of 21.45 years throughout the entire squad which shows that United is looking towards the future.
Clough being one of the squad’s older members at 27, will be an essential player not only in the backline but also with players such as Michelle Heyman, Maria ‘Cote’ Rojas, and Nicki Flannery will play major roles in the development of some of Canberra’s youngest players that are yet to make their debuts in the A-League Women.
When asked how she feels about the role of bringing some of the younger players through, Clough said, “I think the young girls bring a lot of energy. For many of them, it’s their first chance, their time to debut and show what they have. Getting to be one of the older girls that supports them, I’m excited just to be there and be a part of it.”
The match on Sunday between Canberra and Adelaide looks set to be an exciting encounter as Canberra will want to make a statement on why they should have made the finals last season and Adelaide will want to emphatically show that last season was a one-off and make a serious charge towards finals this season.
When asked what she thinks Adelaide is going to bring to the table on Sunday, Clough said: “I always think they are a good team, well-coached but again, the league looks so different this year, so I’m not even sure what they’ll look like. Hopefully a good match-up but I think going into it, we’re focused on ourselves and what we bring.”
Central Coast Mariners
Central Coast Mariners have revealed that Taren King will captain the club on their return to the A-League Women this season.
The central defender will lead the side this Saturday evening at Industree Group Stadium against Newcastle Jets. The 26-year-old has played in the A-League for the past six seasons, making her debut for Canberra United in 2017.
After three years in the nation’s capital, King moved to Newcastle where she featured for the Jets across 34 matches, including being a part of their leadership team. The defender has since traded those colours for Yellow and Navy, becoming an integral part of the Mariners squad.
She is joined by vice-captain Kyah Simon, as well as a leadership group comprising Bianca Galic, Faye Bryson, and Annalise Rasmussen.
King spoke of her pride in being the club’s first captain for their big return. “It is a super proud moment for me to be given the captaincy for this season. We have such an incredible group at the club and to be able to captain and lead them makes it all the more special.
“I can’t wait to lead the girls out in our first match against the Jets, in front of a big home crowd. Since the first day of pre-season, we have been working incredibly hard to prepare for this season and especially the first game against Newcastle, so we are all really looking forward to it.”
Central Coast Mariners Head Coach Emily Husband was pleased to have someone like King leading the side. “Taren is an extremely experienced A-League player now and she is someone you can always rely on as a coach. She has led previous team’s including Sydney University where she has captained the side for the past few years,” Husband said.
“She has fantastic leadership skills and embodies the values that we hold most important as a team. She is the perfect choice for the role.”
Melbourne Victory
By Kieran Yap
“We’ve got players coaching players,” Melbourne Victory Jeff Hopkins revealed as a consequence of his side’s Matildas contingent ahead of their season opener.
Hopkins remained tight-lipped about who will be in the first starting lineup for the season. The Victory boss named a full squad on Thursday night, but admitted to the media that some players may not be available for a full 90 minutes against Brisbane Roar.
“I never tell any lies,” Hopkins said with a smile. “Everyone is training, there are one or two that might not make it but we’re keeping that to ourselves.”
Victory recruited aggressively in the off-season. They have brought in experienced senior Matildas such as Emma Checker, Lydia Williams, and Emily Gielnik, and added some rising stars such as Jamilla Rankin and Ella O’Grady. They will join an already enviable group of returning names like Alana Murphy, Paige Zois, and Jessika Nash to name a few.
Victory’s attack will look noticeably different this season, as Catherine Zimmerman and Melina Ayres have departed, but Hopkins is confident in his recruitment and was buoyed by Gielnik’s displays on the training pitch. However, he revealed she may be one who starts in reserve.
“She was flying today, absolutely flying….as an impact player to have her coming off the bench could be pretty special. I’m being held back by our medical people. We’ll put all our heads together in the morning and come up with how we go on Sunday.”
One big name who is unlikely to feature is Lia Privitelli. The Grand Final-winning captain of 2021/2022 did not feature at all in the NPLW during the off-season but is nearing a return from injury.
“We’ve had some good news about her this week that we can start to push on with her training,” said Hopkins. “She’s been really frustrated and we feel for her. She just wants to get out there and work and train.
“We’ve been holding her back. She’s had some good news now… she’ll be back in full training straight away, hopefully we’ll be able to see her back in the squad and back in the starting 11.”
Privitelli’s impact has always been undeniable but Victory are well stocked in her absence. Mackenzie Weinert has joined from OL Reign in the NWSL and Japanese striker Kurea Okino scored in the pre-season hit-out against Western United.
Hopkins said that the short pre-season was less than ideal, but he was “very happy” with how the team was shaping up ahead of Sunday afternoon.
“It is a short pre-season,” he lamented. “It does put quite a lot of pressure on us. More games, more weeks to train to have a five-week pre-season puts a lot of pressure on us to bring players in and get them ready physically for one, and to understand the way that we play is another thing as well.
“It’s maybe something that’s got to be looked at. It’s easy to push a little bit too hard in a short pre-season and you find you’ve lost four or five of your key players. We’re not quite there,” he said of the team’s chemistry.
“But everyone’s got an idea of what we want to do and how we want to play. Over the next four to six weeks or so we’ll be chipping away at that day by day, game by game.”
With everybody coming back after experiencing the World Cup to different degrees, there is an excitement around the league and Victory. Far from basking in the afterglow of the tournament, the experienced players have been driving the standards at training.
“You see Lydia, KK (Elise Kellond-Knight), you see Emily pulling players to one side, and then having little chats with them. It’s really pleasing to see. That kind of fast forwards everything really. We’ve got players coaching players as well.”
The depth and versatility at Hopkins’ disposal are enough to keep any opposition coaches guessing, but although the players are capable of a number of formations and tactics, Hopkins said they will be keeping things simple this weekend.
“We’ve got the ability now to play three or five at the back. We could play five across the front as well,” he half-joked (although they actually could.) “It’s (developing multiple formations) something that we haven’t had time to do. We just needed to nail our number one formation and make sure that we’re right against Roar this week.”
Perth Glory
By Ben Gilby
Perth Glory captain Tash Rigby and head coach Alex Epakis spoke of their drive and commitment to ensure the Western Australians make the Finals this season after coming painfully close for the last two campaigns.
Speaking at the club’s season launch event at the city’s iconic Kings Park, Rigby outlined the hard work that has gone on behind the scenes to give the squad the best chance of hitting the ground running.
“Every year the characters (of the players) are different and it’s an honour to be captaining the team again. We have an amazing team and an amazing group of staff and Alex (Epakis, head coach) is incredible, so we’re ready to continue the charge.
“The preparation that has gone into the planning (for the season) and the tactics is really showing. Every single player has come in with an incredible level of fitness and we can now focus on the football.”
Last season, Glory were hamstrung by making a slow start to the campaign, which, with hindsight, was one of the major contributory factors in them missing out on a spot in the Finals. With the plethora of new faces at the club, both with international experience, and fresh from the NPLW WA, Rigby feels the squad won’t make the same mistake again.
“We’ve had a whole lot of new players come in and that has brought a whole new level of intensity and drive to the team. We really feel that we have been building the last few seasons towards something special and it feels like it’s coming together at the right time.
Perth has a tough opening examination against Western United at Macedonia Park this weekend, but the captain is inspired by the challenge and sees it as an opportunity to lay down a benchmark.
“It’s an awesome opportunity to play Western United, who were in the Grand Final at the end of last season so it will be a really good test for us,” Rigby asserted.
Head coach Alex Epakis is now into his fourth season in charge. Having been in virtually all of his media conferences in that time, I detected a distinct change in his manner. This is a more bullish Epakis. A head coach who is confident in the ability of his players to win football matches.
“We’re building on a daily basis and I’m really liking what I am seeing.
“Every season is different and you do a review, looking at everything from the bottom up. You have to self-process what worked and what didn’t, and if you are honest in that process, that’s a powerful thing. We identified a few things we wanted to do differently from a recruitment point of view and a training point of view…and we’re reaping the rewards of that.”
Whilst in previous seasons, Epakis has spoken about the team having internal targets, this time round he was far more expansive about his demands.
“Winning is important and I wanted to come into this season knowing that winning is everything and we have to live by that…we’re setting really high expectations of ourselves but it’s because of the group we have. They are not unreal expectations, they are expectations.”
The Glory boss also highlighted the huge benefits of having former Matildas head coach Alen Stajcic as head coach of the club’s men’s team. The pair, who teamed up as part of the Philippines coaching staff at the World Cup, are working closely together for the benefit of both Perth’s women’s and men’s teams.
“I’m clear about what I want to do and how to go about it, but to have a sounding board with so much experience in the room next to me is a pretty remarkable thing. It’s priceless. We’ve had some great conversations and I’m growing every day because of that.”
Epakis feels that the challenge of last year’s beaten Grand Finalists Western United in their opening game this weekend is a real chance – and despite being aware of the visitors’ threats, he wants to see his exciting attacking players take it to the Victorian side.
“They had a really strong season last year and are really well coached, so that’s the perfect opportunity for us to start the season and test ourselves. I’m looking forward to that challenge and I know the players are too.
“They are a very experienced team, a very powerful team. We look at the profile of their team and you know it is going to be a physical challenge. They are really effective going forward, so we have to be really mindful of managing that. But the priority is on our attack and the focus is we’re going out there to win.”
Sydney FC
By Genevieve Henry
The media heard from new American striker Shea Connors and returning defender Kirsty Fenton ahead of this weekend’s Sydney Derby to open the two team’s A-League Women campaigns.
Fenton is delighted that their first game is against Western Sydney Wanderers, saying it is the perfect fixture to get started off on. As both teams had a lot of squad turnover, it will be quite an interesting match, with both teams anxious to prove a point. Fenton and the team are aware of the target on the champions’ back, with Sydney under a lot of pressure to repeat the double but the focus is always on the game at hand.
Connors is looking forward to the season with a squad she is excited to be a part of. When asked about being their new token American striker, she said, “I’m gonna do my best to score some goals. I think I’m just going to continue on the end of last year’s form (for Brisbane Roar).”
Connors thinks that the attack will be fun to watch this year with the connection they have and all the different attacking profiles Sydney has claim to. Alongside Connors will be Cortnee Vine, Princess Ibini-Isei, Fiona Worts, and a few other notable forwards. The former Roar attacker has known and played with some members of the squad before and is fitting in well.
Fenton is thrilled about the new players coming in, saying they have all gelled well. “That’s what’s good about Sydney; you always have a good culture and environment.” Coming from Brisbane along with Connors is youngster Zara Krueger. Connors is quite familiar with her, not only for Brisbane, but in the NPL too. “She is a really exciting young player, but she works really hard and is creative when given the opportunity and playing time.”
All of the A-League Women will be riding high on the post-World Cup buzz. As this first round of fixtures is a standalone weekend for women’s football, players and fans alike are excited to see what this season will bring in terms of both football and atmosphere.
Connors said, “It’s not the end just because the World Cup is over. The World Cup inspired not only the little boys and girls, but the players on the fringes as well.”
With one of the Matildas’ World Cup heroes playing for Sydney, the club is excited to harness the energy and visibility Vine brings to not only their team but the whole league. Fenton said, “She brings so much excitement for young girls and to all the fans…we can really bring in a crowd. She brings a lot of confidence to us. She has so much experience and talent. We really learn a lot from her.”
Connors spoke highly of the winning mentality Sydney possesses, saying everyone is focused on the same goal: repeating the double from last year.
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