Impetus’ Ryan Miller-Woods reports on both Canberra United and Wellington Phoenix’s media conferences ahead of round fourteen where they will face each other in an exciting clash (1/25/24).
Canberra United
The media heard from Canberra United’s Sasha Grove and Head Coach Njegosh Popovich ahead of Sunday’s match against Wellington Phoenix.
Canberra will be determined to get a result after their close and heartbreaking 3-2 defeat last round against Melbourne Victory, of which they were unlucky to have not got a result come the final whistle based on how they played.
When asked about the result and whether the close defeats have gotten easier to deal with this season, Grove said, “look, it’s never easy with those kinds of results but it doesn’t mean we are dealing with them any differently. We don’t like it, and it’s not a standard we’re willing to accept.”
Canberra will be wanting their revenge after the 5-0 defeat they received at the hands of the Phoenix last season in New Zealand. From an attacking point of view, this is quite possible. After 13 rounds of the season, Canberra have scored the second-most goals with 25, only behind league leaders Melbourne City with 31.
Furthermore, despite being eleventh on the A-League Women’s ladder, Canberra does have both Vesna Milivojevic and Michelle Heyman who are currently tied for first in the A-League Women’s Golden Boot with nine goals respectively.
However, Canberra’s overall record against Wellington isn’t the best. While they have come out on top once with a 3-0 win at McKellar Park in Round Five last season, they have lost the other two matches with just three goals scored and a concerning eight goals conceded.
When asked about the trip to New Zealand and whether that helps with what to expect for this weekend knowing that they’ve done it before, Grove said, “absolutely! The Nix (Wellington Phoenix) have put on a performance this season and they want to get points just as much as we do, so we’ve got to bring it. The last time we went, we weren’t successful, so we’re looking to get our hands and feet dirty this week and really make sure we win.”
Outside observers could say that Canberra have had a bad season so far, based on their position in the ladder, but given the number of goals they’ve scored, the quality players that are within the squad, and the closeness points-wise amongst the teams, a great run of results for United could easily see them up into the top six, especially if other results elsewhere go their way. It’s still all to play for this season for Canberra.
When asked whether the congested ladder has helped the team stay focused knowing what a couple of good performances could mean for their finals aspirations, Popovich said, “we’re only a couple of games away from being in that top six and I think the girls recognise that without any doubt.”
While Wellington hasn’t won in over a month and currently sit in ninth position, they’re only two points outside of the finals. Their performances this season in New Zealand have been highly impressive and as such will pose a big challenge to Canberra.
When asked where Wellington is dangerous as a side, Popovich said, “they’re a very fit team from what we’ve identified. They are a very transitional side; they work hard for each other. For us it’s just about being ourselves, finishing the chances we create and preventing the chances that they create.”
Wellington Phoenix
The media heard from the Wellington Phoenix’s Kate Taylor and Helena Errington ahead of the team’s upcoming match against Canberra United on Sunday.
Wellington goes into the match against Canberra off the back of a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Melbourne City, the Phoenix’s fourth consecutive defeat. Despite the close results, it has been a tough month for the Phoenix that sees them ninth on the A-League Women’s ladder. Despite only being two points outside of the Top 6, they’ll want to get back to winning ways sooner rather than later for their finals prospects, which are still very much possible this season.
Something in favour of the Phoenix that would give the club some confidence ahead of Sunday’s match is that it will be held in New Zealand, where they have been strong results-wise. Furthermore, from the 16 points they’ve achieved so far this season, 81.25% of those points have come at home in New Zealand.
When asked to reflect on the challenging month Wellington has had, Taylor said, “It’s really difficult and for us, I think we try and take the positives out of it while also learning from our mistakes, which can sometimes be hard. You’ve got to keep people accountable, but it’s all part of it and I think we’re doing a good job at the moment trying to work through our challenges off the field and on the field.”
Despite the defeat in the last match against City, there were some positives that came out of the second half even though the Phoenix conceded twice. On another day, Wellington may have got a result from the chances they created and how they played during certain periods in the second half.
When asked whether the team has taken any optimism from how they played against a team such as Melbourne City, Taylor said, “Definitely! I think in some ways we play quite similarly, so for us playing a team like (Melbourne) City with such class players it’s like a good thing that we could see that we could match them. For us, we were still pushing that whole time which is the exciting part and I think we’ll continue to (do that) as well.”
In the match against City last round, a player who made her A-League Women’s debut was New Zealand youth international Helena Errington, who came on in the 77th minute for Mackenzie Barry. This meant Errington became the 42nd player to have represented the Wellington Phoenix in the A-League Women.
When asked about how special the moment was to have made her A-League Women’s debut, Errington said, “Pretty special. It’s always been a dream of mine to play for the Phoenix. Little me would have never thought it was possible, so I’m super happy.”
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