Above: Wellington Phoenix in the huddle. Image: Wellington Phoenix.
By Ryan Miller-Woods (7/3/2024).
The media heard from the Wellington Phoenix’s Rylee Foster and Michaela Foster ahead of the team’s upcoming match against Perth Glory on Friday.
Wellington goes into the match against Perth off the back of a 5-3 defeat at the hands of Melbourne Victory last round, which continued the Phoenix’s misfortunes away from home this season. While they are still in the hunt to make finals, only five points behind sixth, with a game in hand, they need to get some results in their final five games of the regular season.
Upon being asked how the team has reflected and responded from the match against Victory, Rylee Foster said, “the standards from that game, especially that first half, weren’t up to par for what we hold ourselves accountable to. There’s a bit of frustration and disappointment on our end but I think we can take a lot of hope, and a lot of optimism, and positivity from the fact that the second half was a lot more powerful, a lot more dominant. If we can take that performance, that fearlessness, that tenacious ability that we showed that we’ll able to take that to Perth.”
Last time that Wellington and Perth faced each other in round six, the Phoenix came from behind to win 2-1 in Auckland. Admittedly, both teams were in very different positions to where they are now: from fighting for the top spots on the ladder to fighting to make the finals come the end of the season. But, in this endlessly unpredictable and competitive season in the A-League Women, a couple of good results may be all it takes.
When asked whether it’s a good thing to be facing Perth Glory given where both teams are currently on the ladder and if the gameplan is different compared to last time, Rylee Foster said, “I wouldn’t say the way we are sitting on the table, respective to both teams has any effect. It’s another game in the A-League and goes to show how competitive the A-League really is. The strategy going into the game doesn’t change from what we work on, we’re not going to change our ways because necessarily we beat them once. I think we’re going to stay to our practice and at the end of the day as long we can contribute to that, I’m confident we’ll get a result.”
It isn’t a secret that Wellington, despite some close results away from home this season, hasn’t had the best of fortunes in Australia where their only points and win away from New Zealand this season was against Western Sydney Wanderers in round two. Despite the great results at home for the Phoenix, their away form has really defined their season.
When asked how the team has addressed this, Michaela Foster said, “already going in that Victory game, we knew weren’t getting results over here (in Australia) and we’ve come close, but not close enough even to scrap one point. We knew that we needed points in these two away trips (to Melbourne and Perth). We know it’s travelling but it’s important to know every game, especially at this point of the season we’re still pushing for that top six. It’s really crucial to know that we need points and I think the pressure is on us.”
Given that Michaela Foster as appointed as Vice-Captain for the Phoenix this season, she was asked whether the team still has it in them to make the finals with the remaining matches of the season and the current form the squad is in, to which she said, “absolutely! I’ve always believed in this team and I came into the team optimistic about what we could do this season and still am. I think we’ve shown a lot of really good stuff, especially at the start of the season but I think in moments we’ve continued to show that, it’s just being able to put those 90-minute performances back together.”
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