By Genevieve Henry (28/8/24)
Above: Tanika Lala (burgundy shirt) bursts through for Fremantle City at Perth SC this season. Photo supplied to Impetus by: Rob Lizzi.
One of the best young attacking prospects not just in Western Australia, but in all of the country, Tanika Lala has been lighting up the NPLW WA season with 19 goals, the second-highest in the competition, with beautiful and inspiring play to back it up.
The 20-year-old striker from the Goldfields went into the season with Fremantle City FC off the back of her first year as a Perth Glory player. She once again proved that she is one of the best players in the state, and earned herself another year with the A-League Women club.
Lala is one of the most exciting goalscorers in Australia right now, with her combination of incredible strength, speed, and skill making her untouchable at times. The youngster seems to sail through players with ease, using her exceptional close control as well as her aggressive style to break down defenders and find the goal.
Lala is a true number nine in a time where Australia is having difficulty producing top strikers. She can score screamers from outside the box, tap-ins from messy goalline scuffles, and neat goals she creates in her build-up play with teammates. She plays as a target, used for Fremantle City as their outlet on the counter-attack, taking advantage of her speed and smarts.
Her high positioning also allows her to aggressively press the defenders, often causing turnovers that she or a teammate can pounce on. She has a knack for stealing the ball right outside the opponents’ box and making the right choice, whether it be shooting or setting up for someone else.
While staying that high can be dangerous for less intuitive players, Lala seems to be very aware of her positioning, rarely drifting offside. She finds space in between the defenders both for herself to run into, and for through balls to her teammates.
The attacker uses her size to bully opponents off the ball, charging in effectively to steal possession. She dominates aerially, winning 50/50s and scoring goals. Even when being trailed and marked, Lala usually finds a way to get the ball and take it to goal. She uses her shoulder with grace, pushing opponents away without leaving too much in the challenge. Not only does she manage this, but she excels at winning fouls, putting herself in good positions, and using tricky skills that force opponents to take her down, whether it be tactically or clumsily.
For a player who only started going to the gym when she moved to Perth from the Goldfields area, Lala’s hard work and fast development are a testament to her character, proving that if given the opportunity, she’ll thrive.
The 20-year old still has so much potential for growth. Since leaving Kalgoorlie, Lala has been improving massively with more access to resources. Last NPLW WA season, she scored 12 goals for Hyundai NTC (Western Australia’s branch of the National Training Centre), the year before her goal tally was higher still.
With all of her hard work, last year Lala earned herself a call-up from Leah Blayney, the Young Matildas head coach. “You can just imagine how happy and stoked I was,” Lala told us on the Impetus podcast. The Goldfields star emphasised that the experience was an eye-opener for her and that she understood what level both physically and technically she needed to be at to thrive in a higher-pressure environment.
It only made her more motivated to work. “This is where I want to be, surrounded by all these players. That’s what I keep striving to do; keep working hard so I can get another call-up.”
She was also rewarded with a few trials with Scottish Women’s Premier League sides, a period which she called, “surreal.” It gave her a taste of a more professional environment, a level she strives to make it to. “I was just mind-blown about everything.”
Even just the step up to Perth Glory was a massive challenge. “I had to really work on myself mentally and physically to try to match the physicality in Perth Glory. I had to hit the gym a lot more. It was the hardest mentally; not playing as (many) games as I hoped, but that just allowed me to work harder on the training ground to hopefully get that opportunity.”
“I’ve grown so much as a person, and so much as a player. Coming into next season, you’ll see a totally different Tanika Lala.”
Her budding career is only made more impressive by the challenges she has faced to get where she is. Growing up in Kalgoorlie, around seven hours away from Perth by car, Lala did not have access to the services and elite training that many of her teammates had. Before she could really be a player for NTC, Lala had to finish up her Year 12 studies and make the move seven hours away. “I was far off, technically. Being in Perth you have all these academies and you’d be much more advanced, and for me to catch up I had to practise basically every day.”
As she tears up the NPLW WA, one has to wonder when she’ll be given a chance to really shine at a higher level. Lala only managed to make it on the pitch in two games for Perth Glory last season, and even scoring in one, against one of the toughest defences in the league against Melbourne City. In this upcoming season, Perth Glory and football fans in general should hope to see more of what Lala can do.
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