By Kieran Yap 27/9/24
Above: Bulleen Lions coach and Elite Female Football founder Caitlin Friend with playmaker Rosie Rodger.
After securing consecutive premierships and Nike FC Cup while developing youth in and outside of the club, Bulleen Lions coach Caitlin Friend is emerging as one of Victoria’s benchmark coaches.
Before Bulleen Lions players run onto the pitch at the Veneto club, coach Caitlin Friend reminds them to tap a sign on the wall. The footage captured in 2021 by Gold Leaf Media shows every player doing so dutifully and then playing as if they have taken the words to heart. The message, “The best players don’t win games, the best teams do.”
It is not a new concept in sports, but the results show it is one that Friend clearly lives by. In the last two seasons, the 30-year-old manager has built two very different teams to steadily become the dominant coach of Victoria’s NPLW.
It is an unforgiving league, and every season is vastly different. Almost every side can boast big names from the A-League Women, and it is also rightfully seen as a real launchpad for other to get into Australia’s top tier. That makes it highly competitive, and trophy winners can face relegation or vice versa from one season to the next.
Over the last three seasons, fans have seen the rise and fall of some great sides, but over that time, Bulleen have been a constant at the pointy end of the season. in each campaign, they have fielded very different squads and implemented different tactics by necessity. But the trajectory has always trended upward.
In 2022 they finished third but made the Grand Final. In 2023 Friend won her first trophy as premiers. In 2024, she guided Bulleen to top spot again, while also claiming the Nike FC Cup (The state’s knockout competition.)
The improvement has not just been in the trophy cabinet. Under Friend, Bulleen have always been a high goal scoring team, but in 2024 they ended with a goal difference of 45 over 22 games. 67 goals over a season is impressive on its own, but the 2024 attack was build around three players all aged 22 or under, Rosie Rodger (19) Alana Cortellino (17) and Maja Markovski (22).
The 2022 and 2023 Lions could rely on senior, enviable talents such as Alana Jancevski, Beattie Goad and Lia Privitelli to lead the line. Whether managing undeniable stars or developing rising ones, Caitlin Friend has formed winning teams.
Her most recent success was achieved with largely unproven youth, but there is an impressive and established ability to win with different types of players in different stages of their careers.
To do that takes tactical flexibility, trust in players and an ability to inspire hunger even in those who have already achieved great things in the sport. Friend can both attract big names who want to be part of what she is building and rising stars from other clubs looking to take that next step.
She also seemingly commands loyalty from within Bulleen’s youth ranks. A talented player like Rodger has risen through the ranks before becoming a regular starer in 2024. Caitlin Friend clearly inspires faith from inside the club and out.
The two sides that won back to back premierships share an identity. The defenders start deep, but are the first playmakers in the team. The strikers press hard and try and outwork and outrun their opposition, and they excel at scoring from set pieces.
However, the personnel are very different. The 2023 winners could depend on the individual brilliance of Goad or Jancevski, with Paige Zois pulling the strings in midfield. In defence they had newly announced Western United defender Claudia Mihocic.
The 2024 Lions relied on Cortellino and Markosvki in attack. In midfield Yuka Sato pulled the strings and Izabel Dehakiz arrived as a marauding yet reliable centre back.
Bulleen could grind out results, or go head to head with another attacking team as they did in the Nike FC Cup Final. Only one side was able to defeat them twice this season. The Essendon Royals joining Heidlberg United and Preston Lions as one of three teams to leave the field with a win after facing Bulleen.
Those who have played and excelled under Caitlin Friend all say that same thing. She gives them belief in their own abilities as matchwinners and belief in the team they are playing in.
More than one player that Impetus spoke to described her as an underrated coach in Australia, but that tag may not last much longer if these results and performances continue.
Although Markovski was the brightest star in the 2024 season, she was not always the deciding factor. The mid season arrival of Tiffany Eliadis and the careful use of Alana Murphy was instrumental at crucial moments of the season.
Eliadis was used in a variety of roles to either sure up the midfield defensively or cause chaos in attack. Despite her youth, Cortellino was often trusted as the key weapon in attack. The new Western United acquisition was an undeniable talent at FV Emerging, but it is one thing to light up a development team, another to dominate for the premiers.
Stability looked to be a priority for Bulleen this season. Although she could name a capped Matilda like Goad on the bench, Friend seemed to prefer as few changes to the lineup as possible in favour of momentum and rewarding form.
This does not mean she was afraid to make changes. Predicting how Eliadis would start was impossible from game to game, and Friend was always happy to turn to the bench to change to game. Lourdes Gonzales being one particular weapon that helped seal the premiership with a spectacular performance against Alamein.
Friend’s ability to work well and get the most out of experienced and up and coming players should not be a surprise. Her career as a player is highly respected at Melbourne Victory and she has talked about how much she learned during 13 hour days at Notts County.
In her first seasons as a manager, she coached many players that she had played with, at just 30 years old those times were practically yesterday.
Ontop of that, Friend has coached at all age levels for Bulleen, and runs the Elite Female Football academy. Accompanied with a UEFA B License and a lifelong obsession for the sport, she has all the tools to develop players, attract big names, reform players at career crossroads and combine all three to produce trophy winning sides.
Right now, Caitlin Friend is the benchmark manager of Victoria’s NPLW. Three trophies in two very different seasons is a highly impressive haul. She has shown that she can build winning teams and noticeably improve individual careers.
With what has been achieved so far, it is sometimes hard to believe that she is only three full seasons into her career in the dugout.
All signs point to a very exciting future for one of Australia’s most promising coaches, and the women’s game may benefit long term from what she has already built.
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