By Isabelle Campbell 3/6/25
Above: Sarah Rowe (left) after the A-League Women Grand Final win. Photo: A-League/Central Coast Mariners
When Sarah Rowe signed with the Central Coast Mariners midway through the A-League Women’s 2024/25 season, it was with excitement, ambition, and a willingness to be pushed outside her comfort zone. What followed was something she could never have predicted: a journey that ended with silverware.
“I got asked the question today ‘what did you enjoy most?’ And honestly, the answer was all of it,” Rowe shared in an interview. “Every moment of Mariners, I enjoyed. It was just such a special time filled with so many special people. I feel like it was exactly what I needed.”
Her arrival came at a critical point in the season but despite limited recent football experience, Rowe quickly earned a place in the starting eleven.
“I think Emily [Husband] knew that I probably didn’t have the experience in soccer over the last couple of years. But she knew that I was an experienced athlete and had probably been in pressure situations in different sports, she also knew I was willing to do any hard yards or any hard work behind the scenes to get myself to a place where I was good enough to be a starter.”
“Two weeks in, she was like, ‘I’m going to start you.’ And I was kind of looking at her being like, are you sure? I don’t think I’m ready. But because she thought I was ready, I was like, well, I have to be ready.”
Rowe’s debut in the backline required quick adjustment, not just to a new team, but a new position entirely.
“I had never played right back. So I was going from having an attacking mindset to actually being dictated to by my player and having a defensive mindset.”
Behind the scenes, she and Husband committed to hours of tactical analysis.
“Emily was amazing. She did so much work with me behind the scenes. We looked at video tirelessly every week to just see where I could improve and how I could get myself to a position where I would start every week. I think she probably trusted the work that I was putting in to get there.”
But the physical side was no small hurdle, either.
“The girls had match sharpness way ahead of me. My body wasn’t even in the right shape to play soccer. I changed the way I train, there were elements of the game that I struggled with earlier
on, I was running past things versus being able to stop as effectively and quickly as you need for soccer.”
“AFLW had coached me to be a different way and I had to kind of unlearn those habits and relearn new ones that were essentially muscle memory in my head from having played soccer before.”
There’s no shortage of praise for Emily Husband in the media and the sentiment is just as strong among her players.
“I just think she’s incredible. I think she’s a tactical genius, which she would hate me saying because she’s so humble. Her values are exactly where they should be. She’s so sincere and she’s so loyal to her players and she makes us feel that all the time.”
“If there was ever a problem in my life, even my personal life, I could always lean on Emily no matter what. She was always there to listen, but she always expected the highest standards of us.”
“I probably haven’t met as well-rounded a coach before in my career. Just massive respect. Cannot speak highly enough about her.”
Never the team picked to win, the Mariners gained confidence with each match, heading into the final with quiet belief.
“Probably the last two weeks of the season, it was nothing but elation, from the Melbourne City game to the final. After that, it was just the highest of highs that you feel in sport.”
The grand final itself brought everything full circle. Against her former club, Melbourne Victory, Rowe played in front of a crowd filled with friends, family, and her Collingwood teammates.
“It was like the dream final set up for me, essentially across the road from Collingwood grounds, all my Collingwood teammates being there, my dad being there, playing my old club, Victory. It couldn’t have worked out better.”
“You wouldn’t ever want to win a game any other way than we did in penalties. It’s the sweetest way to win a game.”
Though just a short time at the club, the bond forged with the Mariners’ supporters was strong.
“I got to build relationships that will last forever. I got to know the fans, I got to know families in the crowd. I really felt a part of everything that was Mariners.”
“It reminded me of home back in Ireland. Sometimes you think in professional sport that sincerity can get lost, but it really has restored my faith in humanity and the way people are.”
Compared to her earlier stint in the A-League with Melbourne Victory, Rowe sees this chapter as one where she had the opportunity to settle in.
“I had more time at Mariners, which meant I got to build deeper relationships. At Victory, they put so much work into me when I hadn’t played soccer in eight years, I’ll never forget them for that. But this time I was a starting player, I played 21 games, and I really felt part of the club.”
Now, with the season complete and her AFLW preseason already well underway, Rowe isn’t ruling out what comes next.
“I would definitely be considering another season. What that looks like, I suppose, is kind of all up for debate at the moment. But it’s definitely not too far from my mind. I’m definitely going to be having conversations about it over the next couple of weeks.”
And when asked to sum up her entire experience as a Mariner?
“Honestly, just grateful. Grateful to have met the people that I did. Grateful to have been a part of the team that we were. And just grateful that we got what we deserved in the end.”
“So often in sport, you really don’t. You put in tireless days, day in, day out, for very little highs and a lot more lows. I think when you do achieve those highs, you appreciate them like no other.”
Medal in hand, Sarah Rowe capped off a season defined by hard work, growth, and a team that refused to be counted out.
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