With the Kate Sheppard and Chatham Cups in the bag, attention always turns immediately towards summer football. Those finals are the conclusion of the winter club season. Next comes the Premiership. Or the South-Central Series. Or the National League. Whichever it happens to be in whatever year it happens to be.

In this case it’s the National League, a brand new hybrid version for the ladies in which the old Auckland and Northern teams have been replaced by the four top finishers in the NRFL Women’s Premier division. The other four federation teams remain for at least one more season. We’ll see how that goes. The idea was to phase into a fully club based system, as the men’s NL will be doing this year, over a couple of years... although it does kinda feel like the dysfunction of the men’s comp has caused the women’s to be taken for a ride in the name of alignment. The old federation team league functioned perfectly well for the wahine, providing a high standard of footy whilst still developing young players. But, again, we’ll see how it goes.

Northern Rovers were the first club to qualify as they won the NRFL Prem with a few games to spare. Rovers ended up 11 points clear of second place Western Springs after 21 rounds. Eastern Suburbs came in third. Then Auckland United joined them all with a healthy 10-point gap to fifth-placed Ellerslie. Then United celebrated by beating Rovers 1-0 in the Kate Sheppard Cup final.

Those two teams will meet again a week later in round one of the National League (3pm Sunday at Keith Hay Park if you’re keen to get along). Decent turnaround from Auckland United after they finished sixth/last in 2021... avoiding relegation thanks to the Prem division being expanded to eight teams. Bummer for Hamilton Wanderers who would have been a Natty League team last year but for covid lockdowns and then lost a few key players and dropped down the ladder this year. There will be no Waikato representation in the comp this year, sadly (although at least Melville did make the men’s NL).

Kinda crazy that the National League is starting literally a week after the cup final. No time to rest. September 17 is the first game and it runs all the way through until mid-December. In theory that means 14 rounds, everybody playing each other home and away. Except that NZF’s fixture list curiously only seems to have 13 rounds... bit weird. Could just be a glitch or could be that they couldn’t start any earlier and they can’t go any later so 13 rounds is all they can fit. Wouldn’t be a National League without at least one random administerial head-scratcher.

It also wouldn’t be a National League if we weren’t literal days away from the start of the competition and some of the squad details are still as elusive as a kiwi bird in the wild. So it goes. Makes writing a preview rather tricky though at least the four northern clubs are open books thanks to having played an entire winter season with their folks.

The other thing to wonder upon is how well the Auckland quartet will compete against the feds. On the one hand the talent is spread thinner compared to, say, Canterbury United who get to pick all the best players in their region. But on the other hand there’s plenty of talent to go around in Auckland and the advantage of having played together all year is absolutely not to be understated. It’ll be grand. Let’s look at the eight teams that’ll be competing.

NORTHERN ROVERS

The NRFL champs, the beaten KS Cup finalists. It wasn’t until a 2-1 defeat to Western Springs at the end of August, after they’d already clinched the title, that they finally lost a league game. 11 clean sheets in 21 matches. It was a fantastic season from Ben Bate’s team even if that League/Cup double didn’t quite come about. That Kate Sheppard game against Auckland United was one that could have gone either way and had Rovers been a little more clinical in front of goal then they’d have gotten it done. They created the chances. Leanna Ryan hit the post. Just one of them days.

Hence there’s no reason to think that Northern Rovers aren’t still the best team coming out of the NRFL. Their star player is Michaela Foster. In previous summer seasons she’s played at fullback for WaiBOP and pretty sure she played the 2021 KSC final at centre-back for Hamilton Wanderers but for Rovers she’s a winger who not only scores in bundles – she was NR’s top scorer with 11 league goals – but also assists at an equal rate. Plenty of those assists when to Danielle Canham, a 17yo attacking midfielder who scored 8 league goals. Also got the pace of Alexis Cook (17yo too) and Leanna Ryan in attack. Estelle Harrison adds some veteran midfield presence.

Plus they’ve got a really strong defence having conceded only 14 times in 21 NRFL games, Talisha Green captaining them from fullback. Chelsea Elliot and Greer MacIntosh are a strong central pairing. Suya Haering on the left is another 17 year old and very much in the hunt for in the mix for the U17 World Cup that’s happening in India in a month’s time. You’ll recall what happened the last time that Aotearoa sent a team to the U17 Women’s WC. Quite a few of these teams will be affected when that squad is named.

Also you know how there’s no Waikato team in the NL this year? Be that as it may there are plenty of Waikato players. Michaela Foster and Chelsea Elliot moved north to Rovers for this season – playing (and losing) consecutive Kate Sheppard Cup finals with Hamilton Wanderers then Northern Rovers. Kate McConnell is also a Hamilton native. And Leanna Ryan’s a Waikato girl as well. That’s a hefty WaiBOP contingent for one North Shore based team.

WESTERN SPRINGS

That 2-1 win for Western Springs over Northern Rovers was the difference in WS finishing second instead of third. It’s also the biggest boost they could have hoped for heading into this National League term. Springs haven’t actually lost since July, finishing the winter season on a six-game winning streak that also includes a victory over Eastern Suburbs.

For the last couple years, Japanese duo Rina Hirano and Arisa Takeda have been standouts for this Western Springs team. Takeda is a wide defender and Hirano is a goal-scoring creative forward. This is a definitely a team with an international feel to it as American striker Sofia Garcia top scored with 10 goals. And goalkeeper Angelique TuiSamoa is a Samoan international and played at the OFC Nations Cup earlier in the year (coached by Paul Ifill).

Elsewhere they’ve had Sammi Tawharu playing up front, following three years of uni in the States. Tawharu was always impressive at age grade level and was a part of the Football Ferns squad for their series in Canada last October when travel restrictions led to a number of USA college students being called up to fill out the squad. Also gotta take note of captain Lily Jervis at the back. Jess Innes does a great job in midfield. And they’ve also got Emma Pijnenburg who was a part of the recent U20 World Cup squad, whilst Kitty Jacob didn’t make the final squad but was involved in wider squads earlier on in the journey. Ryan Faithfull is the head coach.

EASTERN SUBURBS

One thing to know about this Eastern Suburbs team above all else is that they score goals. So many goals. Incredibly, despite finishing in third place, their 73 total goals were twenty ahead of any other team in the NRFL Prem. Rovers and AK Utd both only scored 53. Western Springs only scored 41. That’s some astounding striker-ing from the Lilywhites. The flipside is that they also conceded 22 more than Northern Rovers did to still end up with a worse goal difference (and also 11 fewer points). But if you can score goals then you’re going to have a chance in any game you play.

Not only did Suburbs have the top scorer in the league, they also had the second top scorer... in fact they had four of the top five. Juliette Lucas is an Otago native who has played a bit for Southern in the past. Only 18 years old. She went absolutely bonkers this year after moving up to Auckland with 16 goals including three separate hat-tricks – one of them against Auckland United in August. Another of those hatties came in an 11-1 win over Tauranga City in which Lucas scored three and Jade Parris scored four. Parris was second on the league golden boot list with 13 goals. She’s emerged as a reliable top tier scorer for Suburbs going back a couple years now.

Plus Tayla O’Brien and Deven Jackson each scored 12 goals (Helen Arjomandi of Hamilton Wanderers also scored 12, rounding out the top five). Goals coming from all directions. The issue is more about being able to keep them out at the other end for the Lilywhites, who kept two clean sheets in their first three games and only had three more the rest of the way. But they conceded fewer goals than Auckland United over the course of the campaign so it’s hardly a glaring weakness.

Eastern Suburbs have also established a notable record of bringing through youth players in recent years. They’ve got a strong catchment area as the best performing club in East Auckland and have been making use of that. Three players in their men’s Chatham Cup final starting XI are part of the current NZ U19s at the OFC Champs. Two players at the U20 WWC were part of this women’s prem squad: Jana Niedermayr and Ella Findlay. Charlotte Wilford-Carroll has also been aligned with Suburbs in 2022 although was considered as part of the A-League Off-Season Programme for that U20s squad. Hopefully we see all three in some capacity – which wasn’t always possible during the season due to those rep commitments.

AUCKLAND UNITED

Rounding out the club teams with the Kate Sheppard Cup champions. Hell of a platform to rip into the National League from, having toppled their divisional champs in the final. A 1-0 win. Martine Puketapu with the clinching goal after a lovely assist from Milly Clegg. Clegg went away to the U20 World Cup (scoring that wonderful goal against Colombia) which, combined with FFDP duties, meant she didn’t feature a whole lot during the winter season. Also Puketapu, a former age grade boss, had taken some time away from the sport before getting back into it this year. Fingers crossed both will be super prominent over the next few months because this team’s got goals for days if they are.

The eleven that played in the KSC final is going to be tough for anyone to beat. Katie Duncan at centre-back, a Footy Ferns centurion. An exciting high school aged goalie in Aimee Feinberg-Danieli. Two really strong fullbacks in Jess Philpot and Emma Leaming. Alosi Bloomfield is a proven midfield stopper. Clegg and Ruby Nathan were the two youngest players in that U20 World Cup squad and are hugely talented attacking prospects. Bree Johnson. Bella Richards. Georgia Martin. That’s a quality team that Mauro Donoso’s working with... supposing they’re all available for summer footy.

You can never be completely sure of anyone’s enthusiasm to in a league where nobody’s getting paid, not to mention injuries and work commitments and all that. Even during the season AUFC seemed to struggle with a lack of depth which led to some wild results. Such as 6-1 losses to both Suburbs and Ellersie during a busy month of August – during a stretch in which they played five games in 21 days and had to default another one. Tell you what though, they came out of that stretch and won a cup final so they’re in good shape now. Peaking when it matters.

Another player to keep an eye out for: Prue Catton scored a hat-trick against Tauranga earlier in the year yet is often out of the team because she’s also now a contracted Auckland Hearts cricket player. Made her Hallyburton Johnstone Shield debut back in February where she scored 46 opening the batting and has since been rewarded with full senior squad status. Surely that’s too much talent for one person. Catton was an unused sub in the KSC final although we probably won’t see her very often (if at all) in the National League given that the cricket’s gotta take priority with a contract involved.

Also, Kate Duncan (not Katie Duncan but Kate Duncan – different people) was supposed to be in the U20 World Cup squad too but missed out due to injury. Not sure on the extent of that injury but in theory she’s another huge emerging talent who could be involved. This is a team stacked with killer prospects. Probably gonna see at least three players getting big minutes who were born in 2005 so let that sink in for a second.

CENTRAL

Into the federation teams now and, yeah, here’s where the previews do get a bit slippery. Central Football don’t have winter season form to discuss. They’ve also only named a handful of players to their squad so far. Four of them at the time of writing. Four very good players, to be fair. As it stands Kate Bennett, Holly Kleinsman, Maddison Hughes, and Georgie Furnell are the extent of the team representing Taranaki, Whanganui, Manawatu, Hawke's Bay and Gisborne. Of course, it’ll already be sorted behind the scenes and we just have to wait to hear about it. If any more player announcements filter in over the next few days ahead of the start of the campaign then you’ll probably read about it in our Substack mailer.

Kate Bennett was assistant coach for this team last year working with Matthew Calvert (who is back as head coach for his second year) but she’s putting the boots back on for 2022, likely to be an important leader alongside what has been an extremely young Central squad these past few years. They’ve lost a lot of games in that time but you do also have to recognise Central’s concurrent success in developing quality players. Especially when they’re doing so from outside the three main centres (Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch).

Almost every national age grade team has a couple Central locals. Players like Mackenzie Barry, Aniela Jensen, Charlotte Lancaster, and Jana Niedermayr to name but a handful. They tend to have to leave for those major cities to take the next step but huge credit to Central for identifying them, nurturing them, and boosting them up.

Holly Kleinsman is one who could join that crew down the line. The 17yo winger has plenty of pace and a fair bit of skill and stood out for this team last year even as they lost every game. She also scored a double for Palmerston North Marist in a 5-2 Kate Sheppard Cup semi-final loss to eventual champs Auckland United a few weeks back. There’s a reason she was one of the first signings to be announced.

They’ve also unveiled Maddi Hughes and Georgie Furnell, two more teenaged attacking options to add to the workforce. Neither played in the South Central Series but Furnell did play the season before that, starting 5/6 games after coming off the bench and scoring in the opener. Expect another youthful group in Central green this year and expect them to cop a lot more Ls than Ws. But also expect to learn a few names you’ll become a whole lot more familiar with down the line.

CAPITAL

No need to fill in any gaps here because Capital have already announced their full squad... and a pretty curious squad it is. Really surprised by a couple aspects. Maia Vink isn’t coaching them this year, working instead in a wider development role within the federation, so Wellington United coach Maika Ruyter-Hooley has been appointed instead. They they held trials for this squad in early August and the result of all that is a very different looking team to what we’ve seen in the past few years. 17 players were named in the main squad plus 6 more in the wider group. Only 4 of those 23 started a game for them in 2021’s South Central Series: Molly Simons, Zoe Barrott, Pepi Olliver-Bell, and Jayden Watts.

That changeover means losing a lot of their best young players as well as pretty much all of their senior experience. But then a lot has changed on the Wellington football scene in the past twelve months. The Wellington Phoenix’s A-League Women’s inclusion has drastically changed the pathways in this country and although it’s a sneaky fact that they didn’t actually sign anybody from Wellington in their inaugural season... the fresh existence of their women’s academy has certainly got some gravity. Olivia Ingham and Helena Errington for example, both key players for Capital last season and both now aligned with the Nix.

Still a sneaky good team that Capital have put together. Might lack a bit of polish that’ll keep them from competing at the very top of the table, though you never know. Two players who know a thing or two about winning are Renee Bacon and Lena De Ronde. Both were regulars for Southern United over the last couple years including last season when they won the South Central Series. Both are now playing in Wellington and will be a part of this Capital team.

As you’d expect, there’s a strong Wellington United presence – eight of the main 17 are from the Diamonds (2021 KS Cup champs, remember). Only four from Capital W-League champs Waterside Karori though, who went undefeated this league season. Renee Bacon was WK’s top scorer. United were third and Petone, also with four players in this squad (plus two more in the extendeds) were fourth. Second was Palmerston North Marist and you can be sure there’ll be a large PNM presence in Central’s squad.

CANTERBURY UNITED PRIDE

Is that... Alyssa Whinham!? Yup, seems to be. The ALW season doesn’t start until November 18 and that seems to offer just enough time for someone like Whinham to pop up for a couple games at the start of the National League. Won’t be much more than that given preseason activities will soon be calling but regardless this is a cool opportunity for Christchurchers to enjoy one of their favourite daughters putting defenders on skates in the old home town.

Makes you wonder if any other A-League affiliated players might suddenly appear in National League teams. Especially those without ALW contracts who were involved in the A-League Offseason Programme/FFDP. Never did find an official list of ALOP/FFDP players for 2022 so not sure entirely who that applies to. Ideally a National League should have the best available players involved though.

Obviously no Annalie Longo this year due to that ACL injury she suffered on Footy Ferns duty – there goes the MVP of last season. But she wasn’t going to play anyway given she was poised to sign with the Wellington Phoenix. Otherwise it’s an extremely consistent team from 2021 to 2022 with pretty much all their usuals available. Una Foyle, Lara Wall, Rebecca Lake, Mikaela Hunt, Kate Loye, Whitney Hepburn, Kate Guildford, Lottie Mortlock, Jasmine Donald... all sorted. Plus Britney-Lee Nicholson has returned to supply a few more goals having skipped the SCS last year.

As a result, there’s really not that much more to say about the Pride. No other National League squad is going to be as strong as this. Canterbury did have a few stumbles in the SCS with three defeats from six games, conceding way too many goals, but their dynastic status in women’s domestic footy means they get the benefit of the doubt. Canterbury United are the favourites. They always are.

SOUTHERN UNITED

The Southerners will have a new coach this year. Local fella Kris Ridley is returning to coach the WNL team as well as working for Football South in a developmental role, replacing Graeme Smaill who led this team to the South Central Series title but has had to step down for health reasons. Ridley had been working in Australia for the past 16 years. Seems like a decent enough appointment for a team with a fair bit of momentum.

There aren’t any squad deets for Southern Utd yet although we do know that Renee Bacon and Lena De Ronde are playing for Capital this year. Gotta assume it’ll be a relatively similar crew to 2021 with everyone buzzing to try and turn SCS success into NL success. Many of that SCS winning cohort play for Dunedin City Royals anyway so it’s an easy transition into the summer stuff. DCR were beaten semi-finalists in the Kate Sheppard Cup, going down on penalties to Northern Rovers, which shapes as a useful barometer for Southern United’s fate. The Royals also came second in the South Island Championship where they lost 4-1 to Coastal Spirit in the final week to decide that one.

DCR have the likes of Rose Morton, Kelsey Kennard, Hannah Mackay-Wright, Shontelle Smith, Chelsea Whittaker, Margi Dias, Emily Morison, and Ruby Anderson in their ranks – all of whom were part of Southern United’s 2021 trophy-lifting. Chuck in a few strong performers from other Southern Premiership clubs and they should go alright. Not sure about winning another title, they’ll need to cause a couple upsets for that to happen, but they’ll be competitive every single week. Expect nothing less.

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