The squad is complete. 23 players are on board for season three with the club’s stated aim being a maiden finals appearance. Two straight wooden spoons don’t lend too much faith towards that possibility but there’s a lot to like about the Wellington Phoenix’s A-League Women’s team this year. Lessons have been learned from past campaigns and experience has been gained. The Aussie player quota has been lifted. They now have a fully functioning academy team, including a reserve team in the NZ National League. Further A-League expansion means a longer season for a team that has finished much stronger than it has started both times so far. Plus they sign imports now, did you hear?

The WahiNix are onto their third coach in three years so that’s not ideal. Gemma Lewis took up an opportunity back in Wales a year ago. Natalie Lawrence declined to stay on after last season, spending some time with the Football Ferns before also going back to the motherland with a gig in England. Now Paul Temple is the bossman. But Temps is a shrewd operator himself and his experience with national age grade sides, as well as having coached the women’s reserves, puts him in good stead. It’s another internal promotion from the club which should maintain a nice flow from last season into this one.

Of the 23 players on board, there are eight who were part of the team’s inaugural season: Chloe Knott, Mackenzie Barry, Alyssa Whinham, Zoe McMeeken, Brianna Edwards, Grace Wisnewski, Kate Taylor, and Kelli Brown. Seven of those have been there the whole time, whereas Brown was released last season but re-signed for this on the back of some killer NPL for with Macarthur Rams – where she was second leading goal scorer in the competition as her team took out the New South Wales championship. There are an additional four players who joined last season who have re-upped for another go. Then there are ten others who will be making their Welly Nix debuts when the opportunity presents first itself.

At the start of the offseason only Knott and Whinham were under contract. Prior to the World Cup they were able to announce a few more re-signings and that continued steadily up until... well, up just a couple weeks ago when their fourth import was announced to polish off the 23-woman playing roster. Along the way they let loose a number of fringe players who weren’t going to be a part of the plans. They also watched a few of their own sign elsewhere. In the end they locked in a squad that looks something (/exactly) like this...

Wellington Phoenix Women’s Squad 2023-24

Retained: Chloe Knott, Alyssa Whinham, Mackenzie Barry, Michaela Robertson, Emma Main, Michaela Foster, Marisa van der Meer, Kate Taylor, Grace Wisnewski, Brianna Edwards, Zoe McMeeken (Scholarship)

New Signings: Rebecca Lake, Hope Breslin (Import), Hailey Davidson (Import), Mariana Speckmaier (Import), Macey Fraser, Annalie Longo, Olivia Ingham (Scholarship), Manaia Elliott (Scholarship), Daisy Brazendale (Scholarship), Kelli Brown, Rylee Foster (Import), Aimee Danieli (Amateur)

Released/Departed: Betsy Hassett (Stjarnan, ISL), Paige Satchell (London City Lionesses, ENG), Milly Clegg (Western Sydney Wanderers), Isabel Gomez (Central Coast Mariners), Claudia Cicco (Newcastle Jets), Ava Pritchard, Saskia Vosper, Te Reremoana Walker, Charlotte Lancaster, Georgia Candy, Emma Rolston, Lily Alfeld

Just quickly on the last few departees there, a couple did play NPL during the winter. That was the case for Pritchard, Walker, and Lancaster. Lancaster has since returned to play for Eastern Suburbs in the National League, while Saskia Vosper is at Waterside Karori. Haven’t heard anything on Georgia Candy. Lily Alfeld requires another back surgery so won’t be fit for this season but has been retained in a non-playing capacity as an operations executive on the academy side (which isn’t merely a sneaky job placement – she graduated Louisiana State University with a degree in general business with a sports administration minor... so she’s qualified). Emma Rolston has also had to go under the knife due to recurring back problems. She had her surgery last week.

You may recall something of a recurring theme where the Wellington Phoenix Women struggled to score goals? They took the fewest shots per game last season out and had trouble converting chances even when they did create them. Corner kicks aside, where Marisa van der Meer was a menace on the end of Mickey Foster’s persistent inswingers, plus a couple of flourishes from the unicorn Milly Clegg, it was not a pretty sight. Much of the rest of their football was humming along smoothly but they weren’t getting the necessary rewards. Of their 18 games, there were four draws and seven single-goal defeats. That’s a lot of points left uneaten on the dinner plate because they couldn’t convert one extra chance per match.

That does at least show that they’re not too far away. Good reason for optimism. However departing coaches are not the only annual tradition for this team: they seem to lose their top goal scorer to a rival club every year as well. It happened with Grace Jale moving to Canberra (she’s now at Perth for 2023-24) and it happened with Milly Clegg joining Western Sydney.

If you look back at the players they’ve released you’ll see names like Ava Pritchard, Emma Rolston, and Paige Satchell. Those five accounted for 44/54 of last season’s starts up front and on the wings. Plus they weren’t able to retain Betsy Hassett either who was their main number ten. There is some continuity in the form of Whinham and Mickey Robertson... but it would otherwise appear that Paul Temple has chosen to rebuild the entire attack.

To do that they’ve opened themselves up to the wide world of foreign footballers. Three American signings plus a Canadian. The Canadian is a goalkeeper, Rylee Foster, who has a truly remarkable story. She used to play for Liverpool (alongside Meikayla Moore) but suffered a car accident a few years ago which left her with seven separate neck fractures amongst other injuries. Every footballer with a long-term injury seems to get that one doctor who tells them they’ll never play again but in this case it really is a miracle that she’s done so. R.Foster trialled with Celtic recently but an unrelated knee injury caused her to fail a medical. The Nix brought her in and tested her out then were happy enough to sign her with due diligence accounted for.

As to the Americans, Hope Breslin was number tahi. The club’s first ever visa player. Breslin is an attacking midfielder/winger, 24 years of age, who played eight times for Angel City in the NWSL last year – alongside Ali Riley – after being drafted by the club. She wasn’t re-signed but recently popped up at Houston Dash as a replacement player while they were down a few World Cup absentees. She’s technical player with 1v1 dribbling ability and a sweet left foot who can cover multiple positions. Nothing to worry about there.

Next came Hailey Davidson who isn’t strictly an attacking player but as an attack-minded right fullback she will definitely boost the team in that aspect. Defensively they had no dramas in that position even after Cushla Rue departed. Mack Barry and Marisa van der Meer are both excellent fullbacks, even though both excelled as central defenders last year. Scholarship players Zoe McMeeken and Manaia Elliott are also adept right fullbacks.

But the team still needed that punch going forwards and Davidson should supply that. She went undrafted after a strong college career but did receive a training camp invite with the Houston Dash (where she met fellow Nix import Hope Breslin). HD then signed a short term deal at Mallbacken and was a regular for them in the second tier of Swedish football. Funky plot twist: the Swedish team had their World Cup base at the NZ Campus of Innovation and Sport where the Wellington Phoenix are also based. Davidson’s agent represents a few of the Swedish national team players who raved about the facilities.

Then there’s Mariana Speckmaier, import toru, the much anticipated foreign striker that the team have been targeting. It’s very possible that plans to bring in an overseas player in that position had a lot to do with why Milly Clegg left... but that’s probably for the best all around. If Clegg gets more opportunities at WSW then sweet as. But the Nix absolutely needed an experienced option with the utmost available quality to bang in a few goals. It had to be done. Mariana Speckmaier is the one.

Speckmaier was drafted by the Washington Spirit in 2021 and did make three NWSL appearances for them that year (a year in which they won the championship) but then left to sign in Russia only to abandon that gig when the war broke out with Ukraine. She ultimately ended up with Valur in Iceland where she made six appearances (only one start... in which she was subbed off, presumably injured, after 20 mins) and never scored a goal. But the trophy trend continued as she won a league and cup double on top of getting a taste of UCLW qualifiers. Valur finished first ahead of Betsy Hassett’s Stjarnan in 2022.

After that, Speckmaier returned to Washington Spirit as a training player and was temporarily elevated to the main roster while others were at the World Cup. During that sneaky window she managed to score a Sam Kerr style game-winner in a Challenge Cup match against Orlando. Speckmaier was born and raised in Miami, Florida but her father is Venezuelan which has allowed her to represent the Venezuela national team. She went to the U20 World Cup in Papua New Guinea back in 2016 where she scored the nation’s first ever U20s goal in a 3-1 loss to Germany. She has 13 caps for the senior team with 2 goals – playing the second half of a 1-0 win againt Uruguay in the last window (Deyna Castellanos of Manchester City scored the winning goal). Venezuela are scheduled to play the USA at the Pan American Games in October.

All three will be locked-on starters for the Nix. Rylee Foster is less of a guarantee because of her injury history but Brianna Edwards made such big strides last season that they can handle that risk. Foster is a bit like when the men signing Gary Hooper back in the day. Were it not for injuries then that calibre of player would never have been available to the Welly Nix so that added risk factor is what brings them into the picture. It’s a gamble for sure... but one they can live with if the experiment doesn’t pay off. At the very least they’ll have an inspirational figure in the dressing room – any person who can come back from something like that is going to be a personality worth having around (media suggestion: someone get Rylee Foster in touch with Mary Goulding).

Just in case, Aimee Danieli has been drafted from the academy on an amateur contract to be the third choice keeper. She and Nix Reserves goalie Charlotte Eagle were the U17 World Cup keepers for NZ last year and will likely do the same at the U20s in 2024.

There will need to be some shuffling to fit Davidson and Breslin into the team. Figuring out how they fit with others in the squad and which positions are they most dangerous from. That kinda thing. But it’s Mariana Speckmaier who has all the pressure on her. She’s the one brought in to supply goals, to lift this team up into contention. And while Speckmaier seems to fit the bill for the Welly Nix almost perfectly... scoring regular goals is the one box that she hasn’t yet ticked. Limited playing opportunities at previous clubs may be the only explanation needed, who knows. It’s not like Oskar Zawada had an intimidating goal scoring record until he signed with the Phoenix either. Plus Speckmaier doesn’t have to score them all personally, she just has to help grease the wheels for a team that does. A lot will depend on how well she goes though.

Once the import spots were designated and the existing squad evaluated and re-signed or released... there was only room for three outside additions. One was Kelli Brown doing the hokey-pokey and putting her right foot (and the left) back into the Welly Nix mixer after some NPL form that was simply too good to overlook. If the Nix didn’t bring her back then another A-League club surely would have. Brown has been a proven goal scorer at a variety of levels now (U17s, NZ National League, Aussie NPL) and the main reason she didn’t fire when she was initially at the club was that she had ankle and concussion issues that limited her to a mere 229 minutes of action (and most of that was at the start of the season when the team was losing every week). That clinical finishing potential has been a rare thing in Aotearoa. Delighted to see her return... reuniting that Waikato Wonder pairing with Grace Wisnewski. The last ever WaiBOP team featured those two and also Michaela Foster and a very young Manaia Elliott and Aimee Danieli. Funny how that happens.

Most of the defenders that they let go were stuck down the depth charts and had to make way for the imports to strengthen things. The unretained forwards were much more involved... and it was their inefficiencies that cost them. Paige Satchell has insane speed and strength but lacks that technical polish and whilst she can certainly develop it... that development is best done at a club that isn’t desperate for a more clinical attacking edge. London City Lionesses is a brilliant move for her. Emma Rolston’s problem was recurring injuries and she’s had to take some time away to sort that out. The best ability is availability, as they say. Ava Pritchard is a player with no clear weaknesses but also no clear strengths. She didn’t have an x-factor to set her above... though her exit was still a surprise after having featured in every single game during the first two seasons (alongside Chloe Knott).

Satchell and Rolston were hyped up signings for the Nix, both being capped Football Ferns, yet the fit just didn’t work. Betsy Hassett, on the other hand, was just what they needed as a Ferns centurion with a classy touch capable of playing for a possession-heavy team. She’s since gone back to Iceland... but in her place comes Annalie Longo. Pretty much a like-for-like in terms of influence and experience and ability. Longo will be the oldest in the squad by five years. Auntie Flea. She’s also just as brave as Hassett when it comes to wanting the ball at her feet (if not braver) and that certainly feels like a progression that this team is ready to discover.

Plus unlike Hassett, Longo already has previous A-League experience. In fact she’s won two championships with Melbourne Victory so she knows exactly what it takes to win at this level. With 37 ALW appearances and six goals she leads the way in both categories amongst this WPX squad. She and Marisa van der Meer are the only ones to have played for another ALW club. Longo and MVDM also have something specific in common with the third outside addition: Rebecca Lake. All three are former Canterbury United Pride players.

They’re not the only ones either. Already mentioned that WaiBOP reunion going on in this Nix squad but that’s chump change compared to the Canterbury Contingent. Kate Taylor and Alyssa Whinham had breakthrough National League seasons prior to being signed for the Phoenix, while Zoe McMeeken came up through the Cantabs academy although she was signed so young to the Nix that she only sparingly played for the Pride first team. But she still counts. That makes it 7/23 players who’ve come through that Pride system. All except MVDM and McMeeken were part of the Cantab team that defeated Capital in the 2020 grand final... with Mickey Robertson and Olivia Ingham part of that Capital side (as well as Georgia Candy who was with the Nix last season).

Rebecca Lake got a Football Ferns call-up for that out-of-window USA tour back in February. She didn’t play but her mere presence is all you need to know about Lake’s standing as one of the countries premier domestic defenders. She also captained that Pride team for multiple years despite still only being 24 years of age. To be honest, if it had been picked on current talent rather than potential she probably should’ve been signed in place of Kate Taylor two years ago... but they’re both there now so no worries.

Other than that, the remaining signings were internal ones. This may have been the year that the women’s team embraced imports but it’s also the year that the Nix as a whole club leant all the way into their own academy pathways. The men’s team is betting their whole season on the youngsters while the women, for the first time, are able to do similar things now that there’s an equal academy structure in place on their side too.

The result of that has been Macey Fraser getting promoted to a senior deal while Olivia Ingham, Daisy Brazendale, and Manaia Elliott have signed scholarship deals (alongside Zoe McMeeken who, like Te Reremoana Walker last time, missed out on a senior gig but is still young enough for a scholar’s deal instead).

Fraser is a creative midfielder with a silky touch and all sorts of skills. She was in the U17 World Cup bronze medal squad of 2018 alongside Barry, van der Meer, Wisnewski, and Brown. She was also still young enough to go to the U20 World Cup with the following wave (as was Wisnewski) – the U20s squad that was coached by Gemma Lewis and which the year one Phoenix were largely built around. Players in that squad who play or have played for the Nix: Milly Clegg, Zoe McMeeken, Charlotte Lancaster, Te Reremoana Walker, Alyssa Whinham, Kate Taylor, Ava Pritchard, Brianna Edwards, Macey Fraser, Grace Wisnewski, and Marisa van der Meer.

Meanwhile Ingham is a speedy forward who has scored National League goals for Capital and is just about ready to return from an ACL injury. Brazendale is a Nelson native who will be the youngest in the team (though is older than Clegg was this time a year ago). She’s a defensive midfielder. And Manaia Elliott is another Waikato prospect who had a great season with Auckland United in the 2022 National League and captained the NZ U17s at last year’s World Cup. She’s a winger/fullback who will absolutely crunch into tackles and can blast the ball into the net.

Here’s a loose guess as to what a depth chart may look like based upon last year’s formation...

• GK – Rylee Foster | Brianna Edwards | Aimee Danieli

• RB – Hailey Davidson | Marisa van der Meer | Zoe McMeeken

• CB – Mackenzie Barry | Marisa van der Meer

• CB – Kate Taylor | Rebecca Lake

• LB – Michaela Foster | Marisa van der Meer | Zoe McMeeken

• CDM – Grace Wisnewski | Daisy Brazendale | Kate Taylor

• CM – Chloe Knott | Annalie Longo | Macey Fraser

• CAM – Annalie Longo | Alyssa Whinham | Macey Fraser

• RW – Hope Breslin | Emma Main | Manaia Elliott

• CF – Mariana Speckmaier | Kelli Brown | Chloe Knott

• LW – Michaela Robertson | Emma Main | Olivia Ingham

And so here we are, less than two weeks out from the start of the new season. Year three is when the Wellington Phoenix finally have expectations. Before they had hopes, but it wasn’t a big drama when they repeated as wooden spooners. That’s not an option this time. They’re too good for that now that they’re operating on an even playing field with the rest of the league. No squad quotas. Proper imports in place. The core of their team have had two years to get adjusted to the level and those that didn’t quite get there in time have been cut loose. The expanded season counts in their favour and it’s so far so good with the new coach, who clearly has a plan in place.

There’s a lot to like about where this team is headed. Lots of reasons to be optimistic. In fact right now you’d probably have to say that the women’s team should finish higher up the ladder than the men’s team do... but that’s a conversation for another article.

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