A-League Women’s

Rebekah Stott & Hannah Wilkinson - Melbourne City

Let us begin at the top of the table where Melbourne City are being boosted by pair of Football Ferns icons who share a couple hundred caps between them. Rebekah Stott also happens to be an A-League legend having played more than a century of games and won four championships (Liz Anton is the only other New Zealander to reach 50 games and that only happened a few weeks ago). She’s was brought back from England (Brighton & Hove Albion) to captain this side in a clear sign of trophy-hunting intent from Melbourne City in response to a couple of seasons in which they didn’t quite get it done come finals time.

Hannah Wilkinson is in her third season with the club but don’t blame her for those finals woes as she’s scored three goals in three finals apps (granted, she and Katie Bowen did both miss in the penalty shootout that eliminated them last time). In her first ALW season she scored more goals than any other player in the ALW, including a record-equalling five in one game. Her second year was then a drop-off after missing a chunk of the start due to injury. This time around she’s been fit and available throughout and her production has balanced out somewhere in the middle of those two campaigns.

Melbourne City have been mostly superb, sprinting clear of the chasing pack whilst scoring an obscene quantity of goals in the process. The spotlight has been on forwards other than Wilkinson. At first it was Holly McNamara and since HM’s ACL tear it’s been Emina Ekic doing teenage phenom things. But all the while they’ve had Wilkie chipping away with one here and one there, and after her strike in the loss to Western United most recently those three are all level on six goals each (while Rhianna Pollicina and Daniela Galic have five apiece. To the point about obscene quantities of goals: of the 15 players who’ve scored 5+ times, somehow five of them play for MCY.

The only issue for Wilkinson is that she’s left a few on the table. She leads the A-League for Expected Goals (10.0 xG) so should really have a few more than she’s managed. You might recall that great chance she spurned against the Wellington Phoenix last week... although she also scored the winner against the Nix in week one. The ones you miss don’t matter as much as the ones you score so if it takes 2-3 chances to score one goal then that’s fine as long as there’s always 2-3 chances. Beats zero goals from zero chance, right? These are solid striker’s activities with room left to take it up a gear. Nothing to worry about.

As for Stotty, it’s exactly as you’d imagine. She’s hanging out at centre-back and casually running the show. They’ve alternated between a back three and a back four and it doesn’t make a difference. Stott’s always in good position. Keeps everything organised. Gets her body in the way when required. Gets the ball rolling in possession. Not only has she made more passes than anyone else in the league but it’s not even close. She’s almost 100 completed passes ahead of the next candidate... and that next candidate just so happens to be her CB partner Taylor Otto. Stott has completed 931 passes, Otto is at 793... next up is Victory’s Kayla Morrison at 702 completed passes.

Melbourne City are a very ball-dominant side, hence why those numbers are so astronomical. Katie Bowen did similar things for them in the same role last season and this build-up presence is a large reason why they brought Stott back. Only thing we haven’t seen quite as much of is Stott’s trademarked marauding runs into the midfield and beyond... hopefully captaincy hasn’t matured her that much. She did score a ripping goal in the 1-1 draw vs Central Coast in December. Melbourne City have had a wobble lately losing two of their past three matches but they remain six points clear in first place, well on target for the minor premiership.

Liz Anton & Grace Jale – Perth Glory

Grace Jale scored a banger in the first game of the season. In fact she scored three in the opening four as Perth Glory had a perfect start to the term. Playing for her third different team in three years, Jale seemed on the verge of something massive... but we’ve had to temper things since then. In hindsight, that was a pretty fortunate opening month of fixtures for the Glory and they’ve struggled to maintain that form ever since. 12 points from four games, only 10 points from the next 10 games. Jale has not scored again since that fourth game.

Honestly, she’s hardly even had a shot. But that’s part of how she plays, often drifting wide and facilitating. Sometimes she’s been deployed as a winger which keeps her further away from the goal. But she’s a solid passer and a strong runner and the fact she’s not got any assists is misleading because she’s third in the team for Expected Assists behind Millie Farrow and team leader... Liz Anton.

Liz Anton was injured for the very start of things, then returned to find that her central defensive position that she’s held for the last few seasons had been swept away from under her nose. So instead she’s made her home at left-back and that’s been a roaring success. Probably shouldn’t be surprised by that since Anton has played plenty of fullback before, including many times for the Football Ferns. This is nothing beyond her wheelhouse... she’s sturdy defensively and has begun to really get things flowing in the attacking half too. She had two assists in a 3-1 win over league-leaders Melbourne City back in December. Also set up a goal in the loss to Adelaide on the weekend. There are only four players across the whole ALW with more assists than Anton’s three. None of them are defenders.

Both Jale and Anton are playing pretty much every minute for the Glory. Jale would prefer some more goal contributions though that’s more down to the team’s plateau rather than her own. Also if they’d just commit to playing her as a centre-forward then you can bet it’d be different. Whether or not Anton would prefer playing through the middle herself, it’s hard to argue with what she’s doing on the left side. The league is wild enough, with every taking points from everyone else, that Perth still sit fourth despite winning just two of ten matches. These two aren’t quite as powerful a kiwi duo as the Melbourne City pairing but they’re not that far off.

Milly Clegg - Western Sydney Wanderers

Taken in isolation, this move was a shambles. The Wellington Phoenix were keen on bringing her back after Clegg topped their golden boot charts as a 17 year old, however it seems uncertainty over her role, with import forwards to compete with, led her to choose Western Sydney instead. That move was announced a few weeks prior to the World Cup for which Clegg was the youngest ever NZer selected in a squad.

Unfortunately the coach who signed her, Kat Smith, got sacked ten days before the season. Then Clegg was ineligible for the first few rounds due to a technicality: you’re not allowed to play professionally for an overseas club until you turn 18, so she had to wait that one out. That’s fine, they’d have known that going in. When she finally did get to play she looked a tad rusty, rushed a few of her shots, then got subbed off after only 56 minutes following a hamstring injury... which she later re-aggravated. Thus her ALW season was brought to a very rapid conclusion. Definitely not how it was envisioned.

Of course, that’s only the isolated picture. Zoom out and it doesn’t matter a jot because it turns out she’d already come to an agreement with American NWSL club Racing Louisville. Now that she’s been officially released by WSW, she’s been able to announce a three-year contract with RL where she’ll get to play alongside the legend Abby Erceg. Once she gets on the park, Clegg will become only the seventh NZer to ever play in that competition. Plenty more info where that came from in the latest Flying Kiwis yarn. It wasn’t the A-League season that she was hoping for but it’s all worked out fine in the end.

Hannah Blake & Rosetta Taylor - Adelaide United

This season could hardly have started better for Hannah Blake, who scored a lovely goal and also set up another plus won a penalty in a bonkers 4-4 draw with Canberra in week one. It turns out that goals against Canberra are easier to come by than most though... and Blake’s only been able to add one more goal to the tally since. Clearly she’s not been helped by Adelaide’s wider struggles. A win against Perth this past round has at least lifted them above last place on the table – but they’ve still scored the least goals and conceded the most. Not easy to rack up the numbers from that vantage point.

Which is a shame because Blake has mostly been doing very good things. She’s predominantly a right winger but has been used as a forward or in the midfield and is versatile enough to do any of those jobs well. Her effort and energy are never lacking, and she’s started all but two games. She was injured for one of those, the other she played off the bench and that was a mistake that was not repeated after Adelaide found themselves 4-0 down at half-time against Melbourne City without her (at which stage she was promptly subbed on, ADL eventually losing 5-0).

Blake made the switch from Perth to Adelaide this season and has stated her ambitions of launching over to England at some future stage. She has managed to get back into Football Ferns contention already, though was injured for the Colombia tour and had to withdraw.

Hannah Blake to LiveScore: “The aim is to have a great season with Adelaide and use that as a springboard for something in the UK. I've got a British passport, I was born there, so that would be a nice full-circle moment. For me the WSL is the strongest, most competitive league in the world. So why not aim for the best and see where you can fall if not there? That's sort of my goal at this point.”

It’s not easy to stand out when playing for one of the weakest sides in the competition. Blake’s found that to be the case, and Rosetta Taylor has definitely found that to be the case. Taylor has a curious international background. She was born in Aotearoa but mostly grew up in Australia, before spending the bulk of her teenage years in Spain and then playing a few years in England. The now-23yo was close to making the NZ U20s a few years back which is the best indicator of her international inclinations that we’ve got.

An attacking midfielder, Taylor started the first three games for Adelaide but then moved to the bench before getting injured. She played 20-odd minutes against Canberra on return but then wasn’t in the squad at all the following two weeks. Not a lot to go by there. Nothing to suggest an email from Jitka Klimkova quite yet but if ADL can turn a corner then that could change swiftly. Should mention that despite Taylor’s globe-trotting, the A-League is the highest level she’s played at yet so it takes some adjustment. And it’s tricky to do that when you’re not playing. Hannah Blake is playing though (top ten in progressive carries btw), and it does feel like there could be another game like that Canberra one just around the corner with a little more luck.

Deven Jackson & Ruby Nathan - Canberra United

Those A-League adjustments are something that Deven Jackson has spoken about during her time in Canberra, specifically getting used to the pace of these games after stepping up from the NZ domestic scene. And you can see it pretty clearly in how she’s progressed, steadily making herself more and more valuable to her team along the way. Her first six appearances were all off the bench, being used in a variety of positions, but since then she’s nailed on the starting left-wing spot. Jackson scored her first ALW goal in a 3-3 draw against Newcastle Jets a few weeks back... and she even finished that game with the captain’s armband on after Michelle Heyman was subbed. Let us also just add that Canberra might be down at the bottom of the table but DJ’s promotion to the starting eleven did immediately spark a four-game unbeaten streak. She had a goal disallowed against the Wellington Phoenix on the weekend.

Jackson’s walked a fascinating path to this point. Having been a standout at junior level, leading her to a uni scholarship in the USA, she considered herself retired a few years ago after three separate hip surgeries and “a case of burnout”. But the drive returned in 2022 and she linked up with Eastern Suburbs, where she was an absolute standout on their way to the National League title – with 12 goals & 7 assists in only 10 appearances, then two more of each in an outstanding individual Grand Final performance. The fates aligned for her to make a national team debut when the Football Ferns hosted USA outside of a FIFA window. Now she’s beginning to dribble and weave past defenders in the A-League in a similar way to how she did back at Madills Farm in Kohimarama.

In contrast, Ruby Nathan has not had to climb her way beyond any major career setbacks yet. There hasn’t been time for any of that. She’d literally just turned 18 when this A-League season began so things have happened quickly for her. Back in 2022, Nathan was one of only two NZers to make both the U17 and U20 World Cup squads in the same year... Milly Clegg was the other. Nathan and Clegg also won the Kate Sheppard Cup together with Auckland United that year, though Clegg joined the Wellington Phoenix after the U17 World Cup allowing Nathan to step out of her friend’s shadow with an astonishing 5 goals and 11 assists in only 9 games during the National League season.

That assist tally was the best in the competition despite her missing a month of action for the U17WC. The clever touches, the smart vision, and the ability to contribute goals (as well as her height) was what got her this gig with Canberra Utd... and also soon led to a Footy Ferns debut. While she’s understandably needed longer to get settled on the pitch than Jackson did, she has still played in every game to date. Generally we see her getting the last 10-20 minutes wide on the right wing.

Nathan does have one assist but her positioning doesn’t lend itself to shooting opportunities. She’s been tidy enough to hang around, not quite tidy enough to stand out. No dramas there. You could have said the same thing about quite a few Phoenix players during their first season. Nathan is so far ahead of schedule that this whole season is basically a learning opportunity in which she gets to pick the brains of players like Deven Jackson, Vesna Milivojevic, and the ALW’s all-time leading scorer Michelle Heyman.

Rebecca Burrows - Newcastle Jets

Burrows, a former NZ U20s representative, signed with Canberra United last year but never got to play after suffering a long-term injury at the end of her NPL season (where she’d been excellent for Heidelberg United – awarded Players’ Player of the Year in 2021). That sucked... but fortunately there was another opportunity around the bend for the now-29yo. Newcastle Jets scooped her up and here we are. RB made an ALW debut off the bench in a 1-0 win against Central Coast in week one and then started the next two matches. But she scored an own goal in a 4-0 defeat against Melbourne Victory the following week - blocking a cross from wide that looped up and over her keeper – and that was also the last time that Rebecca Burrows played for the Jets.

Don’t fret, there’ve been no injury dramas this time. Nope, instead it’s an overseas opportunity that’s summoned her away. Burrows has left the A-League to sign with Hainan Qiongzhong in the Chinese Super League. The first ever foreign signing for the club after their promotion to the top division – although RB’s Jets teammate Emily Roach also seems to have joined her so first-equal perhaps. Not a country where we get very many kiwi players popping up so it’ll be funky to see how she tracks.

Georgia Candy - Melbourne Victory

One more for good measure. Georgia Candy didn’t get re-signed by the Wellington Phoenix after spending last season as a scholarship player. She’d looked comfortable in her only ALW appearance but the Nix wanted an import keeper and something had to give. A few of the other ex-Nixers popped up in the NZ National League late last year (Charlotte Lancaster & Saskia Vosper, for example) but not Georgia Candy... who absolutely excelled there a couple years ago with Capital.

Nah, she spent her time with Eltham Redbacks in the Victorian NPL which is why she was ready on hand when the Melbourne Victory suddenly needed an injury replacement keeper. This following an ankle injury picked up by Aussie legend Lydia Williams in early January. Courtney Newbon therefore took over as the starter and Georgia Candy was summoned as a short-term bench backup with prior ALW experience. We’re up to three games now in which Candy has sat on the bench. Williams was back in the extended squad for the second game of those games but wasn’t quite ready for the matchday squad. Just a short-term gig for Candy, one which could even be over already, but happy to see she’s hanging around and keeping herself in the mix.

A-League Men’s

Oli Sail - Perth Glory

Over to the blokes now and it’s been crazy how hard Oli Sail got caught on the backswing after his move to Perth Glory. Following three impressive years as the Wellington Phoenix’s number one, he left seeking a new challenge and signed a three-year deal with Perth (admittedly not quite the European move that had been rumoured for a couple of offseasons prior). Fair enough, got to keep it fresh. Except that fresh soon turned stale.

The Glory made a managerial change during preseason when Ruben Zadkovic stepped aside and Alen Stajcic took over. Not ideal when you’re an offseason recruit made by the other bloke. Sail still walked out as the number one to start the season but it was a poor start, in particular a shocker in a week two loss against the Phoenix. Old mate Stajcic said afterwards that he wasn’t considering a goalkeeping change... but he was lying because youngster Cameron Cook wore the gloves the next week and the next week and onwards after that.

Sail was briefly in a position to call himself the All Whites number one (while Danny Hay was in charge) but his Glory exile led to him being dropped entirely for the most recent tour and Alex Paulsen’s emerged from the wings as arguably the best performing keeper in the entire ALM this season. Oli Sail got replaced at his old club, dropped by his new club, and overlooked by his national team. Bloody hell.

Perhaps the tide is turning back his way now, though. Because after a three-game losing streak in which Cook conceded 10 times, Sail was recalled to face Western Sydney a couple weeks ago. The Glory won that game 2-1 and Sail made six saves. Enough to keep him between the sticks for a 2-2 draw away to Macarthur. Perth have only kept one clean sheet all season (Cook in week three) so defensively they’ve been a bit of a mess. But Oli’s back in a position to do something about that now. Put those brutal few months in the rearview.

Clayton Lewis - Macarthur

Here’s the other starting level player and kiwi international who left the Wellington Phoenix after last season. Clayton Lewis has been very busy with Macarthur, balancing A-League activities with AFC Cup stuff has made sure of that. Still found time to add a couple more All Whites caps in the midst of it all as well. Barely time to catch a breath.

Lewis began the season in sharp form by setting up the equalising goal in a 1-1 week one draw against Brisbane. He’s had one more assist since, plus another two in the continentals. Generally operating a little deeper than he would for the Phoenix, although he’s still creating chances with his attacking crosses. We’re also seeing a more combative version of Clay, who has been booked four times already, along with having the sixth most interceptions. Always a set piece threat. You know how he rolls.

Except that, hate to admit, he got dropped to the bench for the last couple of games. Lewis started his first dozen appearances (missing one match, presumably due to injury) but a six-game run without a win led to changes. Still a long way to go and he’s been pretty good overall for a team that currently sit fifth. They’re also through to the AFC Cup knockout stages, where they’ll meet Sabah FC of Malaysia. At least Lewis, unlike Sail as a goalkeeper, is still getting decent substitute chunks to show his credentials. He’ll work his way back soon enough.

Dane Ingham & Lachlan Bayliss - Newcastle Jets

Dane Ingham was the Newcastle Jets player of the year last season. To be fair, that was a very strange decision which probably had more to do with how poor the team had been overall. However Ingham did find a really nice pocket playing further forward than his usual fullback spot, earning himself a two-year contract extension. For a bloke who’d felt like a perennial potential player for so long (and whose reputation back in Aotearoa was somewhat spoiled by Anthony Hudson thinking he was a starting eleven All White years before he was ready), it was a wonderful breakthrough campaign from DI.

He’s giving more of the same in 2023-24. Ingham’s started every game except one and in that one he was subbed on at half-time and set up a goal. Alternating between right back and occasionally right midfield, he’s up to two assists and has been a reliably consistent presence out on that edge with his pace and crossing. For the second straight season he’s proving himself as one of the better tacklers going around as well. Dane surpassed 100 ALM appearances a couple months ago. Yeah, he’s doing good.

As for Lachlan Bayliss, he’s on the fringes. Both of the Jets (whom he signed for this season after several years in the Central Coast Mariners academy) and also for New Zealand eligibility. Bayliss was born and raised in Australia but has dual heritage and was called up for the NZ U23s late last year before withdrawing through injury. Bayliss is 21 years old with a pretty impressive goal-scoring record in the NPL grades, especially considering he’s more of an attacking midfielder than a striker. He made five appearances for the Jets at the start of the campaign, four of those games being starts... but we haven’t seen him since. Seems to be injured.

There are a few others in the ALM who have dual heritage so don’t think of this as an exhaustive list. Keegan Jelacic, for example, has even played age grade for New Zealand – and is currently back on loan in Aussie with Brisbane Roar. He moved to Belgian club Gent from Perth Glory but they loaned him out to Stabæk in Norway where he played regularly off the bench in the latter months of that season, now they’ve loaned him to the Roar where he was sent off on debut (for utterly clattering Clayton Lewis) and is currently serving his suspension. But Jelacic has made it fairly clear that he sees his future with the Aussie system and there’s not much point getting into details on others who haven’t yet committed to NZ, or at least shown inclinations that way. There are more fellas in ALM systems who aren’t yet doing first team things. Luka Coveny at Western United and the Argent twins (Max & Ruben) at Perth Glory, for example. Their time will come.

Storm Roux - Central Coast Mariners

How’s it been going for Storm Roux lately? Yeah nah a little more violent than usual...

Roux got sent off from the bench for that and is currently serving a three-game suspension for his role in the shenanigans deep into stoppage time of that grand final rematch (although the club did appeal the ban). It’s hard to see what he actually did amongst all the bodies there but it seems that the red was for body slamming one of the City fellas into the padded advertising on the sideline.

That was weird. However just know that, beyond that incident, Roux has been stringing together another fine A-League season for himself. He’s started most games, contributing a goal and an assist, as the defending champs have powerfully recovered from losing their first four matches to currently nurse a 10-game unbeaten streak. The two games that he didn’t start (prior to his suspension) were the first two games, and that was only because of a leg injury. He also played in all six of their AFC Cup group stage fixtures (although only two were starts as they rotated things around). CCM will face Phnom Penh Crown of Vietnam in the knockouts.

He looks settled, he looks happy (fights aside), and he’s playing great footy. Having signed a one-year extension during last season, Roux recently re-upped for two more campaigns with the Mariners beyond this. Kinda surprising that, with all the fluctuation at right back for the All Whites in recent years, Storm Roux has only added two caps to his tally across the past five years.

Last season, Roux was joined by James McGarry for an all-kiwi fullback tandem in Central Coast. McGarry’s since been sold onwards to Aberdeen in the Scottish Premiership. Youngster Zac Zoricich also made a debut off the bench for CCM during their championship campaign although he’s no longer with the club having instead signed on with Sydney Olympic, one of the clubs who’ll be part of Football Australia’s National Second Division which starts next year. S’pose we could argue that Brian Kaltak is kiwi-adjacent after all his NZ National League excellence over the years. Obviously the Mariners need to find themselves another New Zealander or two though.

Marco Rojas – Brisbane Roar

Oh say would you look at this...

Literally right as this article was going through its final edits, this stonker of a news bomb landed. Marco Rojas has been a free agent since leaving Colo-Colo in Chile last year. He took a break. Now he’s back with the Brisbane Roar (a new ALM club for him), signing through until the end of the season. He’s already been training with the team and will be available to play this upcoming weekend against... the Wellington Phoenix, of course. How’s that for timing?

If you appreciate the yarns on TNC, then give a thought to supporting us via Patreon or with a Paid Substack so that we’re getting paid for our mahi and can keep on delivering – a little goes a long way, chur chur

Also helps to whack an ad, hit us up on Buy Me A Coffee, and to tell your mates about us

Keep cool but care