After guiding the Wellington Phoenix to the grand final with an extra-time second-leg win against Brisbane Roar at a sold out Jerry Collins Stadium in Porirua, Bev Priestman did a post-game interview where she was asked the cliched question about whether she believed this was possible when she first took the job. Most sportsfolk meet that question with generic variations of ‘not in my wildest dreams’, letting the emotion of the moment tell the story instead, but without hesitation Coach Bev said: Yes. She always believed it was possible because she had a strong group of players, having made quality signings on top of those that she’d inherited, she had a club that was willing to back it’s women’s team, and unspoken was probably also the inference that she herself is used to coaching winning teams and would not have taken the job if she didn’t think this team was capable of what they went on to achieve.

It’s ironic that the journey was halted at the feet of Melbourne City, the team that pipped them to the Premiership and then defeated them again for the Championship. Ironic because without Melbourne City’s captain and Clare Polkinghorne Medalist, Rebekah Stott, none of this would have happened. It was Football Ferns centurion and self-proclaimed Drone Enthusiast Stotty who spotted that fated Canadian hardware hovering over their training session during the last Olympics, creating a domino effect that led to Bev Priestman being banned from football for 12 months and moving to New Zealand (where her wife, Emma Humphries, just so happens to be the current head of the Wellington Phoenix Academy). The Nix needed a new coach and BP needed a fresh environment to revive her career. That career has been very convincingly revived... though once again her nemesis Stotty (who also scored the goal in a 1-0 City win over the Nix earlier in the season) defied her in the end.

Nevertheless, what Priestman and her team accomplished during the 2025-26 A-League Women’s season was astonishing. She taught this team how to win. Their previously sketchy away form was not an excuse. The lack of finals experience in her squad was not an excuse. Early season injuries to several key players – including their captain and two imports – were not excuses. And what’s more, they’re set up to keep winning next year as Priestman returns for a second season in charge.

The Bevolution

How did they do this? How did the Wellington Phoenix go from two wooden spoons and zero finals games across their first four seasons to immediately challenging for trophies in year five? It’s a word that gets bandied around a lot but honestly it might be as simple as this: Belief. A team whose first four years had been closely entwined with the NZ U20s team and their own Academy finally received an outsider voice, someone who once coached Canada to an Olympic Gold Medal, who was an assistant coach for England before that, who has therefore coached and coached against many of the best female footballers on the planet (and it’s very relevant that this reputation came from the women’s side specifically)... and that voice told them that they were good and they believed it.

There were tactical elements to this as well but Bev Priestman’s greatest asset is her motivational skills. She had established ALW players like Grace Jale and Mack Barry fulfilling their potential. She had a 17yo Pia Vlok out there ballin’ despite never having played professionally before. She’s helped turn Emma Pijnenburg from a fringe Football Fern into a regular squadie. Having somebody with that history telling you that you’re one of the best players in your position across the entire A-League, who are you to contradict it, right?

Makala Woods (speaking to Impetus Football) about Bev Priestman...

“She’s so sweet! I love Bev, I think she’s great. She’s the perfect balance of ‘this is serious, this is a professional environment, we want to win, we have standards,’ but also ‘I care about you as a human being.' She’ll hold us accountable but also make sure we’re OK off the pitch. Out of all the coaches I’ve ever had I think that’s what you’d want in someone. She’s not going to sugarcoat it, she’s not going to beat around the bush, but she’s very caring – she cares deeply about every single one of us. That’s so special, and she’s really, really smart. I think her soccer knowledge is so cool. She’s a high level coach and I’ve never been coached by someone that esteemed. Her vision of the game and how she sees things, it’s really awesome.”

The other thing that BP’s motivational skills help with is keeping players ripping in at maximum capacity throughout the season because Priestman’s style isn’t anything glamorous. She wants hard workers, she prioritises physicality, and everything is built upon sturdy defence. That’s the identity of this team. There’s no intricate small-ball stuff at play here - Priestman is an old fashioned type of coach who sets her team up from the back.

You could see that in the values she preferred in certain positions. The back three of Mack Barry, Ellie Walker, and Marisa van der Meer (all of whom started every single game) are all strong, combative players. They win tackles. They compete for headers. They chase down runners. That’s the foundation of the team right there.

Even more fascinating was the midfield. CJ Bott was playing there to begin with - someone who has mostly been a right fullback in her career, not having played consistently in midfield since her age grade days, and therefore brings a right-back’s qualities to the role (hard tackling, lots of energy, less of an emphasis in passing). Then after former Netherlands international Tessel Middag was injured, Grace Jale settled in alongside CJB as a converted forward, albeit someone with more of a midfield background than Bott. Jale played there at an U20 World Cup once upon a time. She also spent some time in midfield towards the end of last season which may have even been at the behest of Bev Priestman who was known to already be attending games by then.

Not a lot of top-shelf coaches would put a fullback and a winger in such a pivotal area. That Bott + Jale midfield combo offered very little short passing precision (the Nix ranked 9th from 11 teams in accurate passes per game) but those were two powerful forces to unleash in the middle of the park. Bott’s pregnancy plus a knee injury meant she had to dip out after seven games however Jale stayed on and had by far her best ALW season, absolutely thriving in a role that it quickly became clear should have been her spot all along as she won both the Wellington Phoenix Women’s Player of the Year and Players’ Player of the Year awards and restored her Football Ferns presence.

This was a masterstroke from Priestman. Jale’s short passing may be a bit sketchy but her long passing game is legitimately as good as anyone in the A-League, particularly when it comes to those crossfield switches. Being in midfield also keeps Jale more involved and by her own admission she’s a player who is most effective when she feels like she’s part of the action. She’s also the best in the business at winning headers in the midfield. Oddly, that was often a weakness for her as a striker where she struggled up against centre-backs, but against those wee midfielders she gobbles them up. Ranks really high for tackles and interceptions too.

Bev Priestman on Grace Jale’s conversion to a midfielder this season:

“I think height. I think pace. I think she can hit a ball like no other. So, I can absolutely see why they have played her up top because if you just put them things together, you'd go: "Ah, she's a she's a forward." But I think if I look at the way we play with two midfielders for the most part, you need players that can cover ground, you need great passers of a ball, and you need someone that isn't afraid to win aerial balls and make the first and the second phase. The minute I got in the club and worked with her, obviously I've watched her and scouted her from opposition, but I remember thinking wow she is like a top top technician. She just has a very good passing ability and she can do it on one touch and that's a big thing I've really challenged her on is to play forward and play quicker. And she's done that. I've given her every challenge and she's taken it and really excelled. I'm over the moon for her and I'm over the moon that we secured her for another year because I think to be honest she could be snapped up.”

But there’s adaptability here too because Emma Pijnenburg was signed as a mid-season replacement having wrangled an early release from Feyenoord, where she’d been on the fringes of their first team for a couple years having initially joined the academy side, and she’s nobody’s idea of a midfield wrecking ball. She’s the opposite: a silky technical player who gets into pockets and makes sure the ball stays moving, with a particular talent for progressive passes. It took her a little while to win the full faith of her coach, often starting games but being subbed off around the hour, though by the time the finals rolled around she was out there for all except a couple of minutes. Jale and Pijnenburg are a Yin-Yang combination that fell upon the team via unexpected circumstances yet which raised their competitive ceiling by giving them an extra element. And Pijnenburg certainly rose to the challenge of bringing some extra physicality into her game to fit within a Bev Priestman system.

Similar things were true in the forward line where the emphasis was again on athleticism over technique. Makala Woods gave us the full Makala Woods Experience in the second leg vs Brisbane, scoring two lovely goals both running in behind onto superb passes from Pia Vlok and Brooke Nunn (especially the Vlok pass, jeepers)... but also missing several big chances including a double-effort with basically the last kick of second half stoppages. In her first eight games, Woods got 5 goals and 5 assists. She then went through a five-game drought which she snapped with her semi-final-winning brace and a goal in the grand final. From day one it’s been the case with Woods that she’s a prolific scorer but not an efficient scorer... she misses a lot of chances but her rapid pace and boundless energy means she’s always there for the next one. Another coach would prefer a more clinical finisher but it’s easy to see how Makala Woods fits (and has thrived) in a Bev Priestman team.

Even Pia Vlok is the same. The ALW’s Young Footballer of the Year scored six goals with four assists as a 17-year-old phenom having joined as a scholarship player from Auckland United. If you’ve been paying attention to the domestic scene then you’ll already know about Pia Vlok. She didn’t emerge from the blue – she captained NZ at the 2025 U17 World Cup and scored in the 2024 National League grand final. But for all that blatant talent, she wouldn’t have stuck around like she did under this coach if she wasn’t also tall and strong and a menace in the challenge. Certain fundamentals apply and Pia Vlok has them covered.

The Grand Final

The WahiNix’s three finals games painted an interesting triptych of this team. Game one away in Brisbane was a 2-1 loss that didn’t do too much harm knowing that they had home advantage to follow. Seemed like Priestman set her team up hoping for a draw – although the first five minutes (Motivational Speaker Bev at work) were as good as it gets with Grace Jale scoring and enough additional chances that it could have been 3-0 by the time the game paused for an injury break. But from then onwards it turned stale as the Roar shut down the width of the Nix’s attack and happily jumped on the heavy touches of the American forwards (with Vlok only fit enough for the bench). Which brings us to Mikaela Bangalan’s debut.

Bangalan moved from Fencibles in Auckland down to the Nix Academy earlier in the year but the timing of the Nix Reserves season meant she hadn’t even played for the club before being called into the squad for a semi-final away in Brisbane... debuting at 18yo with half an hour off the bench as the first substitute called upon in the midfield. Now, Daisy Brazendale might have been a bit peeved by that as someone who’d been playing in that same position off the bench all season being suddenly overtaken by a youth player. But you could see the vision as soon as Bangalan came on and promptly fouled Roar star Momo Hayashi twice in a row. This was a (wo)man-marking assignment and Bangalan obviously showed something in training that convinced Coach Bev that she was the one for that very specific job. Bangalan was then nowhere to be seen for the next two games. Another glimpse there into Bev Priestman’s managerial mindset.

The return leg against Brisbane was a glorious day with a massive crowd and Makala Woods scoring twice as the Nix prevailed in extra time. Had to be patient, had to stay confident... and the home advantage swing did the rest as the Nix shut down Brisbane defensively and reclaimed physical assertiveness in the trenches. But the grand final itself proved a step beyond them. It was there, against a Melbourne City team much more used to the big occasions, that their limited approach with an over-reliance upon pace in behind and set pieces got exposed by the only team in the A-League capable of containing those elements.

The other thing Melbourne City have is Holly McNamara, possibly the best player in the competition, who is capable of scoring crazy goals. Both of her goals in the final were preventable but it goes to show how slim the margins often are in a game of that magnitude. The Nix conceding a second goal straight after the first break was another example of them not being 100% on top of the occasion – you can’t allow your errors to compound like that. When Leticia McKenna then scored a banger early second half it looked like game over but this Phoenix group don’t quit so they pulled one back through Makala Woods to spark a period of dominance through scattered crosses and corner kicks. The Nix needed to score again during that spell though. They didn’t and therefore they had to settle for silver medals.

Hard to be too bummed out when the better team obviously won. The Phoenix went further than they’ve ever gone to become the first NZ team to contest an A-League grand final (winning that race by one week), and then capped out in second place. Fair enough. There were little instances where they sold themselves short: the tracking/marking for the first goal, getting split for the second, conceding twice in a row like that... though the overall outcome was much more about Melbourne City being really good than it was about the Wellington Phoenix slipping up.

Here’s Wellington’s pass map from the grand final...

Very condensed. You can see there was just nothing there from the two assisters for the Makala Woods goals in the previous game. Pia Vlok (24) was pretty much shut out of the game as she slogged through with an injured ankle. Brooke Nunn (23) battled away on the left but didn’t have much joy. Neither of them was able to combine with Woods at all who found herself dragged from side to side to seek her touches. The effort was there but the opportunity was not thanks to the way that Melbourne City set up (Stotty said afterwards that they’d planned to shut down those passes in behind that Woods loves to run onto... and that they did). But this was not an ending.

Year One of A Two Year Project

Remember last year when Auckland FC’s blokes won the premiership at the first attempt but then came up short in the semi-finals? Well, look what they’ve done twelve months later. The old saying goes that you’ve gotta lose one before you can win one. The Phoenix Women have now lost one... but this is a two-year project and Bev Priestman will be back again next season to seek revenge and so will the spine of her squad (at the very least). Have a look at the squad situation as the offseason baton is passed from 2025-26 to 2026-27...

Contracted For Next Season:

Brooke Nunn, CJ Bott, Makala Woods, Sabitra Bhandari, Grace Jale, Ellie Walker, Emma Main, Tiana Jaber, Mackenzie Barry, Marisa van der Meer, Macey Fraser, Pia Vlok

Off-Contract:

Vic Esson, Manaia Elliott, Lucia Leon, Tessel Middag, Emma Pijnenburg, Zoe Benson, Mikaela Bangalan, Mackenzie Anthony, Lara Wall, Daisy Brazendale, Alyssa Whinham, Aimee Danieli, Brooke Neary, Ela Jerez, Ella McMillan, Ella McCann

Ellie Walker played every single minute. Mackenzie Barry and Marisa van der Meer joined her in starting all 22 games. Other players to surpass 1500 minutes this season were: Vic Esson, Grace Jale, Brooke Nunn, Manaia Elliott, and Pia Vlok. If they’d been there from the start then Makala Woods and Emma Pijnenburg might have joined them. Priestman wasn’t one for much rotation, preferring to pick her best team every week and back them to recover for the next task - hence those players listed make up 10/11 of that best eleven. Of those ten, seven of them are under contract to return with Nunn, Barry, Walker, Woods, and Jale having signed one-year extensions (matching the time remaining on Priestman’s own contract) before the season was even finished in a clear vote of confidence in the team’s direction. All four of them could have used this campaign as a springboard into higher-paying opportunities overseas, especially Barry and Jale given that it’s a World Cup year coming up. Instead they chose to have another crack at a championship in Wellington.

On top of that, Emma Main, CJ Bott, and Sabitra Bhandari were all injured/unavailable for the finals run and would immediately add something to any matchday squad. Macey Fraser missed most of the season for personal reasons but was pretty much reintegrated by the end of it, winning enough favour from her coach to appear in six of the last seven matches off the bench (although not enough to start any of them – give her a proper preseason and she might help raise the bar too).

You’d have to think they can pretty much take their pick of those uncontracted players. Bangalan and Neary will settle back into Reserve team footy over the winter as they (and many of their teammates) prepare for September’s U20 World Cup. A few others like Jerez and McMillan never seemed to be in Priestman’s plans for whatever reason so they may opt to try something else. Grace Bartlett has already taken that option by joining Auckland United. Lily Brazendale, Harriet Muller, and Zoe Benson were all on youth contracts but all are still young enough to stick around with the Reserves as well.

Elliott and Pijnenburg could draw attention from foreign clubs if the Nix aren’t quick about it, though they have an import spot spare to replace either of them if need be. Vic Esson and Tessel Middag seem pretty committed to the organisation (Middag’s even been popping up on the coaching staff for the academy teams) although in Middag’s case there’s her import status to think about. It’s also the case that there’s one midfield starter position available alongside Grace Jale which means there may not be room to keep Middag, Bott, and Pijnenburg all happy. Could always just move Bott to wing-back as a solution. As for Esson, she shouldn’t take much convincing to return. Continuity between the seasons is never a given for any Wellington Phoenix team but then there’s never been a Wellington Phoenix team like this one before.

More Stuff

  
    

GamesMinutesGoalsAssistsYellows
Ellie Walker222100112
Mackenzie Barry222055  2
Marisa van der Meer2220183 2
Victoria Esson212010  1
Grace Jale21199231 
Brooke Nunn221980672
Manaia Elliott221626353
Pia Vlok21151064 
Makala Woods141197853
Emma Pijnenburg1611132  
Lucía León191010 33
Lara Wall15849   
Emma Main1264921 
Mackenzie Anthony125791  
Daisy Brazendale20548   
CJ Bott7547  1
Sabitra Bhandari649832 
Zoe Benson152201  
Macey Fraser61791  
Alyssa Whinham2134   
Aimee Danieli190   
Tiana Jaber678   
Tessel Middag145   
Mikaela Bangalan132   
Olivia Ingham120   
Grace Bartlett113   
Lily Brazendale18  

  

Some club records set in year five of Phoenix ALW footy...

Highest finish of 2nd Place (previous best 8th in 2023-24)
First Finals berth (and first Grand Final)
Highest Points Tally of 34pts (prev. 28pts in 2023-24)
Most Wins – 10 (prev. 9 in 2023-24)
Most Away Wins – 5 (prev. 2 multiple times)
Most Goals Scored – 38 (prev. 36 in 2023-24)
Fewest Goals Conceded – 17 (prev. 30 multiple times)
Most Clean Sheets – 7 (prev. 5 in 2023-24)

Note that the fabled 2023-24 season that held almost all of those previous records was a 22 game regular season and this was only a 20 game regular season.

Most Clean Sheets in Nix ALW History

Vic Esson – 8
Rylee Foster – 5
Carolina Vilão – 4
Brianna Edwards – 2
Lily Alfeld - 2

Pia Vlok - the ALW’s Young Player of the Year - missed out on becoming the Nix’s youngest ever player by about a month, with Milly Clegg and Ela Jerez both nudging her out on that stat. But she did get her revenge on Clegg by scoring her first goal when she was one day younger than Clegg when she got hers. 17 years and 80 days... a new club record. Just look at this astonishing radar chart for a player who is still high school age...

Top ten percent in compared to all ALW forwards (of all ages and nationalities!) in: Goal Conversion, Non-Penalty Goals, Expected Assists, Shot Assists, Progressive Runs, and Dribbles. She was at least average in every other stat collected here except for getting tackled a few too many times while dribbling plus her tackles and interceptions adjusted by position. She’s not that much of a presser, in other words, usually leaving those duties up to Lucia Leon and Makala Woods. That’s the closest thing to a weakness to be found in her game. Vlok scored four of her six goals from outside the penalty area, those six goals coming from just 3.40 xG. Four right-footed goals and two left-footed goals. Again, she was a known prodigy on the National League scene... but to have made such a flawless and immediate switch to the pro ranks is almost unbelievable.

Most Goals By A New Zealander in An A-League Women’s Season

Hannah Wilkinson – 14 in 2021-22
Hannah Wilkinson – 10 in 2023-24
**Pia Vlok – 6 in 2025-26**
Kelli Brown – 6 in 2025-26
Deven Jackson – 6 in 2024-25
Hannah Wilkinson – 6 in 2022-23
Grace Jale – 6 in 2021-22

Wellington Phoenix Players Per Football Ferns Squad (Mayne Era)

Costa Rica (4): Barry, Elliott, Jale, Longo
Chinese Taipei (2): Elliott, Longo
Venezuela (3): Elliott, Jale, Longo
Mexico/USA (4+1): Barry, Bott, Elliott, Esson, (Wall IR)
Australia (3): Bott, Esson, Wall
Solomons (7): Barry, Elliott, Esson, Jale, Pijnenburg, Vlok, Wall
WCQ Finals (4+1): Esson, Jale, Pijnenburg, Vlok, (Elliott IR)
Haiti/Morocco (6): Barry, Elliott, Esson, Jale, Neary, Pijnenburg

Grace Bartlett and Lily Brazendale were the two academy graduates to debut this season. One substitute appearance for each of them. Mentioned before that Bartlett has left the club since the season ended. Curious that the two teenagers who were by far the most prominent, Pia Vlok and Zoe Benson, were both signed from outside the Nix system. Both from Auckland United, actually, although Benson only spent one year there after rising up the ranks with Eastern Suburbs.

Wellington Phoenix ALW Record In Australia

2025-26: 5 wins, 1 draw, 5 losses (45% win rate)

Every Other Season Combined: 7 wins, 2 draws, 30 losses (18% win rate)

Wellington Phoenix Stat Rankings

Goals Per Game – 1st= (1.8)
Goals Conceded Per Game - 2nd (1.0)
Average Possession - 8th (48.7%)
Clean Sheets – 2nd= (8)
xG Differential - 1st (+14.3)
Accurate Passes Per Game - 9th (239.7)
Accurate Long Passes Per Game - 6th (21.8)
Touches In Opposition Box - 3rd (506)
Set Piece Goals - 1st (11)
Goalkeeper Saves Per Game - 11th (1.8)
Fouls Per Game - 5th (9.3)

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