2017 - REVIEW
The 2017 National Women's League came to a close on the 10th of December at a very hot English Park in Christchurch. In an entertaining game, Canterbury United Pride, in their fifth consecutive final, were unable to make it three wins in a row as they went down 3-2 to Auckland in the final minutes of extra time. It was Auckland's first title since 2009 and extra impressive given that coach Gemma Lewis was a late replacement for original appointee, Dave Edmondson, who had to return to England.
The game was shown on Sky TV and the highlights are here.
The game was shown on Sky TV and the highlights are here.
In the last 10 years of the NWL they had won just one game, in fact in their 88 games in the NWL in its various forms since 2002 they had won just seven games. They stunned everyone beating Auckland 3-2 in the opening game and proved it wasn't a fluke with further wins over Canterbury United (2-1) and Northern (2-1) to make it to the finals for the first time ever.
And spare a thought for Northern, they had sat at the top of the table for the first four weeks, but for a second year in a row they lost out on the finals to a last minute goal in the last round robin game!
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| The surprise team of the season : Southern United The JourneyFan |
In general the league was a lot more competitive and the talent is more evenly spread out than in the past and there are some really exciting players coming through, several of whom were capped in the Football Fern's recent games against Thailand.
A special shout out should go to the federations that streamed their games online, almost all of them did and the ones that didn't must be looking at doing this next season. It was fantastic for fans to be able to see their team and also with a one round season it gave the chance to see teams that you may not otherwise. Extra big shout out to Central who also provided commentary with their stream.
As I spent my time watching Capital (I did manage to get to Central v Southern as well) I thought rather than do a review of the season that would just focus on Capital I'd ask the coaches and some fans of other teams what they thought.
Gemma Lewis of Auckland, Terry Parle of Southern United, Emma Evans of Capital and Simon Lees of Central all responded, (apologies to Gemma as I didn't see Auckland play I had no photo of her)
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| Coaches Simon Lees (Central), Emma Evans (Capital) Terry Parle (Southern) The JourneyFan |
I also spoke to fans Enzo Giordani from In the Back of The Net (ITBOTN) and Phil Clayton, a Canterbury United fan exiled in the Capital (although he's originally from the Capital so work that one out!)
Phil also writes for ITBOTN.
I did ask the coaches of Canterbury United, Northern and WaiBOP but they didn't respond
THE JOURNEYFAN : How do you think your season went?
GEMMA LEWIS (GL), AUCKLAND (WON) : I couldn't be happier with how our season went this year. The group of players we had this year were committed to what we were trying to achieve and really came together as a team to create a brilliant culture that allowed us to draw upon in the games against Northern and Canterbury (Ed: both come from behind 3-2 wins with very late goals)
TERRY PARLE (TP), SOUTHERN UNITED (3rd) : The season went well and we exceeded expectations, however once we had set our standards, I'm a little disappointed that we didn't go all the way.
EMMA EVANS (EE), CAPITAL (5th) : It was a bit of a rollercoaster for us! Overall we are happy with the performance from the team and the culture was again evident, however in a short season every game matters, and with injuries and personal circumstances taking their toll, 2017 wasn't our year.
SIMON LEES (SL), CENTRAL (7th): Pretty disappointing. The girls played very well in games, however we couldn't punish the opposition errors and got punished ourselves. It's about giving the players an opportunity at this level and they'll be better for it.
For the fans I asked a slightly different question
THE JOURNEYFAN : How did you rate the standard / competitiveness of the NWL compared to previous seasons?ENZO GIORDANI (EG), ITBOTN : Much the same. I thought it would drop from last season with stars like Katie Rood, CJ Bott & Briar Palmer taking opportunities overseas and others like Tessa Berger and Helen Arjomandi taking a break, but this was balanced out with the likes of Sarah Gregorius, Elise Mamanu-Gray & Eleanor Issac coming in. The talent was spread around a little more which helped it to turn out quite exciting and everyone capable of beating each other.
PHIL CLAYTON (PC) Canterbury United fan : More physical strength this year, the players that have been around since the time of age restrictions in the league, have developed more strength. A step-up in attitude and preparedness from federations such as Auckland and Southern made the league more competitive and tough to predict.
THE JOURNEYFAN : What was the highlight of the season for you?
GL (Auckland) : It's really hard to pick one moment. The two that stand out were the game against Northern, we needed to win in order to get into the prelim final and had 4 players away with the Football Ferns. The players showed character and determination after being faced with an equalizer with two minutes to go, to manage to push forwards and find a winning goal in the last minute of extra time.
The second has to be the final against Canterbury, a competitive game made very challenging by the heat (32C+). When Canterbury scored in extra time to put them 2-1 up it would have been so easy for the girls to give up, but yet again they showed the character and team culture that was created this season to keep pushing, equalize and then go forwards once more to go ahead for the first time in the final (with 2 minutes to play!)
TP (Southern) : The win in the fantastic facility of Forsthy Barr Stadium. Not only was it the first win, but also against a very good Auckland side. That game was the 'monkey off the back' for a lot of the girls.
EE (Capital) : When Maggie Jenkins was bought on as a sub against Central and her first touch of the game was a first time effort into the top right hand corner to secure us a 1-0 win
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| Capital player and newly capped Football Fern, Maggie Jenkins Dr yomcat shoots |
SL (Central) : The best moment would have to be Meisha Boone's hatrick (against Southern). A pretty close second would be giving a number of the girls their debut at this level.
EG (ITBOTN) : Southern's rise. I'm always a sucker for a good underdog and I would suggest anyone who wasn't cheering them on is probably dead inside!
PC (CU fan) : The final day of the round-robin where the top 3 were changing every few seconds near the final whistle.
THE JOURNEYFAN : Who was your best player? Who are the players to watch for?
NB I asked the coaches with regards to their own teams, the fans based on who they had seen
GL (Auckland) : It's really hard to single someone out, everyone played their part. Steph Skilton coming home from the states and providing experience and leadership as captain was key for us in creating a team culture. Megan Robertson was outstanding in defence and stepped up as captain when Steph was away with the Ferns. Tayla O'Brien and Jacqui Hand scored nine of the 22 goals and assisted in at least six more. I could list the whole squad in some shape or form, they have just been a pleasure to coach.
Two of our younger players that have a lot of potential are Hannah Blake and Britney Cunningham-Lee. Hannah is 17 and received her first Ferns cap on the Thailand tour . Britney is in her second NWL campaign at the age of only 16, I'm sure they'll have many more to come.
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| Auckland's Britney Cunningham-Lee ahead of Northern's Hannah Mackay-Wright Enzo Giodarni |
TP (Southern) : A hard one that as I'm very big on the ethos of the team. If I have to mention players then Ellie Isaac and Elise Mamanu-Gray have been consistently effective throughout our games. For a player to watch for - Lara Wall.
EE (Capital) : Kennedy Bryant. We moved her in to a more defensive midfield role this year and she adopted the positional requirements exceptionally and was our most consistent player. At 20, Kennedy has been involved with NWL for the last seven years and her experience and leadership this season was invaluable.
Players to watch for are Maggie Jenkins and Maya Hahn. Maggie Jenkins made her debut for the Ferns in Thailand. Both players were in the NZ U17 squad that qualified for the 2018 World Cup in Uruguay and are working towards securing their positions for that.
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| One to watch - Capital's Maya Hahn The JourneyFan |
SL (Central) : Best player would be Rose Morton, Classy center midfielder. Her and her sister Sarah, both have an outstanding attitude and both will be players you're likely to see a lot more of.
EG (ITBOTN) : Canterbury United's Annalie Longo is head and shoulders the best player in the country in my opinion. Looking at the other teams, at Northern I'd single out Jane Barnett, Jacqui Hand was on fire for Auckland, Sarah Gregorius just oozes class. I only saw Southern once but Elise Mamanu-Gray looked phonomenal.
Players to watch for : Tiana Hill, a 17 year old wing back from WaiBOP. I've been watching her for three or four years now and if she keeps improving the way she has been she will be quite something. I'm told she is being watched closely by the FFDP and it will be very well deserved if they bring her in. Also Arabella Maynard from Northern and Britney Cunningham-Lee from Auckland
PC (CU fan) : Annalie Longo was in a class above almost all the other players in the league. Her mixture of experience, vision, drive and determination, shooting technique and power, awareness of options when on the ball and ability to take advantage of them was of a higher standard than other players in the league.
Players to impress me in the 5 matches I saw live were, Kennedy Bryant (Capital), Liz Anton (Auckland), Aleesha Heywood (Central), Tahlia Herman-Watt (Canterbury), Shontelle Smith (Southern), Whitney Hepburn (Canterbury) - I didn't see WaiBOP or Northern live
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Thanks to the coaches and fans that gave me their time for this end of season review, also thanks to all that have given me time over the NWL season and to everyone that has read the articles I have produced, I know there are a few as my interview with Sarah Gregrious is my second highest viewed article and my interview with Sountern United's ex Capital players Mikaela Hunt and Emily Morison is not far behind.
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