2023 champions Perth RedStar will put their celebrations on hold this Sunday when they head to Subiaco in Round 20 of the NPLWA – Women’s competition.
Carlos Vega Mena’s side made it back-to-back titles last weekend after their 3-3 draw with Balcatta Etna. They will be presented with the trophy at next week’s final regular season home match with Fremantle City.
Injuries, player departures and retirements, a pre-season final defeat, and a Round One loss to Hyundai NTC could all have potentially derailed the northern suburbs club early in the year.
But a relentless unbeaten run of 18 games has seen RedStar currently sit 10 points clear of their closest rivals Perth SC.
Perth RedStar skipper Jay Coleman has been instrumental in her side's successful title defence. Photo by Football West/FotoEnzo
Skipper Jay Coleman says the club are over the moon with their achievement in 2023.
“The team are ecstatic with how it’s gone this season,” the former Fulham midfielder said.
“Last season was probably the most enjoyable season of football I’ve had, so it was always going to be hard to top that. But this would be a close second given we lost five or six of our regular starting XI and have come through with the league title while also playing really good football.
“It was an aim from the get-go to win the league again and that’s been something we’ve been able to do, even after a rocky start. So to come back firing was awesome and the girls should be really proud of themselves.
“The Night Series game was disappointing given we were 2-0 up but these things happen in football. We were upset with the loss in the first game of the season though, even if we had lost players and a few weren’t available. We just knew it wasn’t our best game and that we had a lot more to give.
“It was about working on those things which didn’t go our way, but we always knew we had the confidence that we would play much better and that we could go out and keep getting the job done.”
For RedStar, this season was always going to be difficult to live up to what was achieved last year when the club went through the campaign undefeated while completing a clean sweep of silverware. As a result, Coleman knew the leaders would become the hunted this year which brings about a different type of challenge.
“It’s something we talk about in terms of knowing every other team is going to turn up against us every week because they want to be the team to beat us,” she explained.
“Every week is a hard slog. But it’s been awesome to have depth in our squad to keep things fresh and all the players in our team love playing with each other which goes a really long way. Our culture definitely stands out.
“It’s not a normal thing to see a team just go out and continue to perform like we have, particularly after those changes. But the U21s have stepped up, we train a lot of them which works really well, so they know what to do when they’re called up.
“Our Japanese players Reina (Kagami) and Chiori (Ikeda) have also made a huge impact. They’re both phenomenal players who know football, they just get it, and they have come in and gelled so well, and slotted into our team easily. I’m not sure we would be where we are without them.”
And worryingly for the rest of the competition, Coleman says RedStar won’t be losing their appetite to win games just because they’ve won the league, as they look to win the year’s final piece of silverware in the post-season.
“The motivation for us will not change now, especially heading into the Top Four Cup,” she said.
“We won’t be stepping down and we are looking to improve on things because we know those games are going to be tough. Anything can happen in a finals game, so we have to keep building and keep working hard.
Round 20 begins tonight when Perth SC face bottom side Curtin University at Edinburgh Oval.
The Azzurri currently sit in second place which as it stands gives them a double chance in September’s Top Four Cup.
Despite a 4-1 defeat to Hyundai NTC last Sunday, Peter Rakic’s team remain two points clear of Fremantle City and know that if they win their final two games they are guaranteed to hold their position. Curtin, meanwhile, are aiming to avoid going through the 2023 campaign without picking up a point.
Below them, fourth-placed Hyundai NTC meet third-placed Fremantle City with both teams basically locked in for the post-season. Freo have already qualified while NTC need one point from their final three matches to guarantee back-to-back Top Four Cup appearances.
To overthrow Perth and have a chance of finishing second, both teams will likely have to win all their remaining games while hoping Perth drop points against Curtin or Balcatta in the run home.
Finally, Balcatta host Murdoch University Melville in their last home game of 2023.
This fixture was shaping up to be a six-pointer in the race for finals but Balcatta now require the unlikely scenario of wins in their last two games, combined with NTC losing all three of their remaining games. MUM FC have already been eliminated from the Top Four Cup reckoning but are still gearing up for September’s Hyundai Women’s State Cup Final against NTC at the State Football Centre.
All of the games are live and free on Streamer: https://streamer.com.au/league/nplwawomens
Download the Squadi app to stay up to speed with all the 2023 results, fixtures and tables.
- This weekend's games are part of Hyundai Raffle Round, when clubs are encouraged to promote the 2023 Hyundai Community Football Raffle ahead of and on the day of their matches.
The raffle is a great source of funding for grassroots football with clubs retaining 100% of all funds raised from sold raffle tickets.
