Welcome back for another season of the MyState Bank Women’s Super League. I’m Andrew Cooling and this is the Friday Forecast, a weekly preview column I will be writing for the Football Tasmania website each week throughout the 2023 season. In it, I will preview all the upcoming weekend matches and provide my thoughts on any major news that may develop throughout the season.
I will also be producing a review piece each Monday morning that will recap all the action from the weekend’s games and which you will also be able to find here in the MyState Bank WSL hub. I will be doing likewise for the NPL competition which you can read over on the McDonalds NPL Tas News Hub if you so desire.
The stage for this new season could scarcely have been better set than by last weekend’s WSL Summer Cup Final between Clarence Zebras and South Hobart. It was an enthralling game filled with goals, and quality attacking play, as the Zebras eventually claimed the trophy via a penalty shootout after a see-sawing 4-4 draw in regulation. If that is a sign of things to come this year, then there should be no shortage of entertainment in the Super League this year.
The League certainly looks different this season to last, with Olympia’s relegation meaning it will now be a six-team competition. That setup has multiple advantages, primarily the removal of the bye, which is an enormous positive for the league. It will also balance the fixture to allow for each side to play each other twice home and away, meaning nobody gets a fixturing advantage. If a two-horse title race develops this season, then there won’t be one side getting an advantage of two home fixtures against their direct rival. Those factors combined with fewer teams meaning there is more concentration of player talent means a six-team model just feels like a better fit for the competition in its current position than the 8-team model did.
Another change will be the addition of an end-of-season finals series. The ladder leader at the end of the home and away season will still be crowned the 2023 Champions and the League title remains the main prize to play for. This isn’t a sudden radical flip to an A-League-style model or anything drastic like that. It’s simply another piece of silverware to play for and something which should help provide more stakes to the late-season games featuring sides who are out of the title race. Given the top side at the end of the League season are still considered the Champions and their whole season’s work can’t be erased in one game, I think it’s a good addition to help end the season with some buzz and give sides more to play for in the league season.
Devonport Poised to Strike?
Onto the Round 1 fixtures and kicking off the season we have the Devonport Strikers taking on the Clarence Zebras at Valley Road on Saturday.
Despite finishing third last season, the Strikers may well be the side to beat this season. They came home like an absolute steam train in 2022 and as such, expectations are high ahead of the 2023 campaign. Having lost each of their first encounters with United, Zebras and South last year, the Strikers fell behind in the title race and so never really reckoned in it. But a 9-2-1 record in their final 12 games, including a 10-game undefeated streak, and a 6-2 win over the Zebras on the final day demonstrates the level they had reached by season’s end. They’ve built a powerhouse in the NPL and early indicators are they rapidly becoming a force in the WSL as well.
The bulk of the squad remains from last season, with the key departure of star goalkeeper Brooke Bennett offset by the arrival of Hayley Julian, who is a New Zealand Under 20 International player, ensuring they will be well served between the sticks once more.
Their week one opponents are the Clarence Zebras who are probably on a slightly different trajectory but still promise to be a tough side to play this season, as shown by their Summer Cup victory.
The Zebras took a step back last season, dropping from dominant league winners to a fourth-placed finish, but given the turnover of players that wasn’t entirely unexpected. This season is a continuation of that squad overhaul as that core group of experienced players that remained from the Hobart Zebras days are replaced by a younger cohort. From that former group, it’s really only Georgia Burt left, but the kids filling their shoes look promising. Eliana Diafokeris emerged last season as star of the league and the likes of Baez, Leszczynski, and the Wylie sisters appear set to play key roles this season. A smattering of experience from players like Stalker, Burt and Ponting complement the young stars and they will be crucial to riding the bumps that usually come with younger playing groups. They face a tough task in week 1 against the Strikers, but the extra match readiness and conditioning from their Summer Cup games could give them an edge and probably represents the best possible time to take on this daunting road trip.
Defending Champions Hit the Road
Elsewhere on the Saturday, it’s a first up road trip for Launceston United as the defending champions head down the highway to take on Taroona at Kelvedon Park.
Things couldn’t have gone much better for Launceston United last season, achieving the League and Statewide Cup double. They won 15 of their 18 league games in a dominant campaign and so this time around they begin the season as the hunted. A title defence will be made tougher by the departure of important players such La Monte, Otto and Mitchell but the arrival of American Courtney Marten should help offset that somewhat. Otherwise, if they are to defend their crown, the improvement will largely need to come from younger players stepping up. With stars like Madi Gilpin and Dani Gunton there remains no shortage of quality for new coach Nick Rawlinson to call upon. He will be expecting three points first up on the road against a Taroona side that struggled last season.
The Pirates endured a tough 2022 season, finishing in 6th place with just 8 points. A major concern for their 2023 hopes is that Olympia was the source of both their victories last season and there were some big losses to the top sides. With their departure from the competition, it now leaves Taroona at the foot of the table looking up at the rest. It could be another tough season looming for the Pirates if Summer Cup scores are any indicator, suffering three four-goal losses to their Southern rivals. Whilst that is a concern, Summer Cup results aren’t always the most reliable indicator of what is to come and they should be able to improve upon their level from last season if they can keep their best XI on the park a little more frequently than they managed last year.
Fortunately they have a top class goalkeeper in Izzy Ottavi who can keep them in games and is going to be crucial to their fortunes this year. With a keeper who can let you hang in games and a striker like Daisy Parsell who can score key goals, they have the capacity to spring an upset or two this season if they can iron out their defence. Making Kelvedon Park a fortress is going to be crucial in doing that, so making a strong stand at home in this season opener to set the tone will be key.
South Look to Bounce Back Against Lions
Moving to Sunday and we have South Hobart taking on the Kingborough Lions at Darcy Street. The two met recently in the Summer Cup, with South claiming a tight 1-0 win and it could be a similarly close encounter this time around.
South will be eager to bounce back from their Summer Cup Final defeat at the hands of the Clarence Zebras, a game they largely had the better of and created the larger number of chances in. If they can clamp down on errors at the back then as they showed in that game, they have some real quality in attacking areas which should mean goalscoring is no issue. That was probably the biggest area of concern heading into this season given the enormous hole the departure of Bonnie Davies leaves. No player was ever going to be able to replace her goal hauls directly, but new attackers Amy Ollington and Josie Mamic should ensure the attack remains potent as they combine with the talented Eve Swain. South gave United a tough fight in the title race last season and should be up there again despite the loss of their star striker.
The Lions will have been disappointed with their 2022 season, one which was filled with ups and downs and maddening inconsistency. They made a run to the Statewide Cup final where they pushed United and showed the level they can produce, but also suffered some massive defeats in the league. Finding a more consistent level will be the key to their hopes in 2023.
Having a fully fit Laura Davis will make an enormous difference in that regard. Davis remains just about as good a player as there is in the entire competition, she is a lethal striker who is a genuine match-winner and suffered an injury-plagued 2022 season. If she can play 20 games then that instantly makes the Lions a much tougher proposition. A 5-4 penalty shootout defeat at the hands of Clarence was all that stopped them from advancing to the Summer Cup final and suggests that better things may be on the cards for the Lions in 2023. They could make a real statement with a strong performance first up here.
MyState Bank Women’s Super League
Round 1
Saturday 18 March
Devonport Strikers v Clarence Zebras, 12:15pm, Valley Road
Taroona FC v Launceston United, 2:30pm, Kelvedon Park
Sunday 19 March
South Hobart v Kingborough Lions, 2:00pm, Darcy Street