Welcome to the final weekend Wash-up for the season, as we take a look back on the final weekend of the MyState Bank Women’s Super League season and reflect on the season that was.
United Raise Trophy but Awards Shared Around
On the final day of the season, Launceston United were made to work hard before eventually overcoming Olympia 3-1 and raising the trophy in celebration. Devonport scored a thumping 6-2 win over the Clarence Zebras to finish clear in third place and we had a rare scoreless draw between Taroona and Kingborough.
Then it was on to the awards night where Jazmin White’s incredible season saw her rewarded with the Best and Fairest medal, whilst runner-up in the count Danielle Kannegiesser took out the MVP award. Ellie La Monte was chosen as the Media Award winner, Eliana Diafokeris was named the Rising Star and Mal Gorrie was the Coach of the Year. White obviously claimed the Golden Boot and Brooke Bennett took out the Golden Glove for most clean sheets.
Side note and personal gripe on that particular award, if you make total clean sheets the criteria then ultimately it’s going to be more of a total defence award than a true indicator of the best goalkeeper. In this case, I think it was absolutely both, Bennett was comfortably the best keeper in the competition this year, but I’d personally like to see it becoming an award voted on by the goalkeepers of the league rather than a pure stat counting award. Anyway, tangential rants aside, let’s give some final thoughts on the league and the sides as we reach the end of the line here.
United’s Well-Earned Prize
Launceston United were finally able to hoist the trophy on Saturday after downing the Warriors 3-1 to end their season with a victory. Whilst they had a wobble late on, they put together a dominant season and are worthy champions. Wins over Clarence Zebras, South Hobart and Devonport in their first 3 games set the tone for what was to come and provided them the points buffer that would be crucial down the stretch. They’ve been a pleasure to watch all season. Ellie La Monte was a star in attack, scoring 17 goals in 15 games and she was well supported by the tireless Dani Gunton who scored 18 in 17 games. Madison Gilpin and Alexis Mitchell provided the secondary scoring as well as plenty of creativity in the final third and their skills on the ball were silky to watch. Across the pitch, week in week out they had winners across every line. Laura Dickinson stamped herself as a player for the big moments as she starred in several of those clutch title defining games, Sydney Carnie was a steady presence in net, whilst the likes of Hill, James and Lohse were ultra-consistent performers who just got the job done and provided a solid defensive foundation on which victories were built. It takes an entire squad to win a league title and United had 17 players who played in 50% of their matches or more. That shows the depth they utilized and they all deserve credit for this feat. They are fully deserving of the league title and it’s fantastic to see top-flight Women’s football thriving in Launceston once more. This has been a triumph many years in the making and United are now well poised to become a power club in the North which is a credit to all those who work so hard behind the scenes.
A Close-Fought Top Four Battle
Whilst United finished 4 points clear on top, the battle between the top four sides in the competition was tight all season and when they met, we were almost always guaranteed a close game. The best of the rest turned out to be South Hobart, who chased United hard to the end but came up just short. A year after finishing in fifth place with just 3 wins and 14 points, they’ve improved to be legitimate title contenders, winning 13 games and achieving 42 points. The addition of Bonnie Davies and Talia White certainly helped add that star quality to the side to push them on to the next level and they appear well poised to push on again in 2023 and maybe even go one better.
The other side very well poised for next season is the Devonport Strikers, who came home like a steam train. Having lost each of their first encounters with United, Zebras and South, the Strikers fell behind in the title race early in the year, but they then went 9-2-1 in their final 12 games including a 10-game undefeated streak. A 6-2 win over the Zebras on the final day shows the level they had reached and if they can avoid a sluggish start next year then expect them to be firmly in the mix again. They’ve built a powerhouse in the NPL and early indicators are they rapidly becoming a force in the WSL as well.
Rounding out the Top 4 was the Clarence Zebras who will probably be the most disappointed of that group after dropping to fourth place having won the title by 22 points the year prior. This just wasn’t the same Zebras side who were so dominant last year. Whilst they still had the firepower to blow away the sides below them, which they did heavily on numerous occasions, a 1-2-6 record against the top 4 shows they just weren’t on the same level as their title rivals. They never enjoyed the same control of games. Nevertheless, they have some positives to take away such as the emergence of Eliana Diafokeris and a strong season from Olivia Leon establishing herself as a quality centre back.
Can the rest close the gap?
The burning question lingering for each of Kingborough Lions, Taroona and Olympia ahead of next season is clear. Can they close that gap to the top four? So large was the gap between the top four and bottom three that there was basically a league within the league this year. In 27 games between the top 4 and bottom 3, all 27 were won by the top four sides and the average winning margin was 7.6 goals! In total the top 4 outscored the bottom 3 sides 230-24 across those games. There is always going to be a disparity of some sort between top and bottom in any league, but this is on the more extreme end of the scale and represents a problem for the league moving forwards. At its best the WSL offered up some brilliant, compelling football in 2022, but all too often, multiple games a week were practically foregone conclusions.
The Lions appear best poised to close the gap as they came closest to breaking through for a win. They pushed the Zebras and Strikers on occasion and put up a commendable fight in the Statewide Cup Final against United. But ultimately this was a side that was fighting with those same teams on the table last year and are now sitting well behind them. The Laura Davis injury certainly stung them and having her all season will be a big boon, but it’s at the back where the improvements need to come. They have plenty of goalscoring ability as 45 goals for the season demonstrates, but a brittle rear-guard plagued them all season and saw them ship 74.
Defensive issues also plagued Taroona who finished in sixth place with a pair of wins over Olympia and pair of draws in the final fortnight taking them to 8 points. Like all of the sides in bottom half of the table, injuries and availability undoubtedly played a role in their difficult campaigns, but the brilliant Daisy Parsell aside, a lack of firepower is something they urgently need to address this offseason.
The Warriors lost a lot of players over the off-season and ended up having to largely promote their Championship side into the seniors before they were probably ready to make the jump. Jessie Williams arrived on the scene late in the year, reminded everyone what an absolute superstar she is and salvaged some points for the club, but prior to her arrival it was a pretty grim season and they are going to need to recruit ahead of next season if they are to close the gap.
My Awards Ballot
I thought I would end the season and this piece with my own awards ballot. So here are my top 5 players of the season, Young Player of the Year and Coach of the Year.
MVP- Ellie La Monte
This was very tight, I could make cases for multiple players but I’ve whittled it down to five. Lucy Roberts was the metronome in the heart of South Hobart’s midfield all year and is probably the best playmaker in the league, she provided plenty of supply to Bonnie Davies who pillaged 34 goals in 18 games. When it came to goal scoring, nobody got near Jazmin White though, whose 46 goals in 18 games might be a record that stands for a considerable amount of time. The Champions of course had some quality individual efforts and Dani Gunton was chief amongst them, chiming in with some clutch goal scoring. But when it came to picking the competition’s most impactful player this season I simply couldn’t go past Ellie La Monte. She entered the league with a big reputation and has more than lived up to it despite copping plenty of defensive attention week to week. She was a matchwinner and quite simply the most dangerous threat to every defence she faced. Here is hoping the league can attract more imports of her quality in future.
Rising Star- Eliana Diafokeris
This is always a tricky award for the Super League given it’s already a league with an extremely young average age and many of the stars of the competition are still teenagers but there was a clear stand-out candidate this year in the Clarence Zebras young striker. Diafokeris led the line as a 15-year-old and did so with aplomb. Matched up on more experienced and stronger bodies from week to week, Diafokeris showed she has what it takes to make an impact at this level and scored 11 times, good enough for a top 10 finish on the goal-scoring charts. If this season is anything to go by, get used to seeing her on them, her star is well and truly on the rise.
Coaches of the Year- Frank Compton and Lynden Prince
Simply has to be the title-winning coaches who get the nod here. They didn’t enter the year as clear title favourites, or even as possessing a clearly more talented squad than their rivals, but they stormed out of the gates, never looked back and were never caught. With key players such as Luate, Robinson, McCallumsmith all needing replacing from last season and no Summer Cup like their Southern rivals, United could have been forgiven for starting slow. Yet it was the early weeks of the season where they got the jump on the competition and you have to give the coaching staff big credit for that for having them primed and ready to go. In a tightly fought season, the coaching pair certainly got the most out of the squad and a League/Cup double is something to be celebrated. Two years after being promoted to the WSL, they’re building something special here.
Final Thoughts
Well, that is all I have got for Season 2022, thank you for reading these throughout the season, it’s been a lot of fun bringing these pieces to you each week and hopefully, I have added some form of value to the coverage of our top divisions. We saw some fantastic football in 2022 and were treated to some quality players putting on a show. It’s sure been a pleasure watching and reporting on them. I have no idea what 2023 will bring, but in the meantime, I hope you all enjoy your summers.