Might be time to start this year's thread up! (Last year's thread here.) I will admit I thought about state the W-League thanks to the ongoing hostage situation with the Matildas between the PFA and the FFA, but that's discussion for another thread... This year, the W-League has a ninth team with the addition of Melbourne City FC, and a new TV contract with Fox Sports after being dropped by ABC. Earlier this week, the official schedule was revealed. Sadly, it's one again just two games shorts of a full home-and-away schedule... But I guess if the league keeps expanding, being just two games short means less and less in terms of balance, and only annoys detail-oriented people like me. X-D Of note: -we're back to a schedule that actually crosses the calendar year divide, with four gameweeks after Christmas (and surprisingly no Christmas break like usual) and the finals in the last two weekends of January. -defending champions Canberra do not appear to have a bye week any time in late November/early December, which would in theory be the Nestle Cup window... Sad to see that competition appears to be dead. -each intracity derby gets two matches, but last year's Grand Final rematch only happens once.
Hey @BlueCrimson , what are your thoughts on Sydney's chances this year? I haven't kept up on player transfers much (from focusing on NWSL).
I think Sydney has a better shot this season for a few reasons: -More firepower up top. Last season Spencer was carrying the offensive load by herself. This year she'll have help from both Simon and Leena Khamis. -The midfield, most notably Bolger and captain Polias, has long been a strength of Sydney's, and it's remained intact. They should be more effective with having more targets up top to feed and better support from the backline. -The defense has been strengthened by the return of Kennedy from Perth. Having one of the best CB in the World Cup is a big boost. She should balance out the ineptitude of Unzular and she has a solid partner in Rollason. There are, however, a couple of question marks: -Last season Dan Barrett didn't really have time to put his stamp on the team. They were still trying to play Staj-ball even after Staj left. And while the squad is still mostly intact from last season, he'll have the time to get the team playing his style, whatever that is. Whether that style is still Staj-ball or something else, it's unknown how effective it'll be. -With Dumont missing the season due to a knee recon, the only keeper currently on the roster is Sham Khamis. She's serviceable, but still very young. There are still two roster spots open, so Barrett will definitely be on the lookout for a second keeper. With Williams returning for Canberra, Jones may be available for pickup.
the only way Sydney will win is if Amy Harrison finally has grown enough to become the superstar potential that I've touted her to be! But at age 19, she might not be there just yet. And speaking of superstar, it's Sam Kerr & Catlyn Foord all the way, baby!(if their still with Perth Glory). Do you know any link to the club lineups?
The only team that's announced their squad for this season is Sydney. Most teams have just announced a few signings, and nothing from the Victory yet. We don't even know who their coach is for this season.
thewomensgame.com had a hidden tab last year that listed all the squads (as well as were known) before the season started... I hope they do that again
Glory have so far announced re-signings of Sam Kerr, Caitlin Foord, Mackenzie Arnold, Kim Carroll, Shannon May, Sarah Carroll and Thia Eastman. Collette McCallum has retired, but will be assistant coach. full squad announced on September 25th
right now their missing the Matildas #1 central back in Kennedy, a pretty good mid in Tabain, and the Canadian fb, Zadwosky, who's playing currently in Sweden, but that league's soon coming to a close. Kellond & Van Egmond look like their having terrific seasons over in Germany, so wonder if any foreign players are coming on the W-League to spruce up the teams?
There's going to be a flurry of signings announced over the next couple weeks, so here's a list of who each side currently has for Season 8 (I'm splitting this up into two posts): Adelaide United: Tiarn Powell Claudia Jenkins Marijana Rajcic Lauren Steer Matilda McNamara Grace Abbey Brisbane Roar: Clare Polkinghorne Katrina Gorry Tameka Butt Brooke Spence Vedrana Popovic Emily Gielnik Amy Chapman Kate Stewart Canberra United: Emma Checker Michelle Heyman Melbourne City: Lisa DeVanna Laura Alleway Larissa Crummer Beattie Goad Alex Chidiac Monique Iannella Steph Catley Marianna Tabain Trudy Burke Rebekah Stott
Part 2: Newcastle Jets: Tara Andrews Claire Coelho Rhali Dobson Georgia Yeoman-Dale Libby Copus-Brown Cassidy Davis Perth Glory: Sam Kerr Caitlin Foord Kim Carroll Mackenzie Arnold Shannon May Sarah Carroll Thia Eastman Sydney FC: Sham Khamis Teigen Allen Renee Rollason Liz Ralston Alanna Kennedy Servet Unzular Ellyse Perry Nicola Bolger Nat Tobin Teresa Polias Olivia Price Amy Harrison Trudy Camilleri Sunny Franco Princess Ibini Jas Spencer Kyah Simon Leena Khamis No signings for Melbourne Victory and Western Sydney Wanderers yet.
Canberra's squad announced for the season: http://www.canberraunited.com.au/ar...defending-champions/hqd5pt70fpv610twdt2iihj9x Good on them for freshening things up. They look like a good team.
Point of order: I seriously derped here. It's 14 rounds, but with no midweek games at all and two three-game rounds, it comes out to 12 games per team, four short of a full home-and-away instead of 14 games per team, two short of a full home-and-away. So even more disappointing. Dunno how I whiffed on that one so hard...
Fantastic catch!(that along with Tabian previously from Perth) How does it work it in the W-League? Is there a salary cap? Can teams buy or trade or are players just free agents? and is there a team limit on foreign players?
Contracts in the W-League are one season deals. Basically every player is a free agent every year. But there's no trade system like in the US or transferring of players, since the season is so short. And although a player could go to any team they want, the extremely low pay is prohibitive. There is a salary cap. It's 150,000 for one season. But most teams don't get near the limit. Perth's minor premiership winning team had a total salary base of 50,000. The only team that's even gotten close to the cap limit is Canberra, and that's thanks to sponsorships. They don't have an A-League team to latch on to, but they are well supported. The current international limit is 3 per team, with one additional international permitted for up to 7 games as a "guest player". The 7 game limit for a guest player cost Canberra the services of Kendall Fletcher for last season's Grand Final. She started her stint with Canberra a week early because they were struggling and she wanted to help ensure they made finals.
I'm not even a die hard Victory fan but if this is true I'm smarting from the decision. To move to the new cross town rivals??? Poor form. Also, didn't Catley make the jump as well?
Yeah, the Victory have been pretty much picked clean by City. They're not the only team that's losing players to City, but they've been hit the hardest. I would be surprised if the Victory were in contention for a finals spot this season. Not every team has named its squad, but based on the signings that have been made public thus far, my early picks for top 4 are Perth, Canberra, City, and Sydney.
looks like FC Sydney should be early favorites/ They not only picked up the country's #1 cb in Kennedy, but now got a 2nd target player in Simon(so that they're attack via Spencer wouldn't be so predictable), Just wish Amy Harrison would move to another team, since Sydney is too stacked now and too much of a passing team, where as Harrison is a Kristy/Sam Mewis type player who's more comfortable running up & down the field with the ball what color will her bow be this time?