Who wants to win the A-League Women? We're nearly at the halfway point of the campaign, and just four points separate league leaders Melbourne City and the fifth-placed Newcastle Jets -- the very team that defeated City 3-1 at AAMI Park over the weekend. Even further down the table, there's only six points -- just two wins -- between the table-toppers and ninth-placed Adelaide.
Seemingly every weekend the Australian women's top-flight has thrown up upsets and shocks and, while chaos has always generally been the name of the game in the Dub, this year's campaign breaks with last year's in that no side has been able to truly separate from the pack -- City's two losses this season an obvious contrast with last year's Invincibles campaign, while Melbourne Victory have already lost three times as many games as they did all of last season.
This weekend, for instance, saw both Melbourne sides suffer drought-breaking defeats against the Jets and Adelaide, while Wellington secured a rare win across the Tasman against a Canberra side pushing to move to the league's summit, and Perth hit the road and dented the top-spot aspirations of Central Coast.
Anyone really can beat anyone.
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Adelaide United
Stocks Up: Not only did Adelaide defeat Melbourne Victory for the first time in 1421 days with their 2-1 win at Hindmarsh Stadium on Saturday -- securing the Pride Cup in the process -- it also made it three wins in four unbeaten games and served to move them to within just two points of the top six. With the wind at their backs from downing their hated rivals for the first time since 2022, the Reds can now look to rescue a season that at one stage was looking like it was going to slip away from them.
In scoring an olimpico to claim the three points, Paige Zois not only got one over on her old team -- the best revenge is a life lived well, after all -- but also continued to establish herself at Hindmarsh. The 22-year-old Junior Matilda arrived relatively late in the preseason after initially being Western United-bound, but has now started her side's last six games.
Stocks Down: Nonetheless, while the Reds were clinical and, for the most part, able to restrict Victory from taking the types of shots they were comfortable conceding, the sheer volume of opportunities their opponents were able to muster was concerning. Chasing the game in the second stanza, Victory fired 11 shots on Ilona Melegh's goal, showing danger from set pieces and with eight of those coming from inside the penalty area.
Forcing teenager keeper Melegh into some great saves and Kennedy White hitting the crossbar in the 95th minute, this game easily could have seen the Reds forced to share a point.
Brisbane Roar
Stocks Up: After starting the season red-hot, Bente Jansen had gone off the boil in recent weeks, with her last goals coming into Friday evening's 1-1 draw against Western Sydney a brace netted against Adelaide all the way back on Dec. 7. Popping up in the 95th minute to snatch a leveller that would break the Wanderers' hearts and secure the injury-hit Roar a much-needed point, however, the Dutchwoman picked a pretty good time to find her sixth goal of the season.
It was a well-taken goal, too, with the striker keeping a cool head as she intercepted an Amy Harrison pass and left her snatching at her laces as she broke in behind, rounding both keeper Sham Khamis and defender Wang Ying, and rolling the ball into the net as she lost her balance.
Stocks Down: The points secured against the Wanderers ensured the Roar wouldn't fall below Adelaide come the end of the weekend and remain within a game of the top six. But having come into the game with the best road record in the A-League Women, against a Wanderers outfit with its worst home record, the Queenslanders would have been hoping for much more against an opponent that looks destined for the wooden spoon.
Canberra United
Stocks Up: Despite being reduced to 10 on the stroke of half-time when Tegan Bertolissio was sent off, Canberra continued to battle hard with a well-disciplined and well-organised Wellington side throughout their clash at McKellar Park; Zoe Benson's 86th-minute goal to put the Kiwis ahead was the first shot on target they'd been able to muster with their one-player advantage throughout the entire first-half.
While they had their backs against the wall with their numerical disadvantage, the Canberrans were still able to create some second-half flashes of their own, too, only for the final ball letting them down.
Stocks Down: This was a missed opportunity for Canberra. Not only did they come into the game riding a seven-game unbeaten run, but City's loss to Newcastle the day prior meant that Antoni Jagarinec's side could have leapt into top spot on the table -- albeit with two more games played than the reigning premiers -- had they picked up three points.
Instead, two suboptimal challenges from Bertolissio on American flyer Makala Woods saw Canberra reduced to 10 players. Against a team led by Bev Preistman, that's a rod for your back you don't need and one that ultimately played a significant role in them missing the chance to apply pressure to City atop the standings.
Central Coast Mariners
Stocks Up: If I had a nickel for every time an A-League Women's game this weekend was swung on an olimico, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice. Because while it's debatable just how much she meant her goal to make it 1-1 against the Glory, two days on from Zois breaking the heart of her old side directly from a corner in Adelaide, Peta Trimis somehow managed to slice a corner over the head of the league's in-form keeper Teresa Morrissey on Sunday, securing her side a point that draws them level with Canberra on the table.
When you're having the kind of season Trimis is, however, sometimes fate does smile upon you. The 19-year-old, per FbRef, leads the A-League Women in carries into the penalty area this season, as well as being second for progressive carries and progressive passes received. Combined with co-Golden Boot leader Annalise Rasmussen (who had a goal disallowed for offside) and assist leader Isabel Gomez -- whose 1.23 goal-creating actions per 90 is .46 better than next-best Sharn Frier of Brisbane -- and the Mariners have fostered a good attacking unit in Gosford.
Stocks Down: Just as was the case for Canberra, however, the draw with Glory represented something of a missed opportunity for the defending champions, given that a win would have seen them move into first place on the table (even with the disclaimer of having played the most games in the league).
Kory Babington's unit remains undefeated at home with the draw but after starting the season with three straight wins in Gosford, they've now dropped points in their last two games under the Palm Trees -- this draw following the insanity if Victory scoring three stoppage-time goals to draw 3-3 -- and this time out it came against a Glory side that has traditionally struggled on the road.
Melbourne City
Stocks Up: In Danella Butrus and Aideen Keane, City has two young wingers who look comfortable with the ball at their feet and who are willing to take players on. While her end-product is clearly the next step she needs to take, Butrus led all players with successful dribbles in City's loss to the Jets on Friday, and she ranks fifth in the A-League Women for carries into the penalty area this season despite only starting six games. Keane, meanwhile, only completed one dribble on the weekend, but is ranked second in the league in that stat, trailing only Trimis.
In what you have to think is her last season in the A-League Women before she heads overseas, Holly McNamara's penalty also means she now has eight goals and shares the Golden Boot lead with Rasmussen, while her three additional assists make her the only player in the league so far with double-digit goal involvements.
Stocks Down: When you combine the performance with the result, this was probably the worst day at the office that City has had in quite some time. The Jets absolutely rattled the defending premiers with their press, forcing them into numerous uncharacteristic errors and making their 3-1 defeat -- the first time they've lost a regular season game in Melbourne since January 2024 -- a thoroughly deserved one.
"First and foremost, credit to Newcastle," coach Michael Matricciani said. "We anticipated how they were going to play, we worked on their strengths, and what they can bring, [but] they punished us today. I think they were very good. A couple of things they do, we didn't really handle as well as we had planned. They were just better than us in those decisive actions that they're very good at.
Melbourne Victory
Stocks Up: Ella O'Grady has only ever started a single game for Victory in her three seasons at AAMI Park - that coming last season - but her half-an-hour against Adelaide represented her most minutes this campaign and, especially as her side struggles to pick up consistent wins, the 20-year-old certainly looks to be mounting the case for more opportunities.
While it comes with the disclaimer that she's being thrown onto attack against tired defences, O'Grady sits, per FotMob, second in the league for shots when her numbers are extrapolated to a per 90 basis, while her shots on target ratio per 90 is more than anyone. Her combined expected goals (xG) and expected assists (xA), meanwhile, are good for third in the competition. Again, 112 minutes in eight games means it's a big leap from a small sample size, but it's all we can go off.
Stocks Down: Despite sitting fourth on the table, Victory has now lost more games (six) than they've won this season (five). Not only is that the most in the league, but it's a total three times more 2024-25 and the most the equal most-they've had in a season since they lost seven times in 12 games back during the 2017-18 campaign. Further, while it took 21 games to bring up six losses in 2023-24, we're only 12 games into the Wuck's current campaign.
While Jeff Hopkins' side was able to recruit strongly in the offseason after losing the likes of Alex Chidiac, Alana Murphy, and Emily Gielnik, it, unscientific as it may appear, feels increasingly like Victory have been unable to replace the competitiveness, grit, and doggedness that these players brought to the side. All the underlying numbers are there -- they lead the league in xG and big chances created and are the third-best on xG against -- but there's something beneath it all missing, and now they might be missing Rhianna Pollicina for an extended period with a suspected broken wrist.
Newcastle Jets
Stocks Up: Is it hyperbole to say that Newcastle's win over Melbourne City last Friday was one of their best ever? Given they've only got one finals win in their existence -- a barnburner over Western United that probably takes out top spot -- and they'd never beaten the defending premiers in their 19 previous attempts coming into Friday, history, combined with the dominant nature of the win, suggests it would be right up there. Ten years after they first clashed with City, Stephen Hoyle's side pounced on their opponents at AAMI Park and never let go, forcing them into multiple errors with their tireless and selfless pressing and proving ruthless with the opportunities that were born from this.
"We spoke before the game about what I want to see as a coach, from us as a team," said Hoyle. "I don't mind if players make mistakes or individual errors happen, what I mind is if your intent and your application is not good. And I thought the girls for 95 minutes worked really, really, really hard.
"[The winless run] was a point before the game. I felt like this was a free hit for us to have a real, real good go and to make it clear that if we played Melbourne City with our group 19 times, I don't think we'd have no wins. That was my message to the group. That's a record we wanted to break and not have. And we're very fortunate that we've done that today."
Stocks Down: The handball rule in football is a labyrinthine one, something that can at times feel more mysterious and arcane than anything else in the cosmos. And yet one stills feels like the Jets can quite rightfully feel aggrieved not to have kept a clean sheet in their historic win, too, with replays seemingly indicating that Tash Prior's arm was tucked right up against her body -- not making herself unnaturally bigger, in other words -- when she was pinged for the handball that gave McNamara the chance to, then, tie things up from the spot.
"It's a tough one where, if we've got VAR in the league, then I don't think it's given as a penalty," Hoyle said. "But I don't want to criticise referees when, in the moment, they've got to make a decision. I'm sure when they see it back, they'll think the same as me."
Perth Glory
Stocks Up: They'll be disappointed not to have taken the win, but going to Gosford and earning a point away to the Mariners is another important step for the Glory, who, despite sitting sixth, are just three points back of Melbourne City as they seek to finally play finals football once again. After being second-best in the opening stanza, Stephen Peters' side was nonetheless able to take the lead through Susan Phonsongkham, and while Trimis levelled directly from a corner, the likes of Sarah O'Donoghue, Emma Tovar, and Rola Badawiya had chances to win it late.
Making eight saves and being credited with 1.76 goals prevented, Teresa Morrissey continued to bolster her case as the league's standout keeper this season in the draw. Despite only starting six games this season, the 25-year-old is leading the competition with 4.4 goals prevented (Newcastle's Anna Leat, with 1.1, is the only other keeper credited with a positive number prevented), and also leads the league in saves per game and save percentage.
Stocks Down: Shipping an olimpico equaliser, however, means that the Glory have still only won the one away game across this season and the last, and they'll now face a crucial run of games that could determine whether or not their finals aspirations are legitimate.
First come two home games, the first against a City side that will be desperate to make amends and then a Sydney side sitting near the foot of the table. They'll then hit the road to face Wellington in the season's second Distance Derby. The first and third games are two that could help to further announce Perth as a genuine finals contender -- wins in either another sign of growth and intent on their part. The Sky Blues, meanwhile, are a side that at home they really should be beating if they're serious playoff contenders.
Sydney FC
Stocks Up: Thanks to their bye, Sydney didn't add to their six-game winless run.
Stocks Down: The bloodbath of parity that is this year's A-League Women means that despite looking incredibly off the pace this season, Sydney still aren't out of finals contention -- just six points back of sixth-place with 10 games played. Their coming Big Blue showdown with Victory, however, feels like it's a must-win if they're to salvage their season.
Wellington Phoenix
Stocks Up: Perth's draw with the Mariners may have prevented them from leaping into the playoff places, but Wellington's 2-0 win over Canberra now sees them sitting just three points back of the second-placed Canberrans on the table, with at least a game in hand over everyone in the top six not named Melbourne City.
Fielding the league's best defence -- Priestman's side is the only one in the league yet to concede double-digit goals and second only to Canberra in xG against -- heading across the Tasman and overcoming a wave of injuries to get a bid road win over a genuine Premiership contender feels like an important marker for the Kiwis as they chase finals football.
Stocks Down: Having said that, with Sabitra Bhandari out for the season with a ruptured ACL, the Phoenix struggled to break down Canberra on Saturday despite playing the entire second-half with a one-player advantage -- fashioning just six shots and needing teenage substitutes Zoe Benson and Pia Volk to bail them out with two late goals that also represented their only shots on target in the second stanza.
"Sometimes it's harder to beat 10 than it is 11, so we had to be patient and believe in what we were trying to do and eventually it would come, and eventually it came," said Priestman. "Pia has been outstanding all season and Zoe all week has looked like she could score. She did exactly what I asked of her the minute she stepped on the pitch, and I'm delighted for her. This club is big on promoting young players, but if they're good enough, they're old enough."
Western Sydney Wanderers
Stocks Up: Taking the lead in the 81st minute through Ella Buchanan, the Wanderers picked up points for just the fourth time this season in their 1-1 draw with Brisbane and are now two games unbeaten at Wanderers Football Park. In the midst of a disappointing season -- in which both the club's men's and women's sides sit bottom of the league -- that's something.
Stocks Down: There's no other way to put it. Watching Chloe Logarzo Berryhill go down with a serious injury in the 90th minute on Friday was awful. The midfielder immediately started screaming in agony after she collided with Brisbane defender Leia Varley as they both went for the ball and was stretchered off in tears. It clearly took a toll on her teammates, who went on to concede Jansen's equaliser moments after the restart.
Signing at Wanderland last month, Logarzo Berryhill had returned to the A-League Women with the intent to retire on her own terms at the end of the campaign -- wanting to push for a spot in the Asian Cup but comfortable with calling time regardless. She had won plenty of admirers during her short time at the club, too, with her leadership and willingness to put in the work on and off the field.
That conclusion she had envisioned, however, looks to have been taken away from her. The 31-year-old updated her Instagram bio to read "retired" in recent days, and scans later this week are expected to confirm that she has suffered a serious leg break. And that really sucks. It really, really sucks.
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