It was always going to be a season of transition for Melbourne Victory in the W-League.
Given the introduction of resource-rich Melbourne City into the competition decimating the squad, coupled with the club assuming late control of the team from the FFV, there was little time to fill the gaps left by the mass exodus of players.
It left Victory and returning coach Dave Edmondson with an unbalanced squad containing a smattering of experience – including two veterans out of retirement – a few returning team members and internationals, and a swathe of youngsters called up for the first time.
One of the youth players was 16-year-old Annabel Martin, plucked from the NTC alongside four teammates, who has started every game this campaign and shown signs of promise for a long career in the W-League.
“It was a very good [state] season, to be one of the eldest in the NTC was really good, and to be given captaincy was good responsibility for me for the season,” Martin said earlier in the season.
“I thought we had a pretty good season, won some really good games, so I was pretty proud of us.”
Martin admits her own introduction into the W-League had been something she’d been working towards during the WPL Victoria season, with her determination to play at a higher level now helping her adapt to the rigours of the competition.
While the youngster initially struggled to run out games, she has now made the right-back spot her own and has been one of the side’s most consistent performers.
Martin attributed her confidence in part to playing with former state teammates, which has allowed for an element of familiarity and harmony within the squad in trying circumstances.
“That was a goal from the start of the season [to be in W-League contention], I worked hard to get here and I’m just really excited to be playing,” she said.
“[The NTC] is a breeding ground for Melbourne Victory, it’s good to have girls coming through and playing with each other for a couple of years, so everyone knows each other pretty well.
“We’ve been really positive out there but [teams] have capitalised on our errors.”
For coach Dave Edmondson, whose current tenure is a much tougher ask than the Championship winning season of 2013-14, part of the challenge with title aspirations elapsing early has been to at least create an environment to nurture the next generation of stars.
He had already expressed his confidence in the fullback after the first Melbourne Derby in Round 2, and has continued to deploy her in the side.
“If you look at Annabel Martin, a 16-year-old, probably really nervous but worked her socks off, tried her best,” Edmondson said about Martin’s debut.
“Then a week later she looked like a different player again, really positive, really confident, got herself on the ball a lot more, and I thought has been a standout.”
Big win for @ffsaladyreds and @gummmybear3 but a good game from @AnnabelMartin17 of @VictoryWleague https://t.co/BB5FIdTcSS
— Cheryl Downes (@ChicasFootball) November 8, 2015
With Whitney Knight scoring twice this season and all of MelindaJ Barbieri and Melissa and Adriana Taranto also seeing game time, he’s confident not all has been lost in 2015/16 for the navy blues.
“There’s loads of positives – I try to think of what the average age of the team is, two or three 15-year-olds, 16-year olds and then a couple of 17 and 18,” he said.
“The positives are that those players have gotten an opportunity in the W-League, and are showing that they are well up to it and it’s a promising future.”