Coach: Sinisa Cohadzic
Home ground: TBA
Brief overview: The club born out of former WPL entity Ashburton United enters the NPLW era as Alamein FC, having originally been accepted into the competition as Melbourne United. Therefore, the club retains many of its Ashburton roots, with over half the squad kept from last season’s roster. Coach Sinisa Cohadzic also returns, where he most recently took the side to the WPL semi-finals.
Confirmed squad (2015 club in brackets):
1. Melissa Maizels (Ashburton United)
2. Maria Patrikis (Ashburton United)
3. Jesse Kotsikas (Ashburton United)
4. Holly Richardson (Ashburton United)
5. Christine Pfeiffer (Ashburton United)
6. Britt Thomas (Ashburton United)
7. Emma Runnalls (Sandringham)
8. Harriet Cordner (Casey Comets)
9. Sienna Fogarty (Sandringham)
10. Annabelle Gibney (Sandringham)
11. Alyssa Blewonski (Ashburton United)
12. Melina Ayres (Ashburton United)
13. Hannah Keane (San Diego State Aztecs/Newcastle United)
14. Megan Fish (University of Central Florida)
15. Fede Frew (Ashburton United)
16. Olivia Edwards (Ashburton United)
17. Amy Malander (Ashburton United)
18. Izzy Gee (Tasmanian NTC)
19. Anita Les (Caulfield United Cobras)
20. Cassandra Zaffina (Caulfield United Cobras)
Pre-season: (five wins, one draw)
Alamein 11 defeated Ballarat 3
Alamein 4 defeated Galaxy United 1
Alamein 8 defeated NTC 1
Alamein 7 defeated Bulleen Lions 0
Alamein 2 drew with Box Hill 2
Alamein 1 defeated Calder 0
Players to watch: Intrigue surrounds the club’s two visa players, Hannah Keane and Megan Fish. The former appears to be in a similar mould to Georgia Clopefil – a tall, physical forward with an array of skills in assisting or scoring goals – while the latter is a technically gifted midfielder. Excitement machine Melina Ayres returns for another season under Cohadzic after the 16-year-old scored 20 goals in 2015, earning her a spot on Melbourne City’s all-conquering roster. Also returning from W-League is Melissa Maizels, who comes for another season between the sticks. Elsewhere, the Sandringham trio will all provide a boost to the midfield and forward line, while former Casey Comets defender Harriet Cordner will add a physical presence at the back.
Coach comments: “It is exciting going into the new NPLW competition which will be in my opinion, by quality of the teams, the strongest competition in history of women’s game in Victoria till now. We have had an interrupted pre-season with some players arriving late, but the team has gelled very well and the performances in the pre-season have been very encouraging. But in saying that, what counts is when the season starts. There are a lot of quality players in the squad this year which will make us an exciting team to watch and we are all looking forward to the start of the season.”
What to expect in 2016: As one of the best performing sides of last year, Ashburton’s transition into Alamein sees the retention of the core squad with a number of quality additions. However, the loss of the likes of Emma Checker, Georgia Cloepfil, Laura Spiranovic and Briar Palmer means Sinisa Cohadzic – and new assistant, former South Yarra coach Danny Hall – will have to get his squad gelling again to play his high tempo brand of football. The advantage will the strong element of familiarity, and the expectation is that Alamein will be a formidable unit in 2016.
Image: Adrian Shaw