Photo: Frank Khamees
For Bulleen Lions and Melbourne Victory defender Alex Natoli, her NPLW season to date has played out in two distinct acts.
The first – the setup – saw Natoli help marshal her side to second on the ladder, after a brilliant opening nine games, which saw them drop just five points.
Her personal form was just as good, as she appeared a much more rounded and composed player after a career-defining year in the W-League, where she established herself as an important first team regular for the first time in 2015.
Utilised at both right-back and centre-half under new coach Ricardo Martinez, things were going swimmingly heading into a fixture against Bayside United in early May, the interlude heading into act two.
“I ruptured my anterior talofibular ligament in my ankle [against Bayside],” Natoli said speaking to FFV Radio earlier this week.
“I’ve sprained it before on my other ankle, but this is the first time I’ve ruptured it on my right foot.”
It’s been a long two month’s of rehab and a lot of watching on from the sidelines as her Bulleen teammates battled away to retain their spot amongst the league’s high rollers.
She has targeted a return within the next fortnight, with a return to training penciled in for this week where she “can start doing the warm up and ball drills”.
“We have a great physio, and he’s always cautious with injury so hopefully next week I’ll be in full training, but I’ll need a full week of training under my belt before I can come on as a sub,” she said.
“So hopefully I’ll be back soon.”
Act three of Natoli’s season looms on the horizon, the resolution to the inevitable mid-season crisis than any good story demands.
Her perfect return is one that has her performing at club level for Bulleen once more, before re-joining the W-League set up with Melbourne Victory at the end of the season, under the stewardship of the newly appointed Jeff Hopkins.
“Melbourne Victory would be the dream. They’re my club now and I don’t really want to venture too far from there, but we’ll see what happens,” Natoli said.
“The W-League season does [feel quite distant] but with Jeff’s appointment, it seems a bit more closer now, we know things will start happening in the next few months so we’ll start working on our fitness and make sure we’re ready to go for when trials come around.
“[Hopkins] was my junior coach in the Australian team, he’s been great to me. I think he’s amazing and he really helped me develop well.
“The experience he has and the wealth of knowledge will just be so incredible for our young team.”
With new management comes inevitable change, one difference that Natoli is hoping for is the chance for some of her Bulleen teammates to get a deserved crack at W-League level, most notably, the luckless Lia Privitelli who has endured a nightmare run with injuries throughout her blossoming career.
“The NPL had discovered plenty of great talent and I think the standard has definitely improved,” she said.
“[Privitelli] had quite a few injuries this year, as Lia’s luck always goes. She got a knock to the head – which is a reoccurring injury for her – and she strained her MCL which was a two game rest as well.
“She definitely could [play W-League]. I know last year she was approached to trial for a W-League club. She definitely has it in her and the desire to play which is a big things. So hopefully!”