The NPLW Victoria was rolled out to much fan-fare in 2016 and in it’s inaugural season, has delivered in its promise to foster a more competitive womens top-flight competition. Nine teams slogged it out for 24 games plus finals as Calder United claimed a league double to establish themselves as the powerhouse of the competition. Despite missing out on finals football, Heidelberg United enjoyed more luck in the Team App Cup, where they claimed a 4-0 win over Bulleen Lions that’ll live long in the memories of those that took part.
With the season done and dusted and nearly 4,000 votes cast across two weeks, we can now officially present you with the 2016 NPLW Victoria Team of the Season selected by you the fans, but first is TCF’s Media Select Team of the Season. Congratulations to all involved.
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Media Select Team of the Season
Bench:
Freya Crocker (Southern United)
Madelaine Richardson (Box Hill United)
Annabel Martin (Galaxy United)
Hayley Richmond (Senior NTC)
Melissa Taranto (Galaxy United)
Saphri Lines (Southern United)
Beattie Goad (Bulleen Lions)
Fan Voted Team of the Season
GK: Freya Crocker (Southern United)
Although she spent the start of the season rotating in goals with former-Caulfield United Cobras keeper Jaye Todd, a wrist injury to the latter saw Freya Crocker make the number one jersey her own. The Tasmanian – formerly of Boroondara Eagles – was a safe pair of hands for Southern United despite having to wait until Round 20 for her first clean sheet against the Senior NTC. A lowlight was the 6-0 thrashing against a rampant Calder United, but it showed plenty about her mentality that she was able to recover to put in consistent performances in 2016. 27.74% of the vote
RB: Annabel Martin (Galaxy United)
Martin’s whirlwind year continued following her W-League selection, as a full season there was followed by a Grand Final run at Galaxy in the NPLW, culminating in a best on ground performance despite the loss. Her improvement continues, having further sharpened the attacking element to her game from fullback, which led to numerous goals and assists by bombing forward from defence. Her bravery is second to none and she covers considerably more ground than most. 38.22% of the vote
CB: Madelaine Richardson (Box Hill United)
The technically gifted defender has played a wide range of positions at Box Hill, from right back to central midfield, but it was an accomplished season at centre-back that has seen her win plaudits this year. Proven herself a very capable out and out defender, while still contributing over a dead ball with quality set-piece delivery. A very accomplished season for a team that conceded the least amount of goals out of the teams that didn’t make the finals series. 26.65% of the vote
CB: Jess Tay (Galaxy United)
In terms of the most unlucky players in recent seasons, Jess Tay would have to be close to topping that list. The former Boroondara utility was brilliant as the Eagles fell just short of an WPL title in 2015, while similarly she fell at the final hurdle in the inaugural NPLW season with Galaxy. That aside, Tay had a very memorable campaign as she spent time juggling a defensive and midfield role, often dictating play from behind the scenes with her good range of passing, while doing her defensive duties with no frills to help her side to the most clean sheets of the season. 22.56% of the vote
LB: Anita Les (Alamein FC)
Similar to Papadopoulos, Les was utilised as a fullback after previously featuring higher up the pitch for Caulfield United Cobras in the 2015 WPL campaign. Stepping up to a higher-calibre of standard, Les cemented her place in the side and contributed on all fronts for Alamein. 42.14% of the vote
CM: MelindaJ Barbieri (Senior NTC)
The reigning Melbourne Victory Young Player of the Season backed up her incredible breakout campaign in last year’s WPL by topping her output once more. Barbieri is showing no signs of slowing down either as she shapes up for the rigours of another W-League campaign on back of captaining her Senior NTC side to a seventh-placed league finish, scoring 10 goal in the process. Oh and also an FFV Gold Medal to boot – not bad for a 16-year old. 22.73% of the vote
CM: Jamie Brown (Bayside United)
Despite finding game time hard to come by early in the season, Jamie Brown finished as one of Bayside’s more important players, finishing as their equal second top scorer with three goals and improving immensely as the season wore on. The former Senior NTC keeper has come a long way in further developing her skills as an outfielder, showing great positional awareness and game sense for someone of such a young age, even filling in at right-back at one stage. 21.29% of the vote
AM: Sofia Sakalis (Senior NTC)
The youngster was one of the bright sparks to come out of the inaugural NPLW competiton and announced herself with one of the goals of the season, where she beat four Alamein FC defenders in traffic before firing a composed finish underneath the keeper. 15 games under her belt and four goals at senior level is a fantastic building block heading into next season’s competition. 39.55% of the vote
RW: Melina Ayres (Alamein FC)
The 17-year-old continues to evolve her game as each season passes by, with this her finest season at state league level yet for the talented Alamein FC winger. One of the most dangerous players in the league, Ayres doesn’t need to see much of the ball to have an impact, able to score and create on just about any spot on the pitch, as was evident by some of her brilliant solo goals this season. Took home just about everything there was to win at the FFV Gold Medal night (aside from the coveted best and fairest), winning the Golden Boot (23 goals), Players’ Player of the Year and Rising Star award. 18.32% of the vote
LW: Hannah Keane (Alamein FC)
It was a season marred by injuries, but when she was on the park, Hannah Keane was majestic. The American winger looked a class above this league on her day, grabbing three hat-tricks and two braces in a 15 goal season. It was this ability to be a true game breaker that saw her take out the NPLW Media’s Player of the Year at Gold Medal Night. 38.21% of the vote
ST: Leigh Gray (Heidelberg United)
The American took the league by storm in her first stint in Victoria in 2012, where she netted 19 goals at nearly a goal a game. She hardly missed a trick in her return season, netting 20 times, again at just under a goal a game. She finished second to Melina Ayres in the Golden Boot race in a season that included a league high four hat-tricks. A match winner on her day, Gray wasn’t able to help carry her team to a finals berth, but a treble in the 4-0 Team App Cup win over Bulleen Lions ensured Heidelberg took plenty out of their 2016 campaign. 37.78% of the vote
Bench:
Emily Shields (Box Hill United)
With the pre-season news that Melissa Barbieri was set to fall back into a coaching role with Box Hill United, coach Bobby McGuinness was forced into looking elsewhere for a replacement number one. He dipped into the lower leagues to pluck Emily Shields from the Yarra Jets, and it turned out to be a masterstroke as the American has repaid the faith in bucketloads. A classic shot-stopper, Shields can count her reflexes and diving as some of her stronger traits, making a string of high-class saves across the season, which saw her claim the coach voted Goalkeeper of the Year award. 27.54% of the vote
Stacey Papadopoulos (Calder United)
“At the start of the season on a pre-season trip to Tasmania, Stace came up to me and asked honestly, how am I going to fit into this team?” Told Calder coach Mark Torcaso.
A string of injuries before the start of the season just so happened to open up a berth at full-back. One practice game later, and Papadopoulos had the answer to her question as she was converted from the front third to the back third to dazzling effect. Transitioning seamlessly into a wing-back role, her forays forward were still the hallmark of her season and the the cornerstone of Calder’s title success. 38.22% of the vote
Rachel Binning (Calder United)
The 19-year-old has firmly established herself as one of the league’s premier central defenders after another season of growth on the park. She is good technically, rarely beaten in the air, and is mobile despite her tall frame. Chipped in with three goals as she played every single minute in Calder’s run in to the Grand Final and was the unheralded cornerstone of her sides double winning season. 24 goals against was a league low, while Calder’s eight clean sheets was second only to Galaxy United. 19.79% of the vote
Emma Robers (Bayside United)
Robers is maturing as a player as every season passes by, showing huge improvement from the raw, but promising talent nurture through the ranks of Sandringham SC to one of the more experienced players at consortium Bayside United. This season, she’s become one of their most important players playing in a more box-to-box role, where she showed glimpses of her attacking intent, balanced with a high pressure tenacity to win plenty of ball from opposition midfielders. 18.85% of the vote
Annabel Gibney (Alamein FC)
The attacking midfielder was one of three players that signed on from Sandringham SC at the beginning of the season for Sinisa Cohadzic’s side, and she was the pick of the bunch in a season that saw her claim Alamein FC’s Best and Fairest award. She helped gel together the immensely talented attacking group in front of her and also contributed with five goals of her own. 27.3% of the vote
Kariah White (Galaxy United)
Kariah White played a starring role in the NPLW Grand Final, supplying a great assist for Caitlin Pickett’s opener. It wasn’t enough to claim the inaugural league title, but it takes nothing away from her strong season on the flank for Galaxy United. ‘Squirt’ – as she is affectionately known as – worked hard throughout the season in both an attacking and defensive sense, finishing as her side’s equal top scorer. A brilliant return to the Victorian top-flight and it looks like she’s loving football again after a two year absence. 11.11% of the vote
Emily Coppock (Bulleen Lions)
Hauls of 15 and seven goals in her past two seasons respectively was built on once more as Coppock finished the season as one of eight players to hit double digits goals in the league. The once defender again proved her ability in leading the line as she provided a focal point for the plethora of talent Bulleen deployed in wide positions. An aerial specialist and solid finisher, the striker can be happy with the work she achieved this season as Bulleen Lions finished in a respectable third place. 26.94% of the vote
Graphics: Michael Alesich Design