“We’ve gone through lots of games where the message at half-time has been ‘forget the score, lets focus on what it is we’re doing well here and keep doing it’.”
The resolve of the 12th placed South Yarra squad – pulled from the cul-de-sac of the State Leagues into a testing maiden Women’s Premier League campaign – was pushed, prodded and poked, but never deflated. Their steadfast refute to give up on a tough season came to pass last Saturday afternoon, as they claimed a 2-0 victory over Box Hill United in the final WPL game of the season – long awaited reward for their effort.
“Every other time we’ve sent that message, we’ve been behind,” continues Lions’ interim coach Jeff Thomas.
“On Saturday, I was able to say ‘forget the score, even though we’re 2-0 up, lets focus on what we’re doing well’. That was relatively easy for the girls to do because the discipline had been in place for several months.
“They were fully committed after a long, hard season, which was great. To sustain their energy and enthusiasm is a great testament to them.”
The result was a culmination of a season’s worth of repeat efforts, which often went unrewarded for the modest squad, largely comprised of their promotion winning side the year prior. League points and goals were cherished, but at times it seemed as if the carrot wasn’t worth the whip as they worked through some tough times as a club.
“I’m not saying any of our results have been unfair necessarily. There were a couple of games during the season where I might have said that [but not all],” Thomas says.
“We’ve taken our licks and we accept them. It did however help everyone walk away from the season knowing that we could put it together for 90 minutes [and the] fact that we were able to sustain it against Box Hill [was pleasing].”
The initial jump up from the State Leagues was admittedly a “shock” for a South Yarra side, who anticipated a leap in quality, but not to the extent they experienced. A 10-0 hiding at the hands of Ashburton United in Round 2 followed by an eight-goal loss to South Melbourne just a month later made for a telling narrative of how their season may just unfold.
“I don’t think South Yarra fully realised how big of a step up it was. I had been associated with South Melbourne last year so I knew what the club was getting into but I’m not sure that they fully did,” Thomas says.
“The speed of play, depth of squad and the motivation and drive of the coaches and clubs are not what they faced in State League 1. It was a shock for them initially. As one of the girls put it the other day, when we did compete on even terms, it seemed like the other teams could lift when they needed to.
“They’d step up and hammer us as we’d already been playing at our full capacity and we didn’t have another level to go to. [But] you can’t play that game week in, week out and not get better. So I think one of the reasons this year was good for everyone is because they are better players now.”
But they followed up their loss to South Melbourne with a 5-0 win against Casey Comets, the first indicator from an external viewpoint that they could compete at the top level. Behind closed doors however, Thomas and coach Danny Hall – currently in the UK – never wavered in their belief in their girls, despite some of the low points they experienced in their foray into the top-flight.
“It’s been a while since we’ve won, but the whole way though, I’ve been saying that we’ve been playing well. We’ve just had these breakdowns, which have cost us throughout the season,” Thomas says.
“But in terms of how we’re trying to play and how we’re competing, even as we’ve gone through scoreless loss after scoreless loss, we’ve been playing well.
“So this result has been coming for a while. We knew we were going to beat somebody and we prepared every week like it was the week to win, regardless of who we were up against.
“We had a game plan and an outlook that was preparing us to win. Would everything have to have gone our way? Absolutely, but the pieces were there.”
With the way that the WNPL structure is looking for season 2016, Yarra will depart back for the State Leagues, but their short stint at the top won’t be forgotten quickly, for both the fans and the players.
“I think that the girls went into this thinking it was a great opportunity to extend themselves at this level,” Thomas says.
“They’ve done it to the best of their ability and I don’t think I’ve heard one person say ‘I wish we hadn’t gone up’. Even in the worst of times, there was no one that thought that this was a mistake.”
“If we got back and play the same teams we saw in State League 1, so long as they don’t let that standard drop, they’ll have a great year.”