Words: Matt Dorman
Image: Getty Images

Returning Westfield W-League stars are set to shine on the new PlayStation® 4 National Premier Leagues Women’s season as the competition kicks-off its second year.

Six players who appeared in the nation’s top tier over summer are returning to boost their respective teams’ prospects of Grand Final glory.

Local stars combined for nine goals in the latest Westfield W-League season and, with four Finals Series spots up for grabs, their extra experience could well prove the difference.

Eastern Suburbs will be best represented as they welcome back Canberra United duo Jenna McCormick and Tegan Riding as well as five-goal Adelaide United forward Rosie Sutton (pictured).

Garrath McPherson has outlined lofty ambitions for last year’s third-placed side after they led the competition until the final two rounds of the 2015 regular season, but reigning double-winners The Gap aren’t short on Westfield W-League experience either.

Ruth Blackburn’s form in Gators’ run to the title earned her a starting spot at Brisbane Roar and she returns to line-up alongside star signings Katie Winter, Talitha Doro and Greta Bodey, who all appeared for the PlayStation 4 NPL Queensland Women’s Select side against Blackburn’s Roar.

There could well be a surprise contender rising from the other end of the ladder in the new-look Souths United.

Coach Gary French defected to the Brisbane outfit over pre-season and has lured nine members of the Palm Beach SC – now Gold Coast City – squad he led to the Grand Final

That pool features inaugural Golden Boot winner Deanna Thompson, New Zealand international Terri-Amber Carlson and Safe Hands Award recipient Bianca Warrener among several household names.

Olympic FC narrowly missed out on Finals Series football last term but, with attacker Allira Toby re-joining and bringing across Adelaide United teammate Lorena Maggio from Western Pride, now boast the Westfield W-League experience they previously lacked.

Above them, UQFC and Sunshine Coast both performed with distinction in the competition’s debut year but will have to overcome significant departures to remain in post-season contention. The signings of Zozia Sen and Linley Archard respectively will go some way to covering absences.

Peninsula Power fired in the latter stages of last season to go within two matches of the Grand Final. New coach Michael Cook has compiled a youthful squad featuring only four players born before 1996 as he stamps his mark on a team full of promise.

For Western Pride and SWQ Thunder – who finished eighth and ninth respectively – sophomore seasons at PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues are expected to be largely about growth and developing players into future Westfield W-League prospects.

Eastern Suburbs FC Women 2016 Squad – PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues Women's

Anastasia Mavrick, Laura Harris, Harkana Dixon, Susanne McKeen, Tiffany Roberts, Georgina Amos, Ashley Watkins, Emma Pittman, Renee Cowan, Rosie Sutton, Michaela Hatzirodos, Tegan Riding, Jenna McCormick, Mikaela Di Savia, Rani Lustosa, Anna Webby, Ellen Hepburn, Caitlin Grimmet, Breanna Maxwell, Keesha Martinuzzo, Jodie Burchell

Gold Coast City FC Women 2016 Squad - not submitted

Olympic FC Women 2016 Squad - not submitted

Peninsula Power FC Women 2016 Squad – PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues Women's

Talullah Bearing, Cynthia Mollross, Ieramia Rowlands, Morgan Schoener, Jessica Eccles, Tori Hornsveld, Brittany Waugh, Madoka Momma, Abby Belford, Casey Carloff, Victoria Brebner, Bree Lockyear, Grace Curtis, Natsuka Watanabe, Michelle Le Roux, Michelle Mortensen, Jasmine Michel, Grace Duroux, Imogen Braithwaite, Hideka Shikata

Redlands United FC Women 2016 Squad – PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues Women's

Megan Byriel, Whitney Howson, Samantha Micallef, Jacinta Duncan, Marcela Trevino-Cantu, Christina Byrd, Gemma Kline, Kaneisha Vlope, Nadine Magee, Jamee Woolf, Rikke Appleyard, Emilie Rochelet, Tayla Lee, Sam Vanderstam, Katey Hunt, Delyse Laycock, Kate Morris

Souths United FC Women 2016 Squad – PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues Women's

Bianca Warrener, Ambrosia Malone, Louise Marmion, Eloise Fryer, Georgia Keen, Rita Marshall, Meghan McElligott, Georgia Chapman, Terri-Amber Carlson, Deeanna Thompson, Caitlin Moss, Kirsten McGilvray, Tayler Stevens, Brittany Gerada, Amber Maxwell, Bianka Topalovic, Vivien Topalovic, Ella Goodman, Phoebi Clissold, Chloe Cole, Kate Lawson

Sunshine Coast FC Women 2016 Squad – PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues Women's

Katie Offer, Isabella Neil, Cassandra Buhmann, Jessica Bender, Emily Walkerden-Ridge, Martha Bensted, Kirsty Clifford, Tayla Gesch, Samara Christmas, Danielle White, Tegan Buhmann, Linley Archard, Kirra Guy, Kristy Hayward, Lisa van Hooijdonk, Maddi Warren

SWQ Thunder FC Women 2016 Squad – PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues Women's

Elizabeth Hollitt, Lana Styler, Lucy Pople, Madison Franke, Angela Potter, Kate Beecham, Tiffany Dibley, Jordan Franke, Emma Beecham, Sarah Sheridan, Rosanna Berry, Harriet Killen, Abbey Lloyd, Jemma Nokes, Melanie Lloyd, Danielle Bigby, Caitlyn Stocker, Katlin Peterson, Lucinda Jensen

The Gap FC Women 2016 squad - not submitted

UQFC Women 2016 Squad – PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues Women's

Danielle Harbot, Vicki Brown, Sidney Hale, Chloe Tory, Georgia Buchanan, Danielle Ward, Chelsea Vincent, Hikaru Arai, Vicky Lines, Zozia Sen, Stephanie White, Portia Lee, Giovanna Shakhovskoy, Cairisjan Mitchell, Catrin Gardner, Alexandra Maguire, Celeste Peterson

Western Pride FC Women 2016 squad - not submitted