Report by Tommy Doleman

Fremantle City's Mikayla Lyons. Photo by Football West/FotoEnzo

The two remaining sides with 100% starts to the 2022 NPLWA – Women’s season lock horns on Saturday as Perth RedStar and Fremantle City meet in a top-of-the-table clash.

RedStar have enjoyed large wins over Hyundai NTC and Curtin University, building on last month’s Night Series success.

Fremantle, meanwhile, have beaten last year’s bottom two sides in Curtin University and Subiaco.

City have maintained a relatively settled squad over the off-season, with head coach Garry Church adding Tash Rigby and Jamie-Lee Gale back into the fold.

City forward Mikayla Lyons is hopeful such continuity is something which can help her side aim for the title.

“I think what we’ve done well over the last few years is have a culture at the club where players with similar values and beliefs can come and fit in,” she said.

“The environment we’ve created has allowed us to maintain that stability, whether that’s on or off the pitch, but it’s driving what we want to be known for to help try to build that success.

“Garry is an incredible coach and we’re lucky and grateful to have him interested in coaching our squad and building on last year. He’s got a good human connection with everyone, and we’ve learnt so much from his wealth of knowledge within the game. There’s a real desire for things to be done at high quality.

“Tash and Jamie are awesome people and players, and they bring that different dynamic.

“There’s no doubt we’re going for the title this year, we’ve said that all along from the start of pre-season. That’s our aim and we’ll work hard.”

Lyons has been one of the club’s most consistent figures over the first two NPLW campaigns, scoring nine times in each season. She has two already this term and sees a real improvement in the depth of the squad, both with the new recruits and the club’s U23s, who won the first two titles.

“I’m really passionate about that and so are the other players and staff members,” she said.

“We’re always happy to see them (U23 players) step up and have a crack at the first team. They’ve done a phenomenal job, they’re confident and we’ve had four or five step in and make their debuts. It’s really important to give them an opportunity to show what they’ve got and a lot of them have slotted in nicely.

“The spread of talent this season I think will benefit us. We’ve already seen that in the Night Series and in the first two games that we have different options, which definitely helps to take some of that pressure off.

“Having good players around is a big thing, I feel I always play better when the team is playing well. It’s nice to contribute to that through goals and assists, but it’s more about focusing on team moments, and the three points are always more important that individual moments and accolades.”

Saturday’s fixture against RedStar will provide Fremantle with a litmus test while the standings are still taking shape early in the season. Lyons says the team will go into the game full of confidence.

“In this season more than any other, the points are certainly not a given. But we always go into games as if it’s a final and that’s something Garry has tried to push where every week we go out and play with that intensity,” she said.

“Curtin and Subiaco are a lot stronger this year, so we were stoked to get the points against them, and in the majority of both games we’ve played how we’ve wanted to play and in the style we want to.

“We’ve been happy with our performances and just want to build on that now. Obviously, this weekend is a huge one for us to test ourselves against undoubtedly one of the top teams in the league.

“We’re very confident and I think that comes from our training being intense and holding each other accountable and to a high standard. We really thrive off the challenge of playing the top teams and have a lot of belief in our squad.”

Round Three begins on Friday night when Hyundai NTC host Murdoch University Melville at E&D Litis Stadium.

The Good Friday fixture sees the NTC youngsters return to the venue where they came from 2-1 down to beat Perth SC 3-2 last week. The defending champions, meanwhile, arrive unbeaten in the first two matches and will be buoyed by the weekend’s 1-0 win at Balcatta where Poppie Hooks nodded in the winner.

There’s also Easter Monday football as Perth SC host Curtin University. Curtin did win at Dorrien Gardens in 2020, but last season’s fixture saw Perth scored five times in the final 20 minutes to win 5-0.

Subiaco’s game with Balcatta has been postponed and is rescheduled for July 24.

Fixtures

Friday (8pm): Hyundai NTC v Murdoch University Melville. Saturday (5pm): Perth RedStar v Fremantle City. Monday (1pm): Perth SC v Curtin University. Postponed: Subiaco v Balcatta (now scheduled for Sunday 24 July)