It is finally time!
The highly anticipated NPL NSW Women’s competition kicks off this Sunday with 12 teams vying to be Champions.
It is the last competition under the Football NSW banner to get underway with some mouth-watering clashes in Round One.
On paper and according to the league’s coaches, our season favourites are Sydney Olympic and APIA Leichhardt.
But there is always a dark horse and the question remains, who will it be?
Football NSW Institute v Manly United @VSP, 4:40pm MATCH POSTPONED
The season kicks off at 4:40pm on Sunday afternoon as the Football NSW Institute hosts Manly United.
As is the case every year with the Institute, a plethora of talent leave, only to be replaced by the new stars of the future.
There will be no Cushla Rue, Charlie Rule or Bryleeh Henry to name a few but there will some new names we will get used too.
Isabella Chidiac is there and one of only four to have played first grade before, they will be looked at to lead this young and exciting team.
You know what you get with Manly, competitiveness. They will be a tough side to beat and one that will work hard to the final whistle.
Tom Hopley has some talented players within his squad including the likes of Libby Copus-Brown, Ruby Jackson and Nicole Stuart but it will be Japanese import Yuka Honda who will need to step up.
With no Remy Siemsen or Tara Andrews this year, Manly’s new signing has quite the job on her hands.
Blacktown Spartans v Sydney University @Blacktown Football Park, 5pm MATCH POSTPONED
One of the biggest clashes of round one takes place at Blacktown Football Park as Sydney University travel to take on the Blacktown Spartans.
Two strong teams on paper, both expecting to be playing finals football come round 22.
Emily Husband hasn’t had the cleanest of pre-seasons with injuries, A-League Women’s commitments and COVID disrupting preparations.
Still, a team with the leadership qualities of Taren King and Bianca Galic, along with exciting young talents in Holly Caspers and Cushla Rue, with two phenomenal goalkeepers, they will be a force this season.
Brad Attard had similar issues in pre-season to his compatriot.
It won’t take away from what Attard and the Spartans want this weekend and that’s to get the season off to a flyer.
They’ve lost Kyra Cooney-Cross and Courtney Nevin but managed to bring in two talented youngsters in Jess Nash and Bryleeh Henry.
Attard will hope that Maja Markovski and Rosie Galea are firing for round one.
Emerging Jets v Northern Tigers @Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility, 5pm MATCH DEFERRED DUE TO COVID
Two new coaches go head to head in this one as the Emerging Jets host the Northern Tigers.
The Northern Tigers travel north to Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility with Jake Stephenson looking to get his team off to a winning start.
They’ve kept the majority of their squad with some new welcome additions to the team.
Madeleine Bart will lead the line again with the motors of Malia Steinmetz bossing the Tigers midfield.
The Jets haven’t found the transition to the NSW NPL all that easy.
With new coach Scott McCarter at the helm now, they will be hoping for improvement, something they have been doing over the years.
It’ll be up to some new talents coming through to lift that level also and will be interesting to see how they match up this season.
Illawarra Stingrays v Sydney Olympic @JJ Kelly Park, 5pm WASHED OUT
Down the south coast, weather permitting of course, the Illawarra Stingrays will host competition favourites Sydney Olympic.
Anthony Guido will be the man in charge of the Stingrays in 2022 and will hope he can lead the team to finals football.
Any result against this Olympic team will be a real statement and a fantastic platform to build off for the rest of the season.
Michelle Carney will be back again to lead her team and the influential captain will be called upon to put the ball in the back of net.
George Beltsos’ team are the favourites, they know that, they don’t care. This Sydney Olympic team can deal with the pressure and will hope to pick up as much silverware as possible.
Without Teresa Polias it will be no easy task but when you have players like Taylor Ray in your squad who is more than just an adequate replacement, you have no worries.
They’ve strengthened an already strong team and will look to get the job done from round one.
APIA Leichhardt v NWS Spirit @Lambert Park, 5:15pm
The lights at Lambert Park will be lit up as APIA Leichhardt welcome NWS Spirit to the inner-west of Sydney.
Spencer Prior tried to play it down but there is absolutely no playing it down, along with Sydney Olympic, APIA are competition favourites.
Quality across the park, from goal keeper to goal scorers, the APIA faithful will be hoping for a positive start to the season.
Rhianna Pollicina had a magnificent season for Melbourne City and will look to take that form into the NPL competition.
A lot of change at Spirit, including the name but the Koala remains as an important symbol of this football club.
Quite the overhaul in the playing stocks with Sunny Franco and Nikola Orgill moving over along with a number of other players.
Adam Keramea will be hoping his team can take anything from this fixture for a positive start to the season.
Macarthur Rams v Bankstown City @Lynwood Park, 7:10pm
One of the most interesting matches of the round closes off the action with the Macarthur Rams hosting Bankstown City.
Stephen Peters, into his second season at Lynwood Park, has now put together exactly the team he wants.
He will be missing captain Renee Rollason but has enough quality across the squad to cover for her loss.
They will be expecting nothing else than a win to kick start the 2022 season at home.
Called a dark horse by Stephen Peters, Bankstown arrives at Lynwood with absolutely no pressure.
With nothing to lose and all to gain, Bankstown can go to Macarthur and play freely and try to come away with some points.
Matthew Costantini had goal scoring headaches last season, good football but not end product. He hopes he’s found his diamond in Daisy Arrowsmith that will solve those problems, starting on Sunday night.
-By NPL NSW Women’s Chief Writer and Commentator Nikola Pozder