Chris Macpherson 
Newcastle Jets 2024/25 A-League Women's season preview. Photos: Provided by Football Australia / Tiff Williams. Design: Round Ball Australia.
Newcastleโs previous campaign was disrupted by the departure of manager Gary Van Egmond before interim manager Ryan Campbell stepped in and made the side his own as they made an unlikely finals run. Can the Jets continue the rate of improvement again this season?
Newcastle made it to the final four before coming to a screaming halt in the Grand Final qualifiers at the hands of a red hot Premiership winning Melbourne City, with the Jets going down 6-0 across the two legs.
There were plenty of positives across the campaign for Newcastle from Sarina Bolden breaking the clubs goalscoring record, to a record home semi final crowd at Maitland. However it will be back to the drawing board with some key departures headlined by Bolden and shotstopper Izzy Nino who will both be extremely difficult to replace.
The Manager: Ryan Campbell
Campbell has been rewarded with the full time job after an impressive stint as caretaker to close out the previous season.
He knows the junior pathways intimately and has still been holding the role as head coach of the Emerging Jets squad in the NPL Women’s NSW over the off-season where he saw the development of a number of players with A-League Women experience who will return this year including Lara Gooch, Milan Hammond, and Josie Allan.
Campbell is a young coach who continues to invest his time in the womenโs pathways and will be a name to watch if he can continue his stunning trajectory to this point. He is connected with his squad and has the buy-in of his troops, which clearly showed in last seasons surge to the final four.
The Squad
Campbell and his staff are going to have their work cut out looking to replace some of the key departures from their squad.
The absence of star striker Sarina Bolden who was their leading scorer last season, as well as the experience of the second leading scorer Melina Ayres will leave the Jets looking for answers at the point of attack.
The only obvious replacements that have been signed are New Zealand International Deven Jackson (Canberra United) and Sheridan Gallagher (Newcastle Knights โ NRLW) whilst India Breier (Western Sydney Wanderers) could provide some cover.
Outside of the new signings there may be an expectation that young players like Josie Allan & Milan Hammond will take strides in their career and potentially become attacking weapons this year. Lauren Allan meanwhile will look to use her experience to help develop her fellow locals as she has done in recent seasons.
At the other end of the pitch the Jets were well served by American import Izzy Nino in season 23/24 and she will be another sorely missed departure. They have tried to go like for like bringing in another import keeper in Danielle Krzyzaniak, with the Canadian shot stopper signing from AC Sparta Prague in Czechia.
The Jets midfield may well be the most settled are of the club and the consistent cog that they can rely on with the experience of Libby Copus-Brown and captain Cassidy Davis at the heart of this unit. They will be joined by the likes of the returning Sophie Hoban who took significant strides in becoming a consistent starter last season.
In defence it was a key focus for the Jets to extend Swiss import Lorena Baumann over the off-season which they got across the line. They will also welcome back young guns Josie Wilson & Claudia Cicco as well as having added Ava Piazza (Canberra United), and Bel Rolley, who grew up in Newcastle but has been plying her trade in the US.
The Off-field: New Owners & Consistency
The club has undertaken an off season overhaul with new owners Maverick Sports Partners stepping in. Whilst like at many clubs the ownership focus has been squarely on the A-League Men program, the women have not been forgotten in Newcastle.
With new imports locked in and talk the club is still in the market for at least one more, there is a clear statement that the new owners are supporting Ryan Campbell despite some unavoidable departures including local former Matilda Gema Simon (retired) alongside Nino, Ayres & Bolden.
The club will be hoping with their investment in and the improvement of the Emerging Jets program, alongside locking in Campbell at the helm, they will find some consistency in the coaching space as well as a consistent and continued improvement on the pitch.
Expectations
Matching or exceeding last years run to the Grand Final qualifier might be a big ask, but never say never with the A-League Women competition.
With the loss of their two leading goal scorers, much will come down to who can lead the attack and can they do it consistently.
The Jets have in recent years been a team that has played high risk, high reward football which can see them leak goals but back themselves to outscore an opponent.
Much of this scoring expectation may well fall to code hopping ex-Young Matildaโs captain Gallagher. If she can score goals at a similar rate she scored tries in the NRLW, Jets fans are in for a treat.
Based on the unknowns of their imports, the questions over how Gallagher will transition back from Rugby League and the development trajectory of their young troops, competing for finals is still an absolute minimum but a top four finish would be a huge tick for Ryan Campbell and his management.
Unfortunately for fans in the Hunter, it looks like barely a pass mark may be on the cards with the Jets to fall just short of finals in 2024/25.