ALW Grand Final Preview: Melbourne Victory vs Central Coast Mariners

The A-League Women Grand Final is set, with Melbourne Victory to host the Central Coast Mariners on Sunday afternoon.

Having already faced off three times this season due to their Unite Round clash, the two sides should be familiar with each other after 270 minutes of football already, especially with their most recent clash coming in the last week of the home and away season.

Round Ball Australia gives its preview of the A-League Women Grand Final, covering the key players, how each side wins, and a prediction from both Poletti and Burke.

Key Players for Melbourne Victory

Melbourne Victory have had their best season yet in the A-League Women and finished the regular season only two points behind their cross-town rivals in Melbourne City. As such, every player within Jeff Hopkins’ squad has been vital in their sustained success. Here are four of them that are bound to make an impact on this weekend’s Grand Final match against Central Coast Mariners.

Kayla Morrison 

As Melbourne Victory’s captain and key figure of their defensive line, Kayla Morrison was always going to be a crucial figure for the Navy Blues. Having missed the opportunity to take the pitch the last time Victory won the championship in 2021/22 due to an ACL injury, Morrison will be looking to make her mark on the game and come away with her own medal. Her assuredness in defence and fearlessness in attack when she is the tall target for corners leaves her as a player that everyone will have their eyes on.

Alana Jancevski

Alana Jancevski is a big game player, there’s absolutely no doubt about it, and she also enjoys scoring at AAMI Park. This Grand Final is essentially made for her and her lethal left boot. Jancevski has had a massive position switch this season, going from winger to left-back following the retirement of Beattie Goad, and has made the move down the pitch look like she’d been there the whole time. Scoring five times and assisting another three, Jancevski is a player you’ll consistently see moving up and down the left side of the pitch with ease and a threatening edge to her stride. 

Emily Gielnik

Scoring 13 goals this season, Emily Gielnik is a force to be reckoned with amongst a very dangerous frontline. Gielnik is able to score in almost every way you can think of, and does so with regularity. Her years of experience in the A-League Women, overseas football, and international football with the Matildas makes her a difficult case to manage for even the best of defenders. Combining all those years of experience with her well honed physicality, Gielnik is a force to be reckoned with that will be looking to make the most of her game time this Sunday.

Alana Murphy

Still only 19 years old, Alana Murphy has had a season so good this year she won herself a call up and a cap with the National Team at the start of this year. The midfielder can play either offensively or defensively making her a versatile player capable of starting up attacks or slowing them down. Murphy plays with a maturity far beyond her years, and she’s been improving every season. There’s a certainty to her play and presence on the pitch for Victory, that shores them in a way that makes her crucial to their overall success.

How Melbourne Victory Win

The key for Melbourne Victory’s success is continuing to do exactly what they’ve been doing all season. Following their usual gameplan of having the best defence in the league, with only 21 goals scored against them throughout the regular season, winning fouls and set pieces in crucial areas, and being able to score in multiple ways through multiple players makes this side one that’s almost guaranteed to be successful. If they continue performing the way they have throughout the finals series this side is one that can and will go all the way.

Key Players for Central Coast Mariners

It is easy to say that basically everyone is a key player for the Mariners, given how crucial everyone is in their role throughout Emily Husband’s formation and tactical set-ups, including being able to shift around at different times due to injury this season.

This makes it incredibly difficult to narrow it down to three key players for the side if the Mariners are to emerge victorious.

Bianca Galic

An absolute workhorse for the Mariners this year, Bianca Galic stepped in as captain and has been incredibly selfish in her role for the side, performing both in midfield, her natural position, and in the defensive line when required, where she did not look out of place.

After gauging her interest last season with the Croatian national team, she earned her first caps for the side this season as well, allowing her to showcase her skills on the international stage.

Should the Mariners find a path to victory in the Grand Final, Galic will be crucial in driving the midfield alongside…

Isabel Gomez

The goalscorer in the Mariners semi-final win over Melbourne City, Isabel Gomez has had an up-and-down season impacted by injury after receiving her first Matildas call-up for the November/December international window, before returning to fine form and earning a call-up for the May/June window.

With an engine for days, Gomez does a lot of stuff off-the-ball that goes unnoticed at times, but when she’s on the ball, she makes sure to stand out.

Per 90 minutes compared to other midfielders (per fbref, last 365 days), she ranks in the 95th percentile for progressive carries (2.17), the 99th percentile for successful take-ons (1.99), and the 96th percentile for tackles (3.88) and interceptions (2.08).

Don’t be surprised if Gomez pops up with the lone goal of the game in a Mariners win, or earns player of the match in a losing effort.

Annabel Martin

Making her debut for the Victory in the 2015/16 season, before leaving after the 2018/19 season, Annabel Martin has also spent time at the Newcastle Jets and the Wellington Phoenix before landing in Gosford under Emily Husband, and has thrived in yellow and navy.

A lot of what Martin does doesn’t show up on the stat sheets, but the left-back is crucial to the Mariners set-up both in attack and defence.

Without an A-Leagues goal to her name yet, would it be all that surprising if the time she scores her first was a game winner in the Grand Final?

Yes, it would, but that is what Grand Finals are all about. Making team history and individual moments of glory, and nothing could be more glorious than your first A-Leagues goal on the biggest stage of them all. 

How Central Coast Mariners win

Teamwork and consistency.

The only side to defeat Melbourne City this season, they also drew with Victory in Sydney at Unite Round, before suffering losses to Jeff Hopkins side in Round 16 and Round 23.

But that will not phase the Mariners, who have battled injury concerns all season, and their belief in Emily Husband and her tactics has never wavered, and as a result, they have been rewarded with a shot to win it all on Sunday.

If they can work as a team, and perform like they have at their absolute best all season, the Mariners will emerge with the trophy on Sunday.

Predictions

Burke’s prediction

Having seen the way Melbourne Victory have played throughout the finals series so far, it’s almost too easy to predict the final also ending as a 3-1 win to the Navy Blue. Whether that be completed in just the 90 minutes or requires overtime is really up to them.

Player of the match: Kayla Morrison

Poletti’s prediction

As a neutral who loves a bit of chaos, this needs to be a 1-1 game heading into extra time with a goal in the first minute of the additional 30, followed by a late equaliser to make it 2-2 with the game going to penalties.

The more likely outcome however is Melbourne Victory emerging 2-1 winners over the Mariners, in either regulation or extra time.

Player of the match: Isabel Gomez

Listen to the latest episode of The Dubcast, Round Ball Australia’s Women’s Football podcast on Spotify, Apple, or watch on YouTube, with new episodes every Wednesday.

Piece co-authored by Burke and Poletti