2021 NPLW WA: The Season so Far

Last weekends round of fixtures in the WA NPLW saw the league leaders lose their unbeaten record, an emphatic victory by the title favourites, a draw in Geraldton and the bottom two teams still looking for their first victory of the season.

It also saw the first round of the league completed so now is a good time to take stock of the season so far and have a check on the state of each team.

NORTHERN REDBACKS

With a new coach on board at Redbacks, there was always going to be a question mark about what sort of impact his philosophies and playing style would have and the pre-season night series competition suggested the players were taking time to adjust, as Redbacks failed to get out of the group stages.

Since the start of the league though there has been a steady improvement in form and wins over Fremantle and MUM FC point to the team getting used to the new regime and have given rise to some cautious optimism for the season.

The backline remains as solid as ever, with just nine goals conceded, but question marks remain over the efficiency in the attacking third. Redbacks have created the 2^nd highest number of chances in the league (57), but their percentage rate of conversion sits at just 28% with only two other teams showing a lower rate. This failure to convert chances hurts the team and they will need to improve this if they are to stay near the very top of the table.

Redbacks have a history of getting to the pointy end of the season as strong contenders for honours, and the results so far suggest this may be the case again for 2021.

MUM FC

Last seasons champions have been almost flawless so far this season, with losses to Fremantle in the opening game and Northern Redbacks being the only games they have not completely dominated their opponents.

The leagues leading scorers last season are again topping the scoring charts with 27 already and have failed to score three or more on just two occasions. It’s not just at the pointy end of the pitch that they are having success though, as their defence is also proving to be very mean with only Northern Redbacks conceding fewer goals.

The amount of firepower in the side is the envy of every team in the league, but strangely this may be the one area they may have problems with as it won’t be possible to give all the players the sort of game time they may be expecting. Any coach would be happy if this were a problem they had to face though.

It’s difficult to see the team not finishing in the top two, and a repeat of last seasons title win is highly likely.

NTC

Currently sitting in third, the NTC is slowly going about their business and starting to string together some impressive performances. They have lost just one game so far this season and are now unbeaten in their last 5 matches.

NTC has always been a side that likes to pass the ball and they are the leagues leading team in passing stats with over 4000 so far and a passing accuracy of 83%.

They are also finding their touch in front of goal and are the third-highest goal scorers in the league with 17.

As with all young sides though there can be periods of inconsistency, and there is also the question of squad depth. With NTC being a development squad for the best talent in WA, the U23 team is a U15’s squad so if the NPLW side were to suffer a run of injuries then these young players would have to step in. This is not a significant problem in terms of their development but may impact on results.

There is no doubt that NTC has some talented players, but their youthfulness was exposed last season when they failed to make the top four and this may be a problem again this season. However, the way they are currently playing suggests this is unlikely.

PERTH

After a slow start to the season when they failed to register a win in their first three games, Perth started showing signs of getting back to the form that earned them second spot last season, but a 5-1 defeat to MUM FC in the last round suggests there are still some question marks about their ability to beat the top teams.

Perth is a well-organised team, and have only let in two or more goals on two occasions. Their attack is not as prolific as that of the top three but they have scored in every game so far and are not an easy team to beat.

As with the other sides, the depth of the squad will surely be tested during the season, and with their U23’s going well they may have a deeper one than many of their rivals. The question mark is what happens if there is an injury to some of their more high-profile players, as the results in the early part of the season before their W-League players arrived suggest the side struggles somewhat without them.

Perth’s second-place finish last season caught many people by surprise, but they have now established themselves as one of the top teams in the NPLW and a repeat of a top four finish shouldn’t be considered unusual.

FREMANTLE

One of the form teams of 2020, Fremantle has so far struggled to recapture that level and currently sit just outside the top four in fifth spot.

They started the season very well, winning their first three games, but have failed to win since then and suffered a 5-0 loss against Northern Redbacks.

Their defence last season was one of the strongest in the league, but they have yet to keep a clean sheet and their attack has dried up recently with just two goals in the last four games.

They are another team with a new coach, and they have also had quite a high turnover of players from last season so it’s clear they are still working to adapt to the new faces.

A big plus for them though is that they have a strong U23 squad, and this is supplemented by the largest number of female players at any one club in WA, so they do have plenty of options to turn to if needs be.

In order to get back into the top four, they are going to have to find a way to score more goals otherwise they may struggle to repeat the run they had last year when they went all the way to the Grand Final.

BALCATTA

The reigning Night Series champions started the season with two wins before going on a four-game winless streak that ended last Sunday with a dramatic 1-0 win against league leaders Northern Redbacks.

The winless run coincided with a number of injuries to key players, and that may explain why they have struggled so far this season. The result last Sunday was certainly a boost for the team, and they will now be looking to build on that when they take on Curtin University in the next round.

Balcatta is a side that likes to hit the opposition on the counter-attack and this relies on a strong defensive set-up as the springboard for these attacks. They have a good record so far with three clean sheets, but they aren’t creating as many chances as they would like with just 28 this season which is the third-lowest number in the league, and the lack of chances is reflected in the number of goals scored, which is just nine.

The lack of goals means that if teams get in front of them, they struggle to turn that around, and they have never won a game from a losing position. This is something that will have to change if they are to entertain serious thoughts of getting into the top four.

CURTIN UNIVERSITY

At the beginning of the season, the University team were making some bold predictions that they were serious top four contenders, but with just two points so far and the worst defence in the league, they’re now more likely to be in the bottom half rather than top four.

They started with a draw against Perth in their season opener and earned another draw in their last game against Subiaco in a come from behind performance.

The results in the other games don’t reflect the fighting qualities being displayed, as they went ahead against NTC and drew level with MUM FC, Redbacks and Fremantle. But in all four games, they failed to register a single point as their opponents eventually won. This suggests the team is struggling to put together a 90-minute performance and that confidence is, not surprisingly, low.

Results in the first round indicate this is going to be a long season for Curtin, and it appears as though it’s already beyond them to get into the top four. They were also knocked out of the Cup last week, and with no promotion or relegation for 2021, there is now little to play for except pride. This now presents an opportunity to look at their U23 players to see if they can play in the higher league with a view to building for 2022.

SUBIACO

The inaugural NPLW season in 2020 was one that Subiaco would rather forget, as they were brutally exposed on a few occasions and ended up with just two points and a goal difference of -66, scoring just four goals and conceding 70.

This season though, the team has shown a huge improvement, and have already scored three times, and came desperately close to earning away draws at Fremantle and Perth, conceding last-minute goals in both games. The point they earned against Curtin was also the first time this season they have taken a lead.

The team plays an aggressive and hustling style which disrupts opponents and so far only NTC and MUM FC have beaten them by more than one goal. This type of play puts a premium on fitness though, and as the season wears on it’s almost inevitable that injuries will occur and this will test the depth of their squad.

If they can avoid any major long term injuries and continue to play with the sort of belief they demonstrated against Perth and Fremantle then the first-ever win in the NPLW era may not be too far away.

Like Curtin, they now appear to have little to play for except pride, but they also have the opportunity to use this season as a springboard for the future and to blood new players into the squad.