After 134 games spanning 23 weeks, it’s time for the decider.
On one side, you have an iconic club looking to add to their trophy cabinet and create more legendary tales of success. On the other, a relative newcomer to women’s top flight football in NSW, but certainly a club who has earned both their place in the Championship game and the respect of the league.
Football NSW headquarters is the venue for the biggest game of the NSW NPL season – who will be lifting the trophy, Macarthur Rams or Northern Tigers?
Macarthur Rams v Northern Tigers
Sun 11 Sep, 3pm, Valentine Sports Park
For Macarthur Rams, this game represents a return to where they feel they belong. The Rams are set for their sixth Grand Final appearance in the last ten (completed) seasons, but had experienced rough times in recent years, missing the finals in 2019 and 2020.
Enter Stephen Peters. His first task as head coach when he joined the Rams in 2021 was to get them back to the top of the table. We’ll never know how the season would have panned out if it wasn’t cancelled, but what we do know is that the Rams were flying high at the time of Sydney’s second lockdown, sitting in third place, only three points off the top of the table.
Macarthur’s achievements this year mean that 2021 wasn’t a fluke, with a third place finish and a late season win over Premiers Sydney University showing that the Lynwood Park side are truly back as a competition heavyweight. Their epic semi-final triumph over APIA proves they have the ability to get the job done in do-or-die fixtures, is Sunday going to be Macarthur’s day?
Standing in their way is a club whose rise up the NSW women’s football ranks has been remarkable. As recently as 2016, Northern Tigers were a second-tier side. Their successful promotion campaign (which featured current Tigers players Hannah McNulty and Josie Wilson) took them to the top division, but this is only the start of the story.
The Tigers almost shocked everyone in 2019 when they nearly defeated an outrageously talented Sydney University side in that year’s Grand Final, only to be undone by a late equaliser and a penalty shootout. They followed that up by being fourth in 2020 and second when the 2021 season was cancelled – now it’s no longer a surprise to see the Tigers near the top of the standings.
The man who led them to this success, northern suburbs coaching legend Jason Eagar, stepped away from 1st Grade duties for this year. He was always going to be a tough act to follow, so full credit to Jake Stephenson for not just filling the role, but maintaining the high standards set by Eagar and taking his club to another Grand Final.
There are key battles all over the field so it will be hard to focus on one particular area, but we have our eye on the midfield. For the Rams, expect livewire Melissa Caceres to be backed up by Darcey Malone’s industry in the centre of the park, as well as wondergoal specialist Bethany Gordon – does she have one more spectacular strike in her locker?
Meanwhile, we anticipate Tigers midfielder Maddie Bart will provide seemingly endless running and an eye for goal, while Isabel Gomez will shield the defence. Don’t forget about Beth Bernardi – sometimes she goes unnoticed, but it was hard to ignore her clinical finish in the semi-final, one which killed off Sydney University’s hopes of a comeback.
So there it is: Rams vs Tigers, south-west Sydney vs the northern suburbs, however you want to phrase it, this game looks set to be a classic encounter. If you can’t be at Valentine Sports Park on Sunday, make sure you tune in on NPL.TV!
Head-to-head
Round 5: Northern Tigers 1-0 Macarthur Rams
Round 16: Macarthur Rams 1-1 Northern Tigers
Regular season
Macarthur: 3rd, won 12, drawn 4, lost 6, 40 points, scored 41, conceded 25
Tigers: 4th, won 10, drawn 8, lost 4, 38 points, scored 47, conceded 28
