Affectionately known as “Ant”, Antoni Jagarinec is a significant figure in the landscape of Canberra women’s football. Part two of this discussion (conducted just before Christmas 2023) focuses on the 2023/24 Canberra United campaign in his capacity as assistant coach.
“Heather Reid was a great operator. With Belconnen we’re winning lots of football matches. We introduced the BUDS (development squads), we had two or three underpinning teams, and I had great staff around me. We’re getting success on and off the park, we’re getting buy-in and being approached about sponsorship. We’re a local women’s club in Canberra, and you want to give us money? Unheard of.
“That same year or the year before, Rae Dower was the assistant Canberra United coach in the W-League, which gave her a winter role with the Canberra United Academy (CUA). Our first interaction was against each other on the other side of the park. What a chess match that was! They had, in my opinion, one of the best ACTAS / CUA golden generations that Canberra’s ever seen. I had a few senior ex-Matildas, but lots of local girls so it was the game that I looked forward to most of the season. So there was a healthy rivalry with Raeza, and then she was announced as the Canberra United head coach with Gosh (Njegosh Popovich) assisting.
“We knew of each other but never had a working football relationship with each other. Njegosh was appointed [assistant] and I was like, oh, man, I really wanted this, but a day or two later Heather [Reid] gave me a call explaining it’s not that we don’t want you involved in women’s football at that level. It’s more experience, different relationships, a little bit older, all these kinds of things, but we’d like to come up with a hybrid role. We want to maybe appoint you as a manager, but we’re also keen for you to be involved in football.
“My official title was manager, and I spent the first chunk of that season picking up cones and doing managerial stuff, but the way that Raeza operates was very much an open book and I was invited to run groups and extras at training. Initially, I had impostor syndrome – am I good enough for this? But then I felt like I can hang out with these guys and [be part of] the football conversations and debates and I really felt my point was listened to – I always had a voice in that change room and I appreciated that with Raeza.
“That’s kind of where my relationship grew with Gosh as well.
“Because the higher you are in the coaching food chain, the smaller your trust circle has to be.
“On reflection I proved that I was trustworthy; I was good enough to have a seat at the table; they could rely on me.”
Dower spent two successful years at the coaching helm, then recommended Popovich with Jagarinec assisting as successors. History shows that Capital Football chose another path, appointing Heather Garriock as coach for three seasons, but even back at that point Popovich knew he had his man.
“Gosh said ‘Mate, if I get the job, you are with me. I’m not looking for anyone else. I want to work together, and continue to build on the last two years’ success’. So that was really heartwarming and I felt very, very happy with that.
“Then probably April/May of last year when Njegosh was having interviews [for the Canberra United role], I hadn’t spoken to him for probably six or eight months to be fair – I was coaching his son at the time actually! Gosh gave me a call then said, ‘Hey, just a heads up, I’m having an interview’, and not in so many words ‘make sure you’re available for the summer if this goes the way I want it to, you’re there with me’.
“That was good, so exciting, and reinforced that it wasn’t just ‘you’re there because you’re in women’s football, or it was convenient’. It was because I can add value to the coaching staff and playing group. Ever since then, it’s been 55 phone calls a day and 27 text messages [laughs].”
Read here for last season’s article with Canberra United coach Njegosh Popovich
Jagarinec goes on to describe the working dynamic he has with Popovich and the boundaries between their roles.
“There’s a huge amount of mutual respect. Gosh as the boss is the decision maker, my role is to assist him. But very clearly that doesn’t mean agree with him. Sometimes the best way I can assist him is to debate with him. There’s stuff that we agree on and stuff that we disagree on, but even when I agree with him, I will still play devil’s advocate.
“We make decisions together, he has final say, and his head’s on the chopping block week in week out. And he’s very aware of that.
“I’m also extremely aware that whatever input I give, has to be articulated and thought about very clearly. Njegosh is a very empowering person, he doesn’t micromanage. He’s very passionate about his style and his philosophy and how he wants to see things work. Football is opinion-based. I think our relationship wouldn’t work as well if we agreed on too many things.
“On the side of the park, on the training pitch, at McKellar Park, and at an away game, you will never see me disagree with Gosh, ever. I might be the voice in the moment [Jagarinec can project his voice far greater than most]. But it’s Gosh, it’s words from five days of training that week. So very rarely, when it comes to a match day, are we disagreeing. The game plan is very much a collective effort with [other assistants] Matty Moore and Ahmed Ugool and Tim Davies, our goalkeeper coach.
“It’s a very empowering, open, very technical and very scientific environment. It’s very GPS-heavy and wellness-based as well, which is a game changer.
“[What I’ve learnt most these last two seasons] is how much modern football relies on science. I always knew it did, but never had a first-hand experience of it.
“Me, from the sideline, my biggest tool in the toolbox is yelling. Gosh is quite reserved, very reflective. But if you look close enough, there are plenty of times Gosh is hitting me on my leg saying ‘Deliver that message!’. It’s about winning in the A-League; if I can help affect a moment in the match with my voice, I’m going to do it.”
When asked about the youthfulness and makeup of the squad, Jagarinec explains that many factors went into recruiting decisions this season.
“One thing that’s not talked about enough is the length of the season. Having an extra four away matches with travel is a big hit to the bottom line. Different management/boards come in and they are happy to spend in some places [but perhaps not others], that’s a part of being a football coach.
“Even in the last couple of years [we’ve been a] very heavily Canberra-based team, that golden generation I spoke about has been 5, 6, 7 years in one team and into their prime of football. Being a Canberra player at home goes with being also a cheaper player, the accommodation (living with your parents), all these kind of things which all takes off the bottom line. A lot of other clubs are looking at Canberra and going oh, what’s going on, a Laura Hughes, who is a perfect example, had the season of her career last year. Her positional discipline was second to none. You look at a club like Melbourne City who are in a fortunate position where money is the last thing they think about. First thing [for them is to] look for people that have positional discipline and your Laura’s are perfect. So we’ve gone from a homegrown player that’s only ever played at Canberra, lives at home with Mum and Dad, 5-6 years A-League experience.
“You take that out of your team, financially we can’t replace a like for like Laura Hughes. To get someone with seven years experience and bring her interstate – financially we can’t afford her.
“On top of the extra length of the season – Grace Maher, same kind of thing, huge loss, that kind of experience. You can’t replace a 7-8 year Grace Maher with a one-year player. Financially, we can’t afford that and that’s okay. It’s not whinging, that’s the reality of A-League. You have a budget, this is where you spend it and where you can’t spend it, and you do the best you can. Grace Jale, the season that she had last year and the World Cup that she had, she was more likely out the door than not and once again [we] financially couldn’t compete. Ellie Brush, 3000 years experience, how do you replace that?
“The players that we have we’re extremely happy with, but day one when we put our squad list down we look at balance. Balancing the financial, balancing the squad, and the 22-round season. And we were very happy. We were very realistic, we’re probably not going to win the first 5 or 10 games 10-0. Not that we don’t want to, or have the ability to, we just knew it was going to take a little bit of teasing out and grinding to get those little experiences. If we reflect a little bit on the season so far we haven’t been punished.
“As much as we’re young, we still have Nickoletta Flannery as a senior player. Emma Ilijoski’s been around ever since I can remember, around 2017, so plenty of experience there. Maria Rojas brings experience to the ranks with Cannon Clough.
“We have a young squad on average but our starting lineup is good enough, the young kids that supplement the experience are sensational.
“Then we have two or three [Young and ex-] Matildas, and some on international teams. Ruby Nathan’s a great example, 18 years old now, has some minutes for the New Zealand national team. That’s what we have in Canberra. And it’s going back to the original point that they’re the people that we’re going to have to attract and not develop but improve. It’s not a development league but we have to improve them like that, and these girls are the next Laura Hughes, are the next Grace Maher.
“Fortunately for us, it’s a 22-week season. Unfortunately for us in a win-at-all-costs kind of league, there’s a potential we might not be here three years to see the benefit. In my experience going back to the BelNorth and Belconnen days, you keep this kind of cohort together and the vibe that we have, they’re a really dangerous group.”
An all-new backline started in Round 1 and since then different combinations have been tried. Tactical flexibility is also an ever-present consideration, while some early season moments getting caught square at the back have been alleviated with the addition of North Carolina Courage defender Sarah Clark. Jagarinec notes that last season it took 13 rounds to arrive at a settled backline, but also recounts some bad luck the team has had in attempting to recruit another central defender for this campaign.
“We’ve had one centre back at the airport, and then reports have come back through that they’ve got hamstring tears.
“It’s no secret that [in the early rounds] we were leaking way too many goals. Those in the backline have been playing out of their skin with their intensity and work rate. Sasha Grove, Emma Ilijoski, Alex McKenzie, [all] extremely young footballers. Cannon Clough, a little experienced, probably prefers to play out wide but does a really good job in the centre. Alex McKenzie is a first-year A-Leaguer and she played more minutes in the first five games than I think she would have probably expected for the whole season. Ideally, keeping it settled would be best. Finding the right combination, you need to give people chances to fail but also chances to succeed as well.”
While the mentoring group from last season [Caitlin Munoz, Grace Gill, Ashleigh Sykes, Nicole Begg] are always warmly welcomed when they arrive at training sessions as their schedules allow – “when they’re around a lot of the girls’ eyes light up” – Jagarinec explains that the attributes of the new leadership team are a little different from last season.
“Globally, we have an extremely safe environment, [one where] it’s safe to fail, it’s safe to be silly. From that, people feel safe, safe [enough] to be vulnerable. And when they’re vulnerable, they want to be better and learn. From an individual point of view, Grace Maher and Ellie Brush, they’re very vocal leaders. Our senior captaincy group with Emma, Nickoletta and Michelle, they’re not players that you’re necessarily going to see leading on the park with their voice at that same level. Michelle Heyman will lead with her football; she will drop a line deeper; she’ll point plays with hand gestures; she’ll go [challenge] someone; she’ll turn around and give the girls the eyes on the park. Nickoletta Flannery is the same, she’ll lead with her work rate up and down that sideline, and she’s always making sure people are happy. Emma Ilijoski, you’ll see her hand claps, encouragement, pumping the team up. Cannon Clough, there’s not one club in the world that couldn’t do with one, let alone twenty Cannons.
“There’s not one person that sits there in front and dictates culture or leadership or mentorship, it’s a real collective and everyone’s doing it. It goes back to the environment where Goshy’s empowering [everyone]. [An example of] the kind of interaction that makes me excited is Christo [Sofia Christopherson], kind of a rookie, making a call to benefit the team, telling an older player onfield about a play that Michelle spoke to her about. That’s kind of what’s fueling the whole environment at the moment.”
The conversation turns to newer young talent: two players with Canberra United Academy origins, and two without local ties.
“Christo got a lot of opportunities last year. Unfortunately, she got injured. Very young, very raw, but has the tools in her toolbox. Super coachable. Last year she went back to the Academy with a leadership role. It was about developing herself, definitely, but what we asked her to do was bring more people into the game. So it wasn’t just Christo running in straight lines, Christo scoring goals; it was about how can you become more of a team player – not as a criticism, but as a learning for her journey. This year, training the house down. Had an opportunity, took her starting spot, scored a great goal. She’s still a young player, she’s going to have ebbs and flows. As coaches, we’re excited because when she gets the ball in behind, the first thing she’s thinking [now] is who can I bring into the match? So yes, I’m excited for Christo this season, but also for Christo in four seasons’ time.”
It’s wonderful to see another home-grown talent in Alex McKenzie joining the squad this season. McKenzie was a determined West Canberra Wanderers midfield maestro a couple of years ago before reinventing herself as a defender with Illawarra Stingrays in NPL NSW.
“In 2018, maybe 2019, I was her NTC coach. She was one of the best players in Canberra, one of the best 16-year-olds at the time. She hated me because I had a conversation with her early on during training and said, ‘You know what, if you’re going to be a footballer at the next level, it’s probably not going to be in the midfield’. And she didn’t like that because she was an extremely dominant midfielder in our league. Her intensity, her perfectionism was also in my opinion going to be her undoing. But that intensity, you also can’t coach, so that’s also why she stood out.
“Anyway, we’re looking for defenders in our offseason and Gosh, being Sydney-based, was watching a lot of Sydney NPL live. I was keeping an eye on the 51 or 52 local girls playing in New South Wales and Queensland. He went to look at Illawarra, who have several Canberra players. He rang me after the match, ‘Mate, Alex McKenzie put Rola Badiwaya [now with Central Coast Mariners] in her pocket today, who is she?’ We wanted to bring her in to give her experience; she’s been training the house down; fast; strong; and a good level of football understanding.
“Alex was kind of thrown in the deep end in the Adelaide game. She always wants to be better and I love that about Alex. She’s been quick to have conversations, very coachable. We’ve seen a big shift in how she’s playing, not less intense, but maybe a little bit smarter. So I’m excited for her over the next couple of years. She took the responsibility to move herself to Sydney, and is reaping an A-League contract to the benefit of that this year.
“Mary Stanic-Floody is … I haven’t seen a Caitlin Munoz since Caitlin Munoz. She’s not someone that’s going to get a million high-speed meters a game but she’s so football smart that she’s three steps ahead of most people that she plays against. She gets the idea of [playing in] pockets and she should not know that relative to her age.
“Mary doesn’t stand out. She’s not one of those who will score a bucket load of goals, she’s not going to run around and break people’s legs. But from a pure old-school footballer point of view, wow – great instincts and football brain.
“Another [new exciting young player] is Ruby Nathan. There was a preseason game where she razzled in front of the bench playing against the boys’ team. Heyman was close and I remember looking directly at Njegosh, he looked back at me, we both raised our eyebrows and we looked at Heyman and her back at us. The level of understanding and respect with those eyebrows [laughs] in that triangle without saying a word … young, raw, but she’s going to be scoring a bucket load of goals for New Zealand.”
Jagarinec signs off on this fascinating discussion talking about his possible football future.
“I would love to stay in the women’s game, I have been close to 20 years there now. Obviously, there’s more money in the men’s game, and I think that [will be the case] for a long time yet. The thing that keeps me in the women’s game is the intelligence of it, you know what I mean? I don’t necessarily want to say that I am just a female football coach but I love the space where the women’s football game is going. I could be coaching for another 30 years and I’m excited to see where the female space goes in another 30 years. In the short term, I want to be on the grass, and I want to be coaching.
“I want to keep getting experience and learning but long term I would like to have a conversation in 10 or 15-20 years’ time and be excited about what and whom I’ve been able to affect. As you get older you shift what success means to you. Day to day, you have to win. But I reflect on all the trophies that we won at Belconnen. And I think I was more excited when we signed Maddie Whittall, or Lauren Keir playing in the A-League, and being able to affect that. I’ll look back at how many of these players we’re affecting now at the international level or scoring a winner in a World Cup or something like that.
“I’m excited for my future and would love it to be in the female space.”
With thanks from Beyond 90 to Ant Jagarinec and Canberra United.
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