Half of the league teams have played 9 games to date, while Melbourne City, Brisbane Roar, Melbourne Victory, Adelaide United, Central Coast Mariners and Newcastle Jets have played 10 matches (45% of the regular season). Last season, the three Melbourne areas sides of Melbourne City, Victory and Western United all made the playoffs along with three New South Wales sides: Central Coast Mariners, Newcastle Jets and Sydney FC.
At this point in the 2024-25 season, only the three Melbourne area sides of City, Victory and Western United would qualify for the playoffs again, with Adelaide United, Brisbane Roar, and Wellington Phoenix (though the latter is tied for sixth with Central Coast Mariners but have a +1 goal difference to 0 for the Mariners) new from last season. The most shocking story of all this season is that two-time reigning champions Sydney FC—who have never missed the playoffs—is in last place and would win the Wooden Spoon if the season ended now.
TribalFootball.com also talked exclusively with Australian native Tiana Jaber of Wellington Phoenix, who this week was officially called into the Lebanese national team for a tournament in Nepal; she discusses Wellington Phoenix’s strong season to date and the team’s hopes for the playoffs as well as Lebanon’s WNT.
A-League Women 2024-25 season to date
Melbourne City (6-4-0 W-D-L, 22 points—First)
City is the only undefeated side this season after ten matches. American-born Venezuelan international Mariana Speckmaier, who TribalFootball.com interviewed last year in her first season in the league with Wellington (see: The Week in Women's Football: Mariana Speckmaier exclusive - Wellington & Venezuela potential; rejecting CSKA - Tribal Football), leads City with four goals and has had a huge impact on last season’s Premiership winning side.
Three players are tied for third with three goals, Canadian Kathryn Harvey (27), who played in 2023-24 for AaB in Denmark, American Lourdes Bosch (23), who could play internationally for Mexico or the U.S., and Australian youth international Laura Hughes (23), who is in her eighth season in the A-League—six with Canberra—and also played for a season in Iceland in 2020 with Throttur. City’s new import at goalkeeper— Malen Mieres (24) of Spain—has started in nine games, with long-time Matilda and assistant coach Melissa Barbieri (44)—who started 30 games over the past three seasons—only playing in one match thus far this year.
Brisbane Roar (7-0-3, 21 points, Second)
The Roar erupted for eight goals in an 8-2 win away over Western United in Round 8, with twin sisters Laini and Sharn Freier (23) scoring three and two goals respectively, while each added an assist on one of their sister’s goals. Brisbane leads the league in team scoring with 30 goals and is tied with the Mariners for second in team goals allowed with eleven (one behind leaders Wellington Phoenix which has given up ten goals). Laini Freier, in her first full season with the Roar, is tied for the league lead in scoring with Adelaide’s Fiona Worts with seven goals from only six matches. Matilda Tameka Yallop (33) is second with five for the Roar and new import Momo Hayashi (29) of Japan is next with four goals. Seventeen-year-old phenom Grace Kuilamu scored the only goals for Brisbane in their 2-0 home victory on June 8 in Round 10 and now has three goals on the season, from nine matches. The Roar seems a shoe-in for the playoffs after missing out in the last three campaigns.
Melbourne Victory (5-3-2, 18 points, Tied for Second)
The Victory is tied with Canberra for the seventh best team defense in the league with 14 goals allowed, but only four goals behind leaders Wellington; they had surrendered only eight goals in eight games until giving up four in a 4-4 home draw with Western Sydney on January 5, and then two more three days later in a 2-0 loss in Brisbane for a team total of 14 allowed. They are third in the league for team scoring with 19 goals, behind the Roar (30) and City (23).
Matilda forward Emily Gielnik (32) is tied for second in the league in scoring with six goals (with Western United’s Kahli Johnson) and Alana Jancevski (21) is second on the team with three goals. Jancevski is an Australian youth (U-17 and U-20) international in her first year with the Victory, after playing with Adeliade and Perth in the league, compiling six goals in 46 games, prior to the start of the 2024-25 campaign.
Australian international goalkeeper Courtney Newborn (24) has started all ten games this season in her second season with the club, after moving from Central Coast Mariners early last season.
Adelaide United (5-1-4, 16 points, Fourth)
English forward Fiona Worts (28) returned to the Reds after a season with Sydney FC and the Reds are competitive this year—that is not a coincidence—and firmly in the playoff mix. Worts scored 13 goals and won the League Player of the Year award in 2021/22 when the club made the playoffs for the first and only time in their history. Back with the Reds, she has seven goals this season and is top of the race for the Golden Boot, tied with Laini Freier of the Roar. Emily Condon (26) is next with three goals in her twelfth season with her home state side.
New import defender Lucia de Leon (27), who plays internationally for the rapidly improving CONCACAF side Dominican Republic, has played in England with Tottenham Hotspur (in both the Championship and the WSL) and with Watford last season (Championship) as well as in Spain with Real Betis and Madrid CFF. She has played in ten games in defense for Adelaide United this season, scoring Adelaide’s third goal in their 3-3 tie away against Newcastle Jets on January 8.
Western United (4-2-3, 14 points, Fifth)
Western United aims to go three for three in playoff qualifications in their third season in the league. Australian U-20 international Kahli Johnson (20) has six goals and Matilda Chloe Logarzo has four; combined they account for almost two-thirds of the team’s goals (16)—fourth in the league—but they have allowed 22 goals, the worst in the league. Thirteen of the goals did come in their 8-2 loss to Brisbane at home and a 5-1 loss away to Western Sydney Wanderers in weeks 8 and 6 respectively.
New imports this season include: Sara Eggesvik (27)—who played with Charlton Athletic of the Women’s Championship (tier 2) and her hometown side Grand Bodo in Norway and was with Philippines 2023 WWC side—has appeared in five matches (starting in four). Colombian international Isabel Dehakiz (24)—who in 2023 was on the roster of the Portland Thorns as a summer replacement player and previously with Deportivo Cali—has played in nine games to date. Dehakiz played four seasons at Arizona State University and one at Santa Clara University while fellow Colombian Sandra Ibarguen (22) has played in four matches. She scored six goals in 12 matches for Deportivo Pasto in 2024 at home and previously played with Llaneros in Colombia.
Note: Western United’s National Premier Leagues Victoria unofficial feeder club that supplied a number of players in their first season—Calder United, which had won three NPLW titles since 2016—had a torrid time during the 2024 NPLW season and was relegated, finishing at the bottom of the table in 12th place with 12 points from a 3-3-16 (W-D-L) record, one point behind recently promoted Brunswick Juventus who were also relegated again, while Bentliegh Greens survived in the top state league with 14 points from a 4-2-16 mark.
There is hope for Calder as Essendon Royals were promoted for the 2024 season and finished in third place with 45 points, even making the finals along with Bulleen Lions (52 points), Preston Lions (45 points) and Heidelberg United (42 points). Heidelberg won their first league title in the Victoria Grand Final with a 3-2 win over Preston Lions. Since 2016, when the old Women’s Premier League at the state level was replaced with the National Premier Leagues across the country, three clubs had previously won all of the Grand Finals: Bulleen Lions, Calder United and South Melbourne. Replacing Calder and Brunswick in the 2025 NPLW for Victoria will be Spring Hills and Casey Comets.
Bulleen Lions star Maja Markovski (now with Canberra United) won the Golden Boot with 20 goals scored and her teammate Isabel Dehakiz (now with Western United) won the Player’s Player Award while their head coach and former Australian youth international Caitlin Friend (31), who spent a season with Notts County in England and most of her career with Melbourne Victory, was named Coach of the Year.
Their goalkeepers Chloe Lincoln (19) has played in five matches after spending the last three seasons with Canberra United, while Alyssa Dall’Oste (23) has played in four matches—she is in her third season with Western United and joined the club from their Victoria State league feeder side Calder United. Dall’Oste has posted the club’s only two shutouts this season.
Wellington Phoenix (4-1-4, 13 points, Tied for Sixth)
The Phoenix missed the playoffs last season by four points and are well positioned this year, after a four game unbeaten streak from weeks 4-7, compiling three wins and a tie. That unbeaten streak came to an end in Round 8 against Melbourne City 2-1. They opened the season with three consecutive losses but the undefeated streak has buoyed hopes within the squad. They then won a crucial game at home on January 4 over Perth Glory (2-0), with second half goals by New Zealand international Grace Jale (25) and English youth international Olivia Ferguson (29)—who joined Wellington after two seasons with Celtic in Scotland’s Women’s Premier League.
The Phoenix have only scored 11 goals in 9 games—tied for eighth in the league with Central Coast Mariners—while Ferguson, Jale and New Zealand international Annalie Longo (33), in her second season with the club, are the only Nix players with two each to score multiple times this season. They could use some help in their attack.
Wellington’s defense has been simply outstanding this season with only 10 goals allowed to lead the league in the fewest goals allowed in 2024-25 to date. New goalkeeper Carolina Vilao (24), who joined from Benfica in her native Portugal, has played in nine matches and has three shutouts (see more in:The Week in Women's Football: A-League preview P1; exclusive chat with Morgan Aquino - TribalFootball.com).
TribalFootball.com talked exclusively with Wellington’s Australian-born defender Tiana Jaber during the second week of January; she also qualifiers internationally to play for Italy and Lebanon. She has been called into Lebanon’s WNT for a tournament in Nepal in February, after training with the team at a camp last summer. Tiana Jaber has been an ever-present in the back for Wellington this season.
Jaber discussed the season so far which has Wellington firmly in the playoff frame: “We did have a shaky start to the season (three losses, but two were 1-0 defeats to Newcastle away and Canberra at home) but we knew things were working and we just had to have that final click. We have good momentum at the moment and things are working for us; we’re being rewarded and everything is clicking really well. We’re really happy with how things are going. Everyone has a good vibe at training and (are) really motivated for the season ahead.”
She particularly addressed the defensive side of the team, which is allowing only 1.1 goals ag game: “We do have a lot of the same girls from last year and are working really well together. It took a couple of weeks to get the chemistry right. We’re really enjoying playing with Carolina (Vilao—see above); she’s a goalkeeper that is smart and really good with her feet as well, confident to play and (has) a great kick on her. We’re feeling really confident with her behind us…I’m so happy we have some clean sheets behind us and I hope many more to come.”
Second year head coach Paul Temple had said before the season that he brought Vilao in because of her footwork skills and her ability to play the ball out of defense. Jaber said that they can play that style or long ball, because at home, the wind in Wellington can dictate the style of play at times.
She added that her goals for the rest of the season were for: “Us to have (the) most clean sheets in the league, (a) personal and team goal, and make the Grand Final. If we keep hitting our targets, we will achieve that.”
At just 24-years-of-age, Tiana Jaber is a veteran in the A-League, playing for six years, including time at Western United (making the Grand Final in the club’s first season), Newcastle Jets and Western Sydney Wanderers.
She discussed some of the changes that she has seen in the league over the past half-dozen years: “Being at Wellington, the facilities here are incredibly professionally. I’ve seen the professionalism of most clubs improve. Most clubs (now) are training in the morning and throughout the day. Our schedule and our work day has changed rather than just training at nighttime when I started playing in the A-League. It’s becoming more full-time. We do need the monetary support but it is getting better and we are able to commit more time to the football, which is good.”
On a personal level, she has also seen marked growth in her game, thanks to her time in the A-League Women: “I’ve noticed my game has changed a lot. I’ve got a lot more confidence and I’ve seen myself improve compared to when I started. I was doing a lot of full back as well as center back (in the past) but now I am cementing myself at center back and I am playing with great players around me at the moment, which is making me even better.”
As mentioned above, due to parentage, Jaber could play international for three nations: Australia, Italy and Lebanon. She went to a week-long national team camp in Lebanon last August but the friendlies were just against a few boys’ teams. She must have made an impression because she related some very good news during our discussion about Lebanon’s Women’s National Team playing in a tournament in Nepal next month: “I got a call from my (Lebanon national team) coach a couple days ago telling me about that. He said he has sent an email to my club telling them that they are planning to bring me along. I believe I will be going. I’m really excited.”
Lebanon is currently ranked 134th in the world and 27th of 40 teams in Asia in the latest FIFA rankings of national teams as of December 13, 2024. In Nepal, they will face the host side (103rd in the world and 20th in Asia) along with Kyrgyzstan (128th and 25th) and experienced Myanmar (55th and 11th in Asia). This will be a good tournament for Lebanon to test themselves after losing some match opportunities late last year due to ground and air attacks by Israel.
Jaber said that the country is optimistic about improving: “We are focusing at the moment at trying to win all the top end tournaments in (our) Asia area and our goal is to be the best in Asia. We have a really good coach (Wael Gharzeddine (46), who grew up in Australia and is a dual citizen; he has coached in both countries as well as in Brazil and managed Lebanon’s senior WNT in two stints since 2017) managing us and hopefully (we) develop the team and our football tactics. We have some really exciting girls.”
She will bring some important experiences of growing up in a country that supports women in sports, which is lacking in Lebanon and in the region: “When I went to Lebanon (last summer), I saw the differences between the chances and opportunities we get out here in Australia compared to Lebanon and the other Arabic countries. We have a lot of talented girls on the team with dreams so we just have to work hard and hopefully, our coach can guide us, and try to be the best in Asia and see how it goes in the next Asian Cup Qualifiers (the finals of which will be held in Australia in 2026). My goal to be a part of this team is to get us to as many major tournaments as possible and bring up our ranking….Hoping we can work together and represent Lebanon and show the world what we can do.”
Unlike in some cases where players have directly contacted and petitioned a football federation that they qualify for through parentage, Lebanon’s Football Association sought Tiana Jaber out, which shows they have been doing their homework on their diaspora.
She explained: “They reached out to me. It didn’t cross my mind that I could play for Lebanon so when they reached out to me, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh I have to do this.’”
She said that the FA is looking for players of Lebanese descent in good leagues around the world, and that there was a player in Southern Europe who was recovering from an injury who was likely to join the WNT pool. Most of Lebanon’s WNT players are based in the domestic league while a few based are in France.
Their all-time leading scorer is Lili Iskander (22), who has scored 24 times in 12 matches and is in her second season in Saudi Arabia’s Women’s Premier League with Al-Ittihad, scoring seven times last season for the club that finished sixth out of eight teams in the league. Iskander has also played in Denmark with HB Koe in 2021-22, winning a league title. She has also won league titles at home with SAS and Etihad. Midfielder Rana Al Mokdad (26) is the WNT’s most capped player with 29—she plays with Stars Association for Sports (SAS) in the Lebanese league. Forward Samira Awad (24), who also plays at SAS, is second with 27 caps.
Lebanon, despite a chaotic situation at home (see our column last month: The Week in Women's Football: Examining Northern Super League; update on bomb victim Haidar - TribalFootball.com), seems to be building a path for a competitive national women’s team to try to qualify for the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup Finals, which doubles as 2027 Women’s World Cup Qualifiers. Playing in regional tournaments as they are next month in Nepal and identifying and bringing in young yet experienced diaspora such as Wellington Phoenix’s Tiana Jaber—so important to the team’s impressive A-League season so far in 2024/25—are inspired moves; we will continue to track Lebanon and other developing Asian nations as they aim for the AFC Women’s Finals in 2026.
Central Coast Mariners (3-4-3, 13 points, Tied for Sixth)
The Mariners hope to make the playoffs for the second consecutive season after returning to the league last year—following dropping out of the league after the 2009 season (year 2). They have the second best team defense in the league with 11 goals allowed—tied with Brisbane—while their 11 goals scored is tied for eighth with Wellington. Goalkeeper Sarah Langman has played in all ten games this season, after appearing in ten last season. She is in her 11th season in the league, having also played at Adelaide United (five seasons), Western Sydney Wanderers (two seasons) and Perth Glory (two seasons). Teenager striker Annalise Rasmussen (19) leads the team with three goals, the same number she scored last year in 21 regular season games.
Canberra United (3-2-4, 11 points, Eighth)
This is a crucial season for the Greens who have missed the playoffs for three consecutive years (since 2020/21)—with three Grand Final title wins in their history. The Greens defense has been solid with only 14 goals allowed—tied for seventh in the league with Melbourne Victory but only four goals more than leaders Wellington Phoenix—but has only scored 10 goals in their nine games—tied for tenth with Perth Glory. Only four players have scored all of their goals to date—Matilda striker Michelle Heyman (36) with four, forward Maja Markovski (23) with three, midfielder Mary Stanic-Floody (19) has two and midfielder Emma Robers (26) has one. Markovski was born in North Macedonia and is in her first season with the Capital City club after winning two league titles with Melbourne Victory. Midfielder Mary Stanic-Floody (19) is in her second season with the club after transferring from Sydney FC and won a league title in 2022/23. Goalkeeper Sally James (22), who played last season with Perth Glory, has two shutouts in her nine games with Canberra this season.
The club has been streaky this season, opening the season with two consecutive wins—over Brisbane (3-2) and Wellington (1-0), but then went six matches without a win, gaining only two points in ties out of their 18 points possible. Their front line is too lethal to continue like this. We may look back at their come-from-behind 2-1 win away over Brisbane Roar again on January 4, with Robers and Heyman scoring within the last ten minutes, as a key point in their revival and quest for the playoffs.
New American import Madison Ayson (23) played with the Houston Dash last year, playing in one game. She played four seasons with Stanford University and one at Xavier University at Cincinnati, Ohio. She has played in five games thus far this season with Canberra.
Newcastle Jets (2-4-4, 10 points, Ninth)
The Jets are in the playoff mix and are only three points out of sixth place, despite seeing dynamic Philippine international striker Sarina Bolden move to Como of Serie A in Italy in the off-season, where she has played in seven matches. A new addition to the squad this season leads the team in goals with three—Deven Jackson (26), a New Zealand Football Fern international—she joined the club this year from Canberra United. Three players are tied for the club lead in goals with two: veteran Jets Cass Davis and Lauren Allen along with teenager Josie Allan, who is in her third A-League season with Newcastle and is a home-grown Academy player. Those four players have scored nine of the team’s 12 goals—tied with Western Sydney for sixth in the league in scoring. They need more scoring in their push for their second consecutive playoff berth and fourth overall in 17 league seasons.
Perth Glory (2-2-5, 8 points, Tenth)
Veteran goalkeeper Casey Dumont (32) has played in six games after playing last season with Central Coast Mariners and won four league titles with Brisbane Roar and Melbourne Victory. The Glory is her sixth A-League side—also playing with the two Sydney sides and also played AFL football with Hawthorns in Melbourne in order to become a full-time professional athlete. In December, she became the first goalkeeper in league history to play in 150 A-League Women games. New Zealand youth international Kelli Brown (23) leads the team with three goals—the team only has scored 10 in nine games—while American import Gabby Hollar (24) has two goals. Hollar made news on January 2, 2025 after being fined $400 for accidentally taking an apple into New Zealand. She had the apple in her luggage when the team was flying to a game against Wellington Phoenix. Hollar played at Purdue University. In the match in Wellington on January 4, Perth fell to the Phoenix 2-0, leaving them with a lot of ground to make up in the second half of the season. Brown played the last two seasons with Wellington Phoenix. Perth has surrendered 17 goals to date, the ninth highest total in the league.
Western Sydney Wanderers (1-3-5, 6 points, Eleventh)
Last season the Wanderers narrowly missed the playoffs as they were tied on points but had an inferior goal difference of seven to the Newcastle Jets. The Wanderers are struggling, but at least they can say they are the best women’s side in Sydney (see Sydney FC below). Eighteen-year-old Sienna Saveska has scored five goals in nine games—for just under half of her team’s goals this season (12); she played in four games last season with 2023/24 Champions Sydney FC. Goalkeeper Sham Khamis (29) has played in all nine games and is in her fourth season with the Wanderers; she started her career in the league during the 2011/12 season with Sydney FC.
On January 5, WSW went to Melbourne and came away with an outstanding comeback 4-4 deadlock result. Alex Chidiac scored Melbourne’s fourth goal in the 87th minute—after assisting on New Zealand international Claudia Bunge’s opening goal in the 45th minute—to give MV a 4-2 lead with three minute left, following an own goal ten minutes before by the Wanderers’ Gemma Ferris (20), who is in her third season with the club. Then Wanderers staged a classic comeback with Talia Kapetanellis (20) scoring in the 89th minute (her first A-League score in her debut season in the league) and then Sophie Harding scored her second goal of the game (third of the season) in the second minute of injury time. Harding, who led the league in scoring last season with 12 goals, with four assists, won the Julie Dolan Medal as the 2023/24 A-League Women Player of the Year.
Early in January, head coach Robbie Hooker left the club: “following the mutual termination of his contract due to personal reasons.” Wanderers Women’s Academy Technical Director Geoff Abrahams has been appointed the interim head coach for the rest of the season. Abrahams was actually in charge of the recent 4-4 tie against Melbourne Victory. Abrahams has been a part of the Wanderers staff since 2017, working in several roles in youth and women’s development before being appointed youth technical director of the Wanderers Girls Academy in September of 2024. He also coached Sydney Olympic in the State NPLW and is viewed as a very offensive-focused coach.
Sydney FC (1-2-6, 5 points, Twelfth)
Sydney FC won the last two league titles—five Grand Finals overall along with five Premiership (regular season) titles in 16 A-League Women campaigns—and has never missed the playoffs. They need a string of results in a hurry but are only eight points (three wins) out of the playoffs so it still is possible in their remaining 13 games. Still, week after week this season, seeing the Sky Blues at the bottom of the table is stunning.
Sky Blues have only scored six goals, which is a big reason why they prop up the table, but their defense has been solid, allowing 13 goals for fifth best in the league (tied with Adelaide. Two goalkeepers have shared the playing time: Brianna Edwards (21) who was born in Australia, is a New Zealand international and joined this season from Wellington, has played in four games. She has played for the Football Ferns at the senior and U-20 levels, after playing for Australia at the U-16 level. Tahlia Franco (19) is in her fourth season with Sydney and was on Australia’s U-20 WNT side at the 2024 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Colombia. Franco has played in five matches, including a stellar 1-1 home tie with Melbourne City on January 5, 2025, which ended a four game losing streak.
Tim Grainey is a contributor to Tribal Football. His latest book Beyond Bend it Like Beckham on the global game of women’s football. Get your copy today. Follow Tim on X: @TimGrainey