Kayla Morrison and the path back to an ALW trophy that would mean "everything"
The last time Kayla Morrison held the ALW trophy aloft, she was in tears. On Sunday, she gets a chance to lift it once more but, this time, after playing a key role in helping to bring it 'home'.
The last time Kayla Morrison held the A-League Women trophy aloft, she was in tears. On Sunday, she gets a chance to lift it once more but, this time, after playing a key role in helping to bring the trophy ‘home’.
It’s one of the most endearing and enduring moments in A-League history. Morrison — after suffering an ACL injury just 38 minutes into her side’s season — called upon stage in the pouring rain by stand-in skipper and long-time friend Lia Privitelli to help her lift the championship trophy after Victory had upset Sydney FC in the decider.
It may have been just her second season at AAMI Park, recruited from FC Bulleen Lions in NPLW Victoria the previous season and instantly becoming a key contributor as Victory secured the first of back-to-back titles, but she was already a beloved figure.
JDL Media is committed to keeping its reporting on Australian football away from paywalls.
If you’re in a position to, please consider supporting this coverage at Ko-Fi.
Named captain for what was a sophomore campaign cut cruelly short, she’d nonetheless remained a constant presence around the club – then-men’s coach Tony Popovic developing a deep appreciation for her professionalism and work ethic as he observed her rehabilitation and using her as an example for his players to follow.
Flash forward to the present, and Morrison is once again an ever-present figure in the heart of the Victory defence, anchoring them, alongside good friend Claudia Bunge, to this year’s decider against the Central Coast Mariners.
Indeed, it’s been a historic season for Victory on the defensive end, their 21 goals conceded (0.91 goals per game) the fewest in the league and their eleven clean sheets a new club record. The American-born Australian even contributed up the other end, too, popping up with four goals in the regular season, while Bunge came up big with a brace in a 3-1 win over Adelaide in the first leg of their semifinal.
“It would mean everything,” said Morrison. “Not just for the hard work from this year, but for me personally, the hard work from coming back from that injury all the way through up to this weekend, it would mean everything to me.
“To do it with this group of girls puts an extra emphasis on it, because it's a special team. It would be the cherry on top of a good season.”
Morrison, 28, inked a two-year contract extension that will keep her in navy blue until the end of the 2026-27 season back in March, joining Alex Chidiac in being contracted on a year-round basis by the club.
At the time, she described Victory as being her “home” – a home in which she now has the chance to place a title on the mantelpiece.
"I feel valued here,” she said. “I feel like I belong. People listen to me; Jeff hears my opinions and makes me feel like he's truly listening to me. I feel like a really valued part of the puzzle here.
“The girls are like my sisters, some like my daughters. It's a really comfortable place for me, and that's a special feeling.”
JDL Media is committed to keeping its reporting on Australian football away from paywalls.
If you’re in a position to, please consider supporting this coverage at Ko-Fi.
Not that it would have stunned anyone who watched her run out for Bulleen, but perhaps it shouldn’t be a surprise that one of the best defenders in the A-League Women – and increasingly forcing themselves into the conversation for best in league history – would have blossomed under the tutelage of coach Jeff Hopkins.
Himself a former centreback that played internationally for Wales and made hundreds of appearances with the likes of Fulham, Reading, and Crystal Palace – his feared demeanor that belies his current, more more warm reputation – the 61-year-old has made defending and mentoring those who do it one of the core tenets of his coaching philosophy.
“I sleep a lot better at night knowing that I've got those two [Morrison and Bunge] in central defence,” said Hopkins. “We talk about having a real pride in our defence and we talk about clean sheets and it means a lot to us and it means a lot to them to make sure that for the whole of the game, not just some of the game or most of the game, that they're on their game. They're switched on.”
And after giving Morrison the chance at an A-League Women level and then naming him captain, the coach, loath as he is to even give the impression that he’s putting the cart before the horse, can’t hide what seeing her lift a title would mean to him.
"I don't really want to think about it at the moment, but I guess it would be quite an emotional moment for me,” he said.
“I still can't watch the last one without shedding a tear.
“It'll make an old man very happy.”
Image Credit: A-Leagues