Mood shifts at Victory ahead of "must-win" clash with Jets
Sitting seventh and already possessing their most losses since 2018, there’s been a shift in mood in Melbourne Victory’s ALW setup, with the stakes of this weekend's clash with Newcastle clear.
There’s been a decided shift in mood amongst the members of Melbourne Victory’s A-League Women setup. The season began with aspirations of silverware, of securing the one thing that eluded them in what was an otherwise historic campaign. But now, just past the 2025-26 season’s halfway point and amidst a six-game winless run, things have taken on a different tone.
Falling to a 3-1 defeat against Canberra United – a since-expunged first-half red card for Kiwi international Claudia Bunge dealing a hammer blow to their aspirations – Victory fell to their seventh loss of the season last weekend, equalling the number of defeats from their ill-fated 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons. And while the growth of the competition into a full home-and-away format places an important caveat into any attempts at cross-season analysis, as well as gives Victory hope of turning things around in the present, the elephant in the room remains that the latter campaign represented the last occasion that Jeff Hopkins’ side failed to play finals football.
Indeed, long a contender for premierships or battling for places in what was then a top four, it’s been a while since we’ve seen Melbourne’s navy blue contingent this far down the table this deep into a campaign, with the loss to Canberra consigning them to seventh place. Admittedly, the compact nature of the league this season means that this relatively lowly ladder position still only sees them sit six points back of top-of-the-table Melbourne City – with a game against their cross-town foes to come next Sunday – but it also means they’re only two points clear of eleventh-placed Western Sydney.
And on a more immediate (and more pressing) basis, Victory hasn’t won a game since mid-December, when they defeated this weekend’s foes Newcastle 3-1 in the Hunter. They’ve picked up just two points from a possible 18 since then, with wasteful finishing frequently coming back to haunt them in games where they otherwise did plenty of things right.
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But near misses and five bucks will (barely, these days) get you a cup of coffee. And as they prepare to head up the highway to ‘host’ the Jets in Shepparton on Saturday, there’s acknowledgement at AAMI Park that this lean run of form cannot be allowed to continue if they’re to salvage their season.
“At the start of the year, we were always looking ahead,” remarked skipper Kayla Morrison. “And we’ve kind of got to a part in the season when it’s one day at a time, one training at a time, and one game at a time. It’s definitely a big game [against the Jets] and a must-win for us at this point.”
And while Morrison, competitive as she is, treating this game as a must-win probably wouldn’t surprise many regular observers, her coach said that hers was an attitude being reflected by the rest of the playing group.
“I don’t need to tell them; I think everyone, everyone here understands the predicament we’re in and what we need to do to get out of it,” said Hopkins. “I may have mentioned it once or twice, but I think we’ve got a pretty experienced group that understands things haven’t been as good as they should have been.
“We’re going out to put things right this weekend. We probably need to make one or two changes to the team to freshen it up, brighten it up.
“But I don’t need to impress anything on the players there. They understand the position we’re in, and they’re prepared and ready to work their way through and out of this.”
While Victory’s misfires up top this season have been well documented to now – no team missing more big chances than they and their seventh place in reality standing in contrast to their top-place on the expected goals (xG) table – Hopkins was of the view that his side could stand for a level of rejuvenation across the park.
Injured attacker Nicki Flannery the only player he was willing to rule out for Saturday, which could see a first start of the season for the likes of Ella O’Grady and Sienna Techera, as well as the return of Grace Maher and Laura Pickett.
“Right the way through; in all three lines, I think we could see a few changes,” said the coach. “For me, it’s around confidence.
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“I’d never question the work rate of any of these players. I think you could see it on the weekend. Even when we went down to ten players, we didn’t give up. We worked really hard for us, us for each other. I think it was more around maybe a little bit of naivety and tactical awareness. We weren’t so good, we got ourselves into the game, we scored a great goal, we kept trying to go forward, even with a player less after Bunge had been sent off.
“There’s maybe one or two players that are just lacking a little bit of confidence, and we maybe need to take them out of the side just for, just for a week, and just to freshen them up and get them back in again next week.”
One player that will likely return to the XI is attacker Rhianna Pollicina, who broke her wrist against Adelaide on January 17 but only ended up missing the one game before returning off the bench against Canberra last week.
“She’s ready to start,” Hopkins said of Pollicina. “She’s amazing. Last week, she put herself out there – I think it’s gotta be some sort of a record coming back that quickly – just to put herself up to go onto the bench. She was really keen to play a part last week, which is what we need at this stage.
“The character and the determination, the work rate of the players, there’s no doubt. And there’s no doubt that what we’ve got to be this week is probably a little bit more composed, a little bit more clinical in the key areas, which is our 18-yard box and the opposition’s.”
And while the mood in the Victory camp may have shifted, acknowledging that the ice beneath their skates is getting pretty thin, there’s no panic just yet.
“I’m definitely super competitive,” said Morrison. “And I know that, at times, I lead very harshly. But it does still feel, in a weird way, optimistic, because it’s hard not to be optimistic when you look around, and you see the girls that you’re with.
“And I do truly believe, if we can get one win, then we’ll be fine. Everything feels better when you’re winning. I still am optimistic, and it does feel like the girls still believe.”