Western win the latest statement in the rise of Roar

Just over 1000 days after being on the wrong end of eight, Brisbane's 8-2 win over Western United provided a latest statement from Alex Smith's side in their efforts to return the club to ALW glory.

Coming into the past weekend, the most recent occasion a side scored eight goals in an A-League Women's match was in February of 2022, when Adelaide United made the trek to Redcliffe and put Brisbane Roar to the sword, with a rampant Fiona Worts netting five times. The Reds would go on to play finals that season while the Roar, after finishing in the top two three of the last four seasons, would finish sixth and begin a three-year run of watching the playoffs from home. Flash forward to the last days of 2024, however, and there’d be few in Australian football, at least amongst those paying attention, anticipating that this streak would extend to four.

1050 days after their demolition at the hands of the Reds, the Roar marched into Ironbark Fields on Sunday afternoon and reset the clock on an eight-spot in the A-League Women, flattening hosts Western United 8-2 and, a third of the way through the season, making their clearest statement yet of their intentions to disrupt the established order that has taken hold in the Australian women’s top flight across the past couple of seasons. In their eyes, however, perhaps it could be best described as restoring order, which in and of itself adds another layer to their dismantling of Western on the weekend.

Because while it may have been three straight years without a finals appearance — Jake Goodship guiding them to second in 2020-21 — the Roar was one of the great W-League powers, after all. To be honest, they were the first great W-League power, playing in five of the competition’s first six grand finals – including winning the first ever one – and winning two titles and a further two premierships in this span. With Jeff Hopkins in the dugout, players such as Kate McShea, Lana Harch, and Lauren Colthorpe, amongst others, helped lay a foundation in the first years of the league and the likes of Tameka Yallop, Clare Polkinghorne, Emily Gielnik, and Elise Kellond-Knight, amongst others, used it as a platform at the start of their standout careers.

Since being plucked away from his role as head of women’s football at NPLW QLD side Peninsula Power to over as coach of the side five rounds into last season – the benefits of having a full preseason with a team readily apparent in Roar’s play so far in 2024-25 – this history was something that coach Alex Smith was acutely aware of. Declaring that it was a “new era for the women’s program” when he re-signed ahead of this season, eight new players were brought into the side and 13 went the other way, including some notable names and there was a concerted effort to remind the players of just what the badge meant – which included bringing in former champions to discuss such.

“Changing the expectation, that was a big thing for me in the first sort of six months [of his tenure],” Smith told JDL Media. “We're a team that needs to be expecting to win. It's a really proud club; a lot of history -- a lot of history of winning. That was a big thing at the start, but really just defining the way we wanted to play, and then recruiting based around that.

“We put in a lot of hard work in the preseason. We've got a lot of processes that we follow and a lot of work went into the offseason and recruiting these types of players. So a lot of thought and a lot of hard work has gone into it. It's just nice to see it all sort of come together and pay off. And the proof is in the pudding, as they say.”

Recently overtaking Polkinghorne as the Roar’s games record holder, Yallop was on hand on Sunday, putting the finishing touches on the rout when she made it eight in the 70th minute, her fifth goal in six appearances this season. Now in her second season back with the club, she serves as both a leader and link to the glory years of the club – a three-time premier and two-time champion in orange – in a squad that has undergone significant change in recent years; only Brazilian attacker Mariel Hecher was part of the Roar squad that was present for their loss to Adelaide in 2022 and their win over United in 2024, starting the former contest and coming on as a substitute in the latter.

Had she not suffered a season-ending ACL injury that ruled her out of that campaign, Sharn Freier could very well have been a part of that side on the wrong end of eight goals a few years ago but it’s doubtful she minds much, adding yet another chapter to a story that, inevitably, will see her go overseas at some point by netting a brace and assisting twin sister Laini with the first goal of what became a second-straight hattrick. Laini, for her part, became the first player in league history to ever score a hat trick in their first two starts after previously netting thrice against Newcastle in a 6-1 the week prior.

“Laini is one I've known for a while from the NPL,” said Smith, who also has previous A-League Women experience with Melbourne City. “It's just about knowing you know what you're looking for. Her understanding with Sharn is a bonus. There's a sisterly understanding there that only sisters have.

“I don't know if anybody's ever started their A-Leagues professional career that well. I couldn't be more pleased for them. They put in so much hard work. I ask them to play a pretty demanding style of football; we press a lot, we put ourselves under a lot of pressure, and we build up. So for them to continually do this, and in the last week get their reward, I'm just really, really happy for them.”

Netting her fourth goal of the season with a stunning free-kick against Western, Momo Hayashi, signed from Gold Coast United, is another example of a player coming from nowhere for the Roar this season. Well, not really out of nowhere, given that she was brought to the attention of rival A-League Women clubs in previous years, only to have to wait for her opportunity.

“You've only really seen her as a defensive midfielder,” said Smith. “She spent a little bit of time at centreback [against Western], which is where she's made her name in the NPL. But I've known about Momo for years. It was always a mystery to me how she wasn't where she needed to be, which is in this league. It just comes down to taking a bit of time to do the work and do the homework, and, you know, recruit the players that are going to fit your style. When it all comes together, it's a beautiful thing.”

So, after scoring 14 goals in their last two games, having scored more goals than anyone else, possessing the second-best defensive record in the league (and the best-expected goals against (xGA) in the competition), and seemingly growing into the season every week, is the lid off for the Roar? To be a downer, probably not just yet. There’s still plenty of the season to go and in a league that on occasion can feel like it’s fuelled by chaos, Roar doesn’t have the same sort of credit that City and Melbourne Victory have in the bank when it comes to staying power. Brisbane Roar hasn’t exactly proved itself a bastion of stability over the years, either, with the sudden resurgence of its women’s program welcome news given the club has a professional monopoly over the state with the second largest participation base in the country.

“Try to keep a lid on things when it comes to [talking titles],” said Smith. “The expectation is winning; you can take that into every game you play and that's where we'll keep it for now.

“We got a really tough week next week, we've got three games in seven days [at home to Canberra on January 4, at home against Victory on January 8, and away to City in a potential top-of-the-table blockbuster on January 11]. Focus now turns to that.”