Welcome to The Debate, where the Mercury sport team discusses the big issues in Illawarra, national and international sport. This week, sports writers JOSH BARTLETT and JORDAN WARREN discuss who impressed during the opening round of the A-League Women's competition - and who is auditioning for a potential Matildas jersey at next year's World Cup.
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BARTLETT: Well, Jordan, football fever has taken over the world as the latest instalment of the FIFA World Cup has got under way in Qatar. However, back on our shores, there is still plenty of round ball action happening to keep us all entertained.
The A-League Women's season kicked off in earnest over the weekend, and the first round produced plenty of exciting and surprising results. It's a small sample size, of course, but which teams got you most excited, and were there any disappointing performances?
WARREN: The A-League Women came back in a big way over the weekend Josh and despite a World Cup happening, there was plenty of anticipation and involvement from die hard supporters last weekend.
First off the most surprising result was from the new kids on the block - Western United - who managed to knock off one of the big guns - champions for the last two seasons - Melbourne Victory.
Jessica McDonald managed to break the deadlock at the beginning of the second half. It was a truly deserving win for Western. Despite Victory having their chances, they were not near the standard we expect from one of the powerhouses of the competition and this meant that Western would not have to wait long for their first win of the season.
Another perhaps surprising result was Adelaide's win over reigning minor premiers Sydney FC. United had a stellar campaign last year where they made finals for the first time in the club's history and it looks like they will be on the right trajectory again once more.
For Sydney, it was a heartbreaking loss to concede late-on, but they were made to pay for some missed chances and a lack of communication at the back cost them dearly. The result does not mean it's all doom and gloom for the Sky Blues, who I still believe will be in there at the business end of the season.
Some good news for Illawarra Sky Blues fans was the debut of Jynaya Dos Santos - who made her Sydney debut with a second half substitute appearance.
Those were the two biggest surprises last weekend and we also saw wins for Brisbane and Melbourne City, whilst Canberra and Perth were held to an entertaining 2-2 draw.
Just moving across the ditch briefly Josh, we saw a big crowd in Wellington for the first ever professional women's football game at Westpac Stadium.
With a crowd of 5,213 in Wellington, it was the all-time highest recorded attendance for a standalone women's fixture in the history of the competition.
How brilliant was it to see the Kiwis embrace the Nix Josh and how important is it for the competition to keep breaking these records, especially with a FIFA Women's World Cup on our shores midway through next year?
BARTLETT: It was wonderful to see such a big turnout at Westpac Stadium and, while it was a tough day at the office for the Nix against a strong City outfit, it was so cool to hear the roar from the crowd when Ava Pritchard scored Wellington's first goal on home soil. It's been a patient wait for the Kiwis to see their Wellington women play, who were of course based in Wollongong last year due to COVID.
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I think that attendance shows that women's football is in a strong position right now. We've seen great crowd numbers at the Matildas' recent friendlies in Australia, which I think gave people a taster of what to expect next year. The World Cup is going to provide a great boost for the women's game, both here and across the ditch too.
But, speaking of the Matildas, I believe this A-Leagues campaign is a great chance for players to throw up their hand and show why they deserve to represent their country. You mentioned Jynaya Dos Santos earlier. Is it too much for us to dream of this talented teenager joining fellow Illawarra stars Caitlin Foord and Mary Fowler in the green and gold at next year's World Cup?
WARREN: With a World Cup squad Josh, anything is possible. When current Matildas boss Tony Gustavsson was appointed in the role, one of the key components of his contract written by Football Australia was to increase the talent pool of out national team by giving opportunities to a wide range of players.
Now, I'm not saying Dos Santos is a shoe in to make the Matildas, she's a fair way away in truth at present. But the beauty of our domestic competition both in the women's and the men's is that all it takes is a few standout performances to get the national types watching.
It would be sensational to see Dos Santos alongside Foord and Fowler in the World Cup squad. I would also like to see Figtree's Mackenzie Hawkesby have another sensational season in the A-League Women to put her name in contention for the Matildas squad next year.
Just throwing back to the club competition Josh, this weekend we have a huge 'Big Blue' with Sydney playing Victory in Manly on Saturday. Both sides are coming off the back surprising losses, how do you see that one playing out?
BARTLETT: Both of these teams have been excellent in the competition's recent history, and they would have been gutted to kick things off with a first-up loss.
The sky blues can consider themselves a little unlucky - they conceded late from a loopy header - while the Victory also fell by the one-goal margin. I'm tipping an exciting and tight affair in Manly, I think both of these teams will be primed for the contest.
To wrap this up, let's shift focus across town to the Wanderers. They kick off their campaign this Saturday against the Jets, do you see Western Sydney claiming victory?
WARREN: It will be a different looking WSW side from last year and hopefully for them, it means more goals because last year they were dreadful up front. I'll tip them to win first up.
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