From the Coach – Jason Eagar
What is the team’s biggest strength heading into the season?
The Tigers culture always provides a foundation of strength to build upon. The new faces that have joined the Tigers family this season have seamlessly fitted into the squad and have importantly bought into the Club. Team unity, retention of key players and adding some quality players in vital positions are all strengths.
In 2019 the First Grade squad has more depth in terms of quality players across all positions than ever before, this creates a healthy competitive environment whereby all players need to be performing at a high level to challenge for a place in the starting eleven each week.
What is the team looking to improve upon from last season?
In 2018 we were more competitive in NPL1 compared to 2017, I am expecting we will be more competitive again in 2019 with another year’s experience at this level to call upon. It takes time to adjust to the quality and speed of play in NPL1. Playing against Matilda’s, Young Matilda’s, W League players week in week out has been a daunting task.
That mindset has changed for the 2019 season, the squad is embracing the challenge and this will be reflected in a positive proactive style of play. In 2018 the team showed a lot of grit and were effective defensively, in 2019 we aim to improve further in that area but importantly a key lesson from last season is to be more positive and score more goals! Plenty of the pre-season focus has been on recruiting attacking players, playing with an attacking mindset, and working hard on how to be effective in the final third creating and scoring goals.
What match or matches are you looking forward to the most?
At NPL1 level all games are important and we are looking forward to every game. Testing ourselves against the best is a great opportunity to assess our progress. In 2018 Sydney University set the benchmark, so that is one game we are looking forward to. At this stage our focus is on the FNSW Institute fixture in Round 1 this weekend.
First Five Rounds
Round 1 vs Football NSW Institute: Sunday March 10, 3pm, Valentine Sports Park
Round 2 vs Macarthur Rams: Sunday March 17, 5pm, Lynwood Park
Round 3 vs Blacktown Spartans: Sunday March 24, 3:30pm, NTRA
Round 4 vs NWS Koalas: Sunday March 31, 3:30pm, NTRA
Round 5 vs Manly United: Sunday April 7, 3:30pm, NTRA
2019 Season Streaming: You can now stream ALL Women’s First Grade matches for the upcoming season! On game day simply head to either the NPL NSW Facebook page or the Football NSW YouTube channel to catch the action.
Click here to view all fixtures.
2019 Squad List
Player – 2018 Team
Daisy Arrowsmith – North Shore Mariners
Madeleine Bart – North Shore Mariners
Danielle Bartels – Nepean FC
Michelle Brown – NWS Koalas/Northern Tigers
Ellie Brush – Northern Tigers
Eliza Campbell – Northern Tigers/Perth Glory
Erica Di Sciascio – Northern Tigers
Isabella Foletta – Football West NTC/Perth Glory
Ella Gibson – Northern Tigers
Shayna Killey – Northern Tigers
Hannah Mcnulty – Northern Tigers
Aimee Phillips – TSV Jena (Germany)
Amanda Skellern – Northern Tigers
Emma Smith – Northern Tigers
Malia Steinmetz – Northern Lights (New Zealand)
Kajal Todd – North Shore Mariners
Servet Uzunlar – Northern Tigers/Western Sydney Wanderers
Emma Watkins – Northern Tigers
Josie Wilson – Northern Tigers