With just under a third of the A-League Women season completed, we're still not quite at the point yet where we can definitively put labels on sides. But after the week and a bit that Canberra United have had, it would be churlish not to acknowledge that Antoni Jagarinec's side is doing what they can to justify consideration as genuine title contenders.
After ending a near-decade-long hoodoo against Melbourne Victory in Melbourne last week, the side from the nation's capital followed that up with a thoroughly deserved 2-0 win over Sydney FC midweek and then on Saturday became the first side to down Melbourne City in a regular-season A-League Women game since the 2023-24 campaign when they secured a 2-1 win at McKellar Park. After a winless opening three weeks, that made it four on the bounce for Jagarinec's side and, with the disclaimer that they've played more games than anyone other than second-placed Victory, sent the Canberrans top of the league.
Yes, things have plenty of time to go pear-shaped for the side in green. Brisbane Roar looked like title-contenders even deeper into last season, after all, only to go on to collapse and miss the finals altogether. And that winless start to the campaign, featuring a loss to second-bottom Adelaide, can give one pause. But after facing off with the three members of the league's ruling class over eight days and coming away with nine points, one also has to acknowledge there could be something special brewing in the nation's capital.
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Adelaide United
Stocks Up: Goals continue to be a major issue for Adelaide, the equal-most goal-shy side in the league alongside Wellington, but if they can keep finding a way to get Erin Healy into dangerous areas and get the ball to her, the thinking would have to be that the Irish international is eventually going to start banging them in.
On a frustrating day at AAMI Park for an understrength Reds outfit, which ended in a 1-0 defeat, Healy shaped as their most consistent threat against Victory's stout backline: buzzing around the penalty area and leading her side in shots and expected goals (xG) once more. Indeed, she leads the entire A-League Women in shots through its opening weeks, averaging five a game.
Stocks Down: There were extenuating circumstances for this fixture that need to be acknowledged in a vacuum -- Theo Tsiounis revealed postgame that the flu had ripped through his squad, while Fiona Worts was absent due to personal reasons -- but the overall trends remain foreboding.
It's now ten competitive fixtures since Adelaide last defeated their Original Rivalry foes Victory, and their inability to put the ball in the back of the net is dragging down a squad that, on paper, possesses the talent and continuity to be far higher up the table than their current second-bottom lodgings. Their 4.7 xG, per FotMob, is the second worst in the competition, and their shot conversion rate of 4.3% is the outright worst.
Brisbane Roar
Stocks Up: Given that his side ended the game with more possession, outshooting their foes 21 to 12 (including nine to six in the first half, meaning they all weren't derived from frantic late attempts to come back), and won the xG battle, coach Alex Smith will be hoping their 3-0 loss to Newcastle is more of an aberration than sign of things to come following the news that Temeka Yallop is set for an extended stint on the sidelines.
Despite the defeat, Sharn Freier was able to get into good positions and try to make things happen throughout the contest -- leading both sides in dribbles with five -- and if she's able to get her attempt off a Kijah Stephenson cutback in the 24th minute on target, when the score was still 0-0, maybe it's a different game.
Stocks Down: Down 1-0 heading into first-half stoppage time, Leia Varley was left at sixes-and-sevens as she attempted to clear a long ball forward from Emma Dundas, allowing Kelli Brown to nip in and get herself in a position to win a penalty off Varley's clumsy attempt to make amends and win the ball back.
It was the type of error that you absolutely don't need to make just moments before the halftime break, and with Brown duly converting the spotkick to make it 2-0, it gave the Roar a second-half mountain to climb that proved insurmountable.
Canberra United
Stocks Up: As you'd expect, Michelle Heyman continues to serve as the talisman of Canberra amidst their early rise up the table -- the veteran's goal against City taking her to four on the campaign. Importantly, however, and what looks to be key in their improved fortunes this season, is that Jagarinec's outfit looks like a much more well-rounded unit, with players all over the park stepping up to ensure that they're not simply a one-player squad being dragged upward.
Canberra have shown an ability to be direct and to the point so far this season, leading the league in long balls per game and shots on target, are second in crosses per match and touches in the opposition box, and they now have nine individual goal scorers -- just two off their total from last season. Up the other end, their seven goals conceded are bettered by four teams, but their xG conceded of 5.2 is only inferior to City's 4.1, suggesting an ability to further tighten up in the months ahead. Beth Gordon's league-leading three assists after just seven games, meanwhile, matches Emma Robers' and Mary Stanic-Floody's team-leading output from last season and Sasha Grove has taken her game to another level across the season's opening months and put the ball on a plate for Heyman's opener against Sydney during the week.
Stocks Down: It feels almost aptly morose, in the Australian football way, that, just as Canberra are storming up the table, news would emerge off the field to once again threaten their existence.
Last week, The Canberra Times reported that a preferred bidder for a long-mooted A-League Men franchise in the capital -- one that would assume responsibility for running the A-League Women side -- had been determined months ago, only for talks to stall at the last. The report indicated that talks had reopened with previous investors, but given we're now more than 1000 days since the APL announced their intention to place expansion sides in Auckland and Canberra, there's very little benefit of the doubt surrounding the process at this point. And unfortunately, with Capital Football indicating that this will be the last season in which they operate United, a failure to find investment by the APL would likely doom the club.
Central Coast Mariners
Stocks Up: Isabella Coco-Di Sipio has been doing her utmost to take advantage of her A-League Women opportunity and in her sixth-straight start for the Mariners, she was rewarded with her first goal in their win over Western Sydney: doing well to reach a long-ball forward before it could be closed down by Sham Khamis and looping it into the net.
Elsewhere, Peta Trimis continues to serve as a key figure for the Mariners in attack, leading the side, per FbRef, in progressive carries and progressive receptions, as well as touches in the opponents' defensive third and penalty area. Further, doing so twice more in the win over the Wanderers, per FbRef, Trimis' ten carries into an opponent's penalty area this season is not only eight more than any other Mariners player but also leads the A-League Women.
Stocks Down: It's perhaps a bit fitting that the Mariners will take on Canberra next week, given that their form across the early weeks of the season reads almost like the anti-Canberra. Whereas the side in green capped off sequential wins over Victory, Sydney, and City across the past week, the Mariners lost all three of the back-to-back-to-back games they played against the trio earlier this season.
Last year's defending champions moved up to fourth on Sunday with their third win of the campaign, but with two of those triumphs coming against second-bottom Adelaide and now bottom-placed Western Sydney, their trip to McKellar Park on Saturday could be revealing.
Melbourne City
Stocks Up: A case of don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened? City's record-setting 30-game unbeaten regular season run came to an end at the hands of Canberra on Saturday, and while it's absolutely not what Michael Matricciani's side would have wanted, credit does need to be given to the club for not losing a single regular season game in close to two years -- including an invincible 2024-25 season.
Whereas City sides have gone on great runs in the past, this current unit did so without the galaxy of stars that have helped propel these runs, and they did it at a time when the league was growing in length, making it all the more easier to slip up and have an off day over the course of a long season. They demonstrated a remarkable ability to pick themselves up off the canvas and force themselves back into games during this stretch, and a cadre of Matildas and probable future Matildas have come through their ranks. City have raised the bar for the A-League Women since their entry to the competition, and their unbeaten run serves as another example of this.
Stocks Down: Now, having said all that, City were well off the pace on Saturday, with skipper Rebekah Stott glumly acknowledging in her postgame interview that she didn't feel her side was ever worth a point.
Indeed, the defending premiers still don't look like they've clicked into gear this season. And while the reason for that would seem obvious -- they've only played four games, and those were broken up by a stint in Vietnam for an undefeated Champions League group stage -- it's something they'll need to address if they want to separate themselves from a league looking increasingly even.
Melbourne Victory
Stocks Up: It took her a while to get going, but once Holly Furphy did, she was a star in Victory's 1-0 win over Adelaide on Saturday, providing not only the assist for Rachel Lowe's winner but also leading both sides in chance creation. It continued a strong start to the season for the 23-year-old, who is playing in her first full A-League Women season in 2025-26 after spending three years in the United States' collegiate system and who, per FbRef, leads the competition in progressive carries, progressive receptions, crosses into the penalty area, and expected assists (xA) so far.
Alongside a fellow U23 representative, Alana Jancevski, who is pacing the league in shot-creating actions and progressive passes, per FbRef, she's increasingly looking like a player who will be amongst those breaking into the Matildas post-Asian Cup.
Stocks Down: The good news for Melbourne Victory is that they're creating plenty of chances, leading the league, per FotMob, in xG, big chances created, corners, and crosses per game and trailing only Canberra for shots on target per 90. The less good news is that they're not maximising these chances to the greatest effect they could, with 12 of their 19 big chances being missed, including three more against the Reds.
It's been an up-and-down start to the season for Jeff Hopkins' side, a far cry from their ruthless consistency last season, and if they're going to start to put things together and start doling out a few thumpings as their coach believes they can, then they'll need to find a ruthless edge in the final third.
Newcastle Jets
Stocks up: In the wake of their 3-0 win over Brisbane on Saturday, the Jets have quietly moved into third place on the A-League Women's table and, with just one defeat on the campaign and the fewest games played of any side in the top five, as well as wins over the Roar and Canberra, have claimed some decent wins.
And if Melina Ayres' strike to put them ahead on the weekend is a sign of things to come, they could be set to get a lot more dangerous in front of goal in the weeks ahead. One of the most naturally gifted No. 9s in the entire country, Ayres' touch to bring down Olivia Page's cross and turn to face the goal with a backheel was straight out of the top drawer, as was her cool finish to place it where a desperately diving Chloe Lincoln had no chance.
Stocks down: As comfortable as the final margin was and how the ability to take advantage of your opponent's wastefulness is the sign of a good team, the Jets did find themselves trailing on many of the stats (bar the only one that ultimately matters, admittedly) on Saturday and were the fortunate recipients of a gift of a penalty to put them in a winning position.
An xG conceded of 8.7 across their five games so far this season -- only Sydney has allowed more -- also speaks to a need to reinforce the backline before the law of averages catches up with them.
Perth Glory
Stocks Up: Perth's 1-0 win over Wellington on Friday made it four wins in the five games they've hosted the Kiwis in since they entered into the competition, and one has to give the Glory credit for maximising their timezone advantage in the women's Distance Derby. Just once have the Phoenix travelled West for a game that kicked off before 6 pm local time since they came into the league in 2021-22, with the 7 pm kickoff time for the latest meeting between the two coming at midnight Wellington time and, thusly, ending at 2 am according to their body clocks.
Stocks Down: Yes, Perth did pick up a much-needed win over the Phoenix on Friday, snapping a four-game losing run and moving off the foot of the table. But given that their lone goal came from a Susan Phonsongkham olimpico and they were otherwise outshot 16 to five by the visitors, one can't exactly call this a performance that will reliably produce wins moving forward.
Sydney FC
Stocks Up: As disappointing as their loss to Canberra midweek was and as tepid as they've been this season, the Sky Blues are now just one of three sides in the league -- Newcastle and City the others -- with just a single defeat to their names so far this season and ostensibly should be well-placed to make a rise up the table if they can start to put things together.
Stocks Down: Of course, if Sydney is going to stage a sustainable march up the table, they're going to need to make consistent improvements on both the attacking and defensive ends. Coming out of the bye weekend, Ante Juric's side, per FotMob, sits bottom of the league for xG with 4.6 and has a league-worst xG conceded of 8.9.
Wellington Phoenix
Stocks Up: As far as silver linings to losing a football match go, most of the postmatch analysis being centred upon how your opponents stole the game has to count for something, right? The Nix seemed to be handily in control of the contest for pretty much the entirety at the Sam Kerr Football Centre, with Marisa van der Meer hitting the post with a header in the 23rd minute.
Minutes prior, Samba had what would have been an absolute cracker bend just over the bar, and despite the defeat, the Nepalese attacker continues to settle into the competition and, even without an A-League Women goal to her name yet, is still rapidly becoming one of the most fun players to watch in it.
Stocks Down: The Phoenix look like they're an improved, more well-organised side under Bev Priestman. But for all the talk of an improved squad, better performances, and heightened expectations in a new era, the results aren't there under the former Canada coach. Sitting third-bottom of the competition after five games played, the Kiwis have only shipped four goals, which is the equal-most miserly in the league, but their three goals scored sit aside Adelaide as its fewest. If they could fix the latter, they'd appear primed to climb the table, but that's easier said than done.
Credit also to The West Australian's Ben Smith for noting the quirky stat that Priestman has now copped olimpicos in back-to-back visits to Perth: Phonsongkham's winner on the weekend and Katie McCabe opening the scoring for the Republic of Ireland against Priestman's Canada during the 2023 Women's World Cup.
Western Sydney Wanderers
Stocks Up: It was another disappointing night for the Wanderers as they fell to the Mariners, but 19-year-old Talia Younis at least gave the fans something to smile about on the way home: smashing in a first-time 90th-minute screamer from range that gave Annalee Grove no chance in the Mariners' goal. It capped off a promising 24-minute cameo from the teenager, who led the game in chances created despite only playing 24 minutes.
Stocks Down: Perth's smash-and-grab against the Nix ensured that the Wanderers ended the round bottom of the A-League Women once more and a week on from having the best of a Sydney Derby they couldn't get the win in, the side in red and black had more shots on target, big chances, and xG than their opponents but couldn't take their chances. Only this time, some good finishing up the other end ensured they didn't even get a point to show for it.
Travelling to face off with second-bottom Adelaide in their next fixture -- a Reds unit that will be coming off a hellacious three-game road trip against Victory, City, and Perth -- will tell us a lot about this Wanderer outfit's hopes of avoiding the spoon.
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