The questions that ‘need to be asked’ about City’s latest injury storm
It was another big weekend in the Liberty A-League and the Dub Zone crew went through some of the competition’s key talking points.
From the top of the show, news silted up of a devastating season-ending injury in a veteran Matilda and Melbourne Victory midfielder who had just overcome a series of constant setbacks.
The crew also addressed whether Melbourne City can continue to defy their long casualty list in the latter part of the season.
Meanwhile, excitement mounts as the Liberty A-League 12th team get the wheels rolling ahead of their return to competition next season.
Here are some of the key talking points from Dub Zone panelists.
Recent setback for Matilda’s midfielder
Unfortunately, the latest round of action in the Liberty A-League got off to a sour start when news broke that Elise Kellond-Knight had torn her Achilles tendon.
Kellond-Knight picked up the injury in midweek training, which will rule her out for the remainder of Victory’s season and seriously threaten her hopes of a fourth FIFA Women’s World Cup with the Matildas.
READ: Matilda’s midfielder’s season over, World Cup hopes in doubt after rupture of Achilles
It’s the latest in a string of devastating injuries for the veteran midfielder, who fought back with a series of debilitating knee injuries that sidelined her for nearly two years.
Prior to the injury, Kellond-Knight had just started hitting her straps for the win and was recently named to the Matildas Cup of Nations squad.
“It’s devastating because of the journey Elise Kellond-Knight took to get back playing and the cruelest thing of all is that she had her best game of the season just last weekend,” said Dub Zone commentator Teo Pelizzeri.
“My post is that it was a very traditional Achilles experience. You think someone kicked you in the back of your leg, you turn around and see that nobody is there, and suddenly you’re on the ground and hurt.
So it’s a terrible injury given the struggle she’s had with ACLs and all the complications around her knees. Still only 32 years old, a two-time player who was on the FIFA team of the tournament at a World Cup.
“I mean in the short term for Melbourne Victory it’s a big challenge for the Matildas, it’s a really big question too.”
The departure of Kellond-Knight leaves an even bigger hole in Victory’s midfield, having already lost colleague Matilda Alex Chidiac when her loan expired.
Will injuries catch up with City?
Melbourne City was back on the winning streak at the weekend.
City bounced back from back-to-back defeats and came away with a convincing 4-0 win over Newcastle Jets on Saturday afternoon, strengthening their position in the top four ahead of the final month of the season.
However, Dario Vidosic’s side were injured and only used three outfield players on the bench as a large number of players were unavailable due to injury or international duty.
Among those missing on Saturday were goalkeeper Melissa Barbieri (calf), defender Naomi Chinnama (hamstring), Karly Roestbakken (foot) and Tori Tumeth (ACL) – while Daniela Galic is still on international duty.
Young duo Leah Davidson (ankle) and Caitlin Karic (knee) also missed out and were ruled out for the remainder of the season on Monday.
READ: Melbourne City suffer injury damage, duo out for rest of season
Pelizzeri and former Melbourne City player Rhali Dobson debated whether their many injuries could hurt them in final time.
“Your depth is really being tested here, Rhali (Dobson),” Pellitzeri said as the clash with Newcastle came to an end.
“Three points here will get them a lot closer to their mathematical place in the top four but we saw it last season, they collapsed in the finals and wouldn’t want to do it again.”
“No, I mean as a former Melbourne City player … there’s an expectation, there’s a legacy in Melbourne City and you have to perform. If not, questions will be asked,” Dobson replied.
So my question is: why do they have all these injuries? Is there a charging issue we talked about before? Is it just because the league is progressing? There are many questions to be asked.
Despite their mounting injury list across most areas of the pitch, City have been beefing up their attacking stocks of late with the return of Holly McNamara and Maria Jose Rojas last weekend.
READ: After 377 days on the sidelines, a young star sparks national conversation – ‘Have we seen enough yet?’
But the defense and midfield are still plagued by injuries, leaving Pellitzeri to wonder if City need to seek reinforcements to fill the gaps their absence has left.
“It’s any position. I think going forward now with (Holly) McNamara and (Maria Jose) Rojas kinda puts them back on full stocks,” Pellizzeri said.
“But they have midfield questions now. They’ve had defense issues all year. Karly Roestbakken, at least she’s training, but she’s still nowhere near a return in my opinion.
“Tori Tumeth has been at the club all season but is rehabilitating an ACL and should not play this season. I mean they have almost as many players out as in.
You would think that at some point if there’s a club that pulls the lever and finds an injury replacement or finds a wild card somewhere. It must be Melbourne City.
Dobson, who has been in this situation before as a player, wouldn’t be shocked if City pulled the trigger to bring in a last-minute replacement.
“We usually get a surprise around this time of year,” she said.
“Usually as a player when you’re there you don’t even know it’s happening until you’re sitting in a meeting on a Monday morning and they’re surprised that we’ve signed that player and everyone says when we’re going about it experience?”
Welcome back Central Coast
The Central Coast Mariners’ return to the Liberty A-League is fast approaching.
The Mariners, who last played in the competition in 2009, will become the 12th team in the league when they return to action in the 2023-24 season. Last week the club announced the appointment of Emily Husband as head coach, returning after a hugely successful tenure at Sydney University’s NPLW NSW side.
Before Husband joined Dub Zone as a special guest, the crew discussed their arrival and what it will mean for the competition.
READ: The Mariners coach’s message ahead of Liberty A-League return
“It’s so important to be connected to a local community, especially country-based teams,” Dobson said.
“And so is Central Coast and the Newcastle Jets. The question we have now is how will this possibly affect recruiting from the Newcastle area down or even from Sydney?
“Who are they going to drag? But it’s a fantastic appointment (husband) because of the history she has not only as a person but as an ex-player.”
Dobson is familiar with the process of being part of an expansion team, having joined City in 2017 a few years into their existence but also playing against them as a Newcastle player.
“Basically everyone knew what happened when Melbourne City came in that they were backed and owned by Manchester City,” she said.
I’ll be really honest. Everyone said, ‘Well, they’re just going to buy the trophy. They’ll just buy the league and look like they’ve done exceptionally well. But what encouraged that was that it got all the other clubs – the majority – to get involved.
“They pulled the league up and they’ve kept pulling it up ever since and you look at how Sydney FC joined those ranks, Melbourne Victory, look at what Western United achieved in their first season.
“Adding teams means we’re expanding opportunities for international players and for caliber in Australia, who you know can only play for a select few teams. They now have the opportunity to play for other teams and show off their skills. It expands our talent pool and gives us bigger opportunities or better Matildas.”
Meanwhile, Pellizzeri is curious to see how the Mariners will build their first roster and if they will follow in the footsteps of recent expansion sides Wellington Phoenix and Western United, who have taken different approaches to their recruiting strategy.
“We saw that Wellington came with a clear strategy to develop his team ahead of the U20 Women’s World Cup where they took many Wellington players with the New Zealand team to Costa Rica,” he said.
“I think they played pretty well overall considering a core of these players represent their team.
“Western United are really looking for values in the market and players that may have been forgotten on the fringes. I think there were 15 Australian players who weren’t in their squad for the final season of the women’s A-League this year.
So I’m really intrigued by the squad building element of what Central Coast intends to do.