With the international break behind us, attentions can now turn to the Newcastle Jets first home match of the Westfield W-League season.
Up against an undefeated Canberra United, Saturday night’s clash at McDonald Jones Stadium promises to have it all.
W-LEAGUE: What we learnt from Round 2
Here are five things you need to know.
The move to McDonald Jones Stadium
Newcastle’s No.2 Sportsground had been pencilled in as the home of the Westfield W-League this season, but Jets fans will have to wait another fortnight for that to come to fruition.
After a gruelling winter schedule, the pitch at No.2 Sportsground isn’t quite up to scratch but thanks to the hard work of Newcastle City Council things are tracking well.
In the meantime though, it means the girls will play their first home match of the season at McDonald Jones Stadium.
Brewer is back
One woman who would have had this match circled in her calendar for some months is Jets defender, Hannah Brewer.
Sent off in the semi-final defeat to Sydney way back in February, Brewer served her one-match suspension in the Jets round 2 clash with Melbourne Victory.
It’ll have been 280 days since her last Jets game by the time Brewer takes to the pitch on Saturday night, but she’s back!
Canberra’s high-scoring affairs
Unlike the Jets, Canberra haven’t yet had to endure the bye this season in the Westfield W-League.
They’ve played two games so far – a 2-0 win over competition favourites, Melbourne City in the opening round followed by an incredible 4-4 draw with Perth Glory.
It means that in two games, Canberra matches have seen a whopping ten goals. Could Saturday night be another high scoring affair?
UNBELIEVABLE
77' 4-1
83' 4-2
87' 4-3
90' 4-4#WLeague #CBRvPER pic.twitter.com/HHVoMRTUDO— Liberty A-League (@aleaguewomen) November 4, 2018
Returning Westfield Matildas
Two women who haven’t enjoyed the luxury of a weekend off are Westfield Matildas, Emily van Egmond and Gema Simon.
The pair were in the squad which faced Chile in Penrith, and could feature again in Newcastle on Tuesday night.
Don’t expect that will mean lethargic performances from two professionals of the game though – they’ll each be invigorated by their time in national team camp and keen to impress on Saturday.
Crummer’s fight to fitness
The big question surrounding Saturday night’s match is Larissa Crummer – will she play?
After the bitterly disappointing news of a quad injury ruled her out of the Westfield Matildas camp, the centre-back has been working hard in the race back to fitness.
The jury is still out, though. Should she recover, it would be a massive in for the Jets ahead of what’s sure to be a tough Saturday night clash.
