Ahead of Glory’s opening Ninja A-League game of the season at Melbourne City on Sunday, Head Coach Stephen Peters has underlined his belief that a strong core of locally-produced players, augmented by some top interstate and overseas captures, can propel the club to a positive campaign.
Peters is adamant that WA-born and produced players have the inbuilt desire to fight for the Glory shirt and have the additional hunger to push the team over the line.
That’s why one of his first priorities upon taking charge was to bring back the likes of Tijan McKenna and Miranda Templeman who had left Western Australia to play A-League Women football interstate.
“The first job has been to draw them home,” he said, “these kind of girls who have spent a lot of time in Victoria where they still feel connected to Perth.
“I was impressed with Tijan when I saw her play for Perth at Western Sydney Wanderers, in Alex’s [Epakis]first season (2020/21).
“He started her at six and I was really impressed with her then.
“You want people who feel connected to the shirt, so when things aren’t going well they really fight to the finish.
“Having those people who are connected to Perth is important; a bunch of local girls to roll their sleeves up and get the job done.”
The return of McKenna and Templeman has been supplemented by a large number of the State’s best young NPLW WA talent, starting with two players in Georgia Cassidy and Grace Johnston who both had standout debut A-League Women seasons for the club last term despite their tender years.
“She’s a talented young player,” said Peters of Cassidy, “and could make it in the big time.
“Grace Johnston is another good example, then look at Ella Lincoln as an example of someone who has done really well at NPL level and hopefully will get a lot out of the Glory experience.
“Charli Wainwright as well.
“It’s down to them to see the difference in terms of the physicality and physical demands required, but there’s lots of positives.”
Peters’ arrival at the club in the close season isn’t his first experience of big-time football involving Perth Glory.
Indeed, it all started 22 years ago as he takes up the story.
“I was a fan of Sydney Olympic and I was actually at Subiaco Oval to watch them in the NSL Grand Final against the Glory in 2002!”
Reflecting on his footballing journey that took him from playing to becoming one of New South Wales’ most outstanding coaches, the new Glory boss said:
“I had to give up playing after a knee injury, so I was coerced into coaching by a mate in 2010 at Gladesville Ravens.”
Peters then moved on to his first senior role at North West Sydney Spirit (now North West Sydney Koalas) where he won the championship.
This success brought him to the attention of Blacktown Spartans where he became Technical Director and during this period, Peters also coached the Football NSW Under 15 side.
Having moved to NPLW NSW side Macarthur Rams in 2021, he enjoyed huge success, winning the competition three years in a row between 2022 and 2024.
Reflecting upon those glories, Peters said:
“I understood we had a strong group of players there already, including Leena Khamis and Renee Rollason and to them we built in players from across the league to fit our playing style.
“We wanted an energetic attacking style, organised in defence with smaller and athletic players to get between the opposition and a focus on youth.
“We built on what we had, retained players and strengthened.”
This will form the basis of what Glory fans can expect from the new-look team this season in the ALW competition and Peters is excited by what lies ahead.
For the team to reach its potential, he believes they have to maximise home advantage in every way possible, whether that be kick-off times, tactics, or vocal support from the stands.
“We need to think about how difficult it is for the opposition to travel to Perth,” he said.
“We need to utilise that; a 5pm kick off is a good start, when there’s still a bit of heat around.
“They have to travel out to Queens Park [where the new home venue, the Sam Kerr Football Centre is located] and hopefully we can utilise that with our players coming flying out of the blocks so the opposition don’t get too comfortable.”
Overall, Peters is realistic, but optimistic about what his charges can achieve in 2024/25.
“A good season would be playing a good style of football that entertains the Members and the fans, creating chances and being in games,” he said.
“Secondly, how we conduct ourselves in terms of discipline on and off the field, which comes back to the jersey that we wear.
“The third one is winning matches and putting ourselves in a position where we can play Finals and having people say ‘Ah jeez, I hope we don’t end up with Perth!’
“There’s going to be some good moments and some not so good moments, but there are some fantastically talented players that are quite young and if we get through those moments with them, we’ve got some great players for Glory for the future.”
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