Glory ALW Head Coach Stephen Peters is in no doubt as to the significance of Saturday’s clash with Central Coast Mariners at Sam Kerr Football Centre (kick-off at 2pm, tickets available HERE).
Click HERE to view his full pre-match media conference.
Ahead of their first home fixture in over a month, the women in purple occupy sixth place on the Ninja A-League ladder, one point ahead of the Mariners, with three games of the regular season to go.
And Peters is keenly aware that three points this weekend would represent a huge step towards securing the club’s first ALW Finals appearance since 2019.
“I can only hope that Saturday presents a good opportunity for fans to come out and support us,” he said.
“Obviously we’re going to need them there and I just think it’s a tremendous opportunity for us to showcase what the home crowd means to us.
“Going into a crunch game like this and fighting for a direct role in the top six, I don’t think it gets any bigger in recent memory.”
The Head Coach went on to assert that his charges are comfortable dealing with the pressure of such a high-stakes game.
“I think there’s been no room for error since we lost those four games in a row earlier in the season,” he said.
“The players have been pretty used to that pressure, to making sure that we’re ready to fight for points, particularly at home and this week is no different.
“Obviously there are three rounds to go, but it’s definitely in our control and that’s something we need to be proud of, that we’ve got it to that point.
“Now it’s about making sure we don’t slip.”
Glory will be looking to bounce back from a 2-1 defeat against in-form Adelaide United last Friday and Peters was blunt in his assessment of the performance at Coopers Stadium.
“I think it was definitely a missed opportunity for us to take something from the game,” he said.
“I think we started really well, but then we weren’t particularly pleased with our approach after that and we got a bit gun-shy there and it was a disappointing outcome in the end.
“There were some positives for us to take away from it, but overall we were a bit disappointed.
“There were some things that we worked on during the break heading into the Adelaide game that we dropped off with.
“So we’re going to re-visit those… and on Thursday and Friday we’ll focus on how we’re going to prepare tactically for Central Coast.”
As for the Mariners, they will make the trip west looking to improve upon an indifferent run of form which has seen them record just one win in their last five outings, but Peters is certainly not understimating them.
“I think they’re a quality side,” he said.
“They are still the Champions, [Isabella] Gomez and [Peta] Trimis are fantastic players and we have to be ready for them, but I think also Avaani [Prakash], in that game against Wellington, was really, really good for them.
“They’re a dangerous team and if they get on the ball, they’re going to put some good stuff together, so hopefully we can cancel that out and also show what we’re about as well.
“I think it should be a good match-up for us.”
Glory will be forced into at least one defensive change this weekend with Onyi Zogg unavailable as she serves a one-match suspension after seeing red against Adelaide and the Head Coach confirmed that Natalie Tathem could also be unavailable.
“Nat has got a bit of a quad issue,” he said, “so we’ll see where that lands, but outside of that, I don’t think there’s any other injuries to speak of, which is really nice.
“And you never know, there might be another one returning this week.”
Saturday’s opponents have continued to score goals despite losing top scorer Annaliese Rasmussen to Juventus in January, with Trimis taking her tally to five for the campaign and Gomez chipping in with three.
Mille Farrow is another attacking option for Kory Babington’s side, although the English import is yet to open her account this year, while defensively, the Mariners have not kept a clean sheet since Round One when they downed Adelaide United 3-0 at home.
Glory and the Mariners have met on seven previous occasions and the WA side will be looking for their first win on home soil.
Match Details
Ninja A-League 2025/26 Season Round 21
Perth Glory v Central Coast Mariners
Sam Kerr Football Centre
Saturday 21 March 2026
Kick-off: 2pm
#ONEGlory
ALW Match Preview: “I don’t think it gets any bigger in recent memory” – Peters
