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Wellington Phoenix women search

Living in close quarters across the Tasman and trying to avoid Covid-19, New Zealand’s newest sports team have found it hard getting away from football, writes Andrew Voerman.

TALITHA Kramer can’t speak highly enough of her team-mates at the Wellington Phoenix and the challenges they’ve had to overcome during their inaugural A-League Women season.

The team came together in Wollongong at the start of November for what was effectively an 18-week football camp that has taken most of them away from home, whether that was somewhere in New Zealand or elsewhere in Australia, at short notice.

Kramer, a Wollongong local, is the lone exception in the playing group.

The defender isn’t living on campus at the University of Wollongong, like most of the players are – a set of circumstances that was going to be in place to a similar extent even if the pandemic hadn’t made weekly trans-Tasman travel impossible.

Living in close quarters has made it hard for the Phoenix to find the right work-life balance while searching for their first win in Australia’s semi-professional women’s football competition. Then came the threat of the Omicron variant and the resulting wave of cases in Australia, which has restricted their movements even more.

At 30, Kramer is more than a decade older than many of her team-mates, quite a few of who are teenagers, and speaking after their latest loss, a 1 -0 defeat on Friday night against Adelaide United, she said she couldn’t speak highly enough about how they were dealing with the situation in front of them. ‘‘I said to the girls the other day that I couldn’t believe that some of them are 17, living overseas, doing groceries themselves, living on their own, cooking every night. It’s just those little things that you just sort of take for granted – well, I know I did when I was 17, I had mum cooking for me all the time.

‘‘They should be really proud of themselves, to do that, then to mentally prepare for a game as well. For most of them, this is

their first professional contract, so full credit to them. They’re a pretty inspiring bunch, that’s for sure.’’

The Phoenix came together in a hurry, as there were just 12 weeks between official confirmation of their entry on September 10 and their first match on December 3.

Coach Gemma Lewis was involved in under-17 and under-20 World Cup campaigns in 2018 and ahead of the season, she said there were plenty of similarities between those and what the Phoenix needed to do – bringing a team together at short notice and spending a lot of time together in close quarters away from home, even when not training or playing. At the same time, she cautioned there was a big difference between doing that for a little over a month, as is the case with a World Cup, and doing it for the best part of five months.

It has now been 12 weeks since the NZ-based players and staff flew across the Tasman and there are six more to go before the end of the season.

They have lost seven matches in a row after beginning their campaign with a draw against Western Sydney Wanderers, but they’ve been improving every round and have won plenty of admirers with how they’ve approached things on the field.

Yet as Lewis feared, the challenges of effectively being in camp for a third of a year have taken their toll and those challenges have been exacerbated by the resurgence of Covid-19 – something they were hoping they would be able to avoid.

Speaking this week, following her side’s loss to Brisbane Roar last Sunday, where they took a 2-0 lead during the first half, but lost 3-2 after conceding a late penalty, Lewis was brutally honest about what they were dealing with.

‘‘We were talking about the fact that we didn’t want this to turn into an 18-week camp because it just wasn’t sustainable, but because of the nature of how bad Covid got, it’s really pulled away any sort of balance that they’ve been able to have because they don’t have that freedom as much.

‘‘They have to play everything with risks when they go out, and they can’t go to the movies, or do any of the things where they get that relief and balance outside of football.

‘‘It’s 100 per cent turning into everything that we were trying to avoid in terms of being an 18-week camp, then at the same time, we’re also trying to think of the players’ wellbeing and the Covid situation as well, and trying to make sure that none are going to get Covid, because if they do, that’s going to kick us in the teeth.

‘‘Over the Christmas period, what was already a hard time for the girls mentally is now almost being extended, because there’s very little balance. There’s not much relief. They love what they do, but I also think the reality has set in around how hard this actually is.

‘‘It’s tough for the people that are here and that’s what some people don’t see.

‘‘Their resilience is being tested every week, and they’re doing really well, but it 100 per cent has taken a toll.’’

In their final six matches, the Phoenix should have plenty of opportunities to get the maiden win that has eluded them so far, most notably in early February, when they face Canberra United, who are also winless at present, and in their final outing at the start of March, when they play Wanderers – who have scored fewer goals than them – for a second time.

The end of their long stay in Wollongong is coming into sight – provided the New Zealand government eases its border restrictions by then to allow them to travel, another looming headache – but managing the players as people, as well as footballers, is going to be key to them finishing strong.

Lewis and assistant coach Natalie Lawrence have had to take on wider-ranging roles than they might have been anticipating as they try to get their new team off the ground, but they’re determined to make sure they are there for their players when needed.

‘‘We have so much on, but at the same time, we’ve known these players for years,’’ Lewis said. ‘‘So the first person they end up coming and speaking to is one of us to when they’re struggling, and sometimes that means we’re not coaching, or we’re not going through the clips, we’re actually spending an hour going for a walk with a player and just chatting to them and kind of making sure they’re doing OK and keeping them grounded in certain moments when they’re struggling. ‘‘That’s probably different to most head coach roles, but at the moment, it’s a different dynamic ...’’

‘For most of them, this is their first professional contract, so full credit to them. They’re a pretty inspiring bunch, that’s for sure.’ PHOENIX DEFENDER TALITHA KRAMER

SPORT

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2022-01-23T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-01-23T08:00:00.0000000Z

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