Roar deserves W-League title

I know its been nearly a week since the Brisbane Roar womens team took out the W-League but I thought I'd offer my (late-ish) views.

The match was high quality and the best team on the day took home the title.

Brisbane got off to a flying start with Tameka Butt's goal after some tidy work y Lana Harch who was having a blinder until she went off with an awful ankle injury just before half time.

Sydney leveled before half time with almost the strike of the season from Sydney's Kylie Ledbrook.

I haven't been too impressed with Peter Wilkin's commentary of the W-League on ABC1 (and I am not the only one!) but his comment that 'you will never see a better strike than that in the W-League' was spot on.

While we are on the topic of the ABC - a big thumbs down (or 'dislike' for the facebookers) for the national broadcaster not putting the game on live in Queensland. Seriously bad move Aunty! The local fans in Qld were pretty jacked off

Brisbane brought on Lisa DeVanna when Harch was stretchered off and in the 65th minute the West Australian slotted home the winner. Then she got herself a yellow card for doing a Pat Cash (wow they had some bad outfits in 1987...sorry got distracted) - going up into the grand stand to celebrate.

I simply love watching DeVanna in action - as a defender I think she would be your biggest nightmare. Quick, technically brilliant and unpredictable.

I can't wait to see what she does in the FIFA Womens World Cup later this year.

If you missed the action you can watch the whole thing on ABC's Iview or just the highlights here

If you want the low down on the match, with commentary on the season from someone who knows female football I high recommend Fiona Crawford's blog on the 442 website (or the match report on 442 which is here).

For a sanitised version of the match try the official Roar's W-League website and have to give a shout out to the guys from the Football Sack who also covered the league.

The Football Sack also picked a W-League team of the year. Hmm interesting - very Sydney/Brisbane top heavy AND they excluded the Matildas captain Melissa Barbieri.

The Womens Game also covered the match and have been providing excellent info about the W-League and everything else to do with female football. Teo Pellizzeri and his crew were awesome giving us live coverage of lots of the matches.

And how exciting was it during the final to see so many people twittering about it - if you haven't already check out #wleague.

I have been watching the W-League from the start and its not a cliche to say its been better every year its simply the truth. The more these women play, the better the coaching the facilities the better they are. Bring on the World Cup.

Did I mention that I tipped Brisbane before the match. No? Its true

Adelaide United dump women's team

The future of Adelaide United women’s team is in doubt with the clubs new owners set to dump the W-League team.

The Lady Red’s had a horror season failing to win a match, scoring only four goals and conceding 36.

Their last win was November 2008 and since the inception of the W-league three years ago they have only managed two wins.

Reds chairman Greg Griffin revealed in December last year the Lady Reds cost $100,000 to run in the 2010 season and they were losing patience with the team.

I'd personally like to see the maths on this calculation because none of the women playing are paid much more than their costs and its an exceptionally short season.

Adelaide’s W-League coach Mike Barnett blames the terrible results on the hit-and-miss women’s program in South Australia.

Most other W-League teams have strong links to their state talent or sport institute program, allowing them to train together all year.

Some W-League teams are managed by the club but others by their state federation.

For example Melbourne Victory carries the clubs name but is managed by the Victorian Football Federation, but Adelaide has had little interaction with the state body which generally runs the talent programs.

The Adelaide team came from the local league, trained for only two weeks in the pre-season and were expected to compete with the likes of Brisbane and Sydney which are littered with Matildas and bolstered by quality coaches and facilities.

"Until we're on an even playing field with what the other states are doing, we'll be playing for the next 100 years and not win a game," Barnett told ninemsn.com.

While Adelaide have yet to make a formal announcement those involved have said that it’s a foregone conclusion.

"There are some discussions going on at the moment whether the FFSA may take this program on," Barnett said.

"It is going to be the only solution that will change the face of how the women's game is going.

"If it doesn't happen…we won't produce any good young talented girls and nothing will change.

He indicated the Football Federation of South Australia should take over the management of the team.

Fans are furious at the decision and have been venting their anger on online forums.

They are particularly riled the way in which the new owners have treated the players who have so far found out everything via the media.

The team has been neglected by its club and left to fend for themselves in a competition where the standard has lifted and simply left them behind.

Week after week the W-League standard has been impressive and with that the players confidence and skills have improved.

In a world cup year it sets the Matildas up for a great shot at getting past the round of 16 for the first time ever.

We can only hope the SA Football Federation has the resources to assist the Lady Reds and that the fans keep the faith.

Otherwise there will be a lot of young girls in South Australia who's dreams of playing at the top level will be that much harder.

Other articles
Lady Reds among sport's biggest losers - Ninemsn.com, 2 Feb 2011
Saving the lady reds - Fiona Crawford, www.auFourfourtwo.com, 19 December 2010