Ash Brodigan and Nadja Squires have returned to Herald Women's Premier League hoping to rediscover their love of the game while Alison Logue was not planning to play at all this year.
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The trio, as well as the signing of Kirstyn Antoni (nee Pearce), bring a wealth of experience to what last year was a talented but relatively young Broadmeadow Magic side and coach Jake Curley is excited by his new-look squad's potential.
Brodigan, Logue and Antoni have played W-League while Squires is a seasoned campaigner in Herald WPL. Together they form the spine of a Magic team that have been touted premiership contenders with Logue in goals, Antoni at centre-back, Squires in midfield and Brodigan up front.
Magic beat newcomers Maitland 5-2 in round one and come up against defending premiers and champions Newcastle Olympic at Magic Park in round two on Saturday.
"It's only our second game and this week we're probably going to have six to seven new players starting compared to last year," Curley said.
"We're pretty strong but we're just going through our process at the moment. They're good. They're strong across the park. They're well coached and they have Jemma House coming back."
After scoring 30 goals for South Wallsend in the 2019 Herald WPL, Brodigan headed to NSW National Premier League Women's last year but only ended up playing part of a COVID-19-interrupted season.
"I wasn't enjoying football, so I'm just looking to get my confidence back," the 21-year-old said.
She made a promising start with a hat-trick against the Magpies.
Squires, 25, was sidelined in round one with an ankle injury but is hoping to take the field today for her first WPL game in over 18 months. The former Warners Bay player tried AFL last year instead.
"I didn't really enjoy the year before," Squires said. "I was living away and coming back to play. I took some time off during the season to go travelling and when I came back I just wasn't enjoying it. I thought I'd just have the year off and not ruin soccer for myself.
"I thought I would just play AFL again because I really enjoyed it then Gem Harrison sent me a message, saying we really want you to play ... I turned up and really loved it."
Logue, 34, played the past four seasons with Merewether and was taking this year off before answering a last-minute SOS from Magic when shot-stopper Jess Schultz got injured.
"The plans I had for weekends, camping and bike riding, I never got around to do it," Logue said. "I saw a post on Facebook where [former Merewether WPL coach] Cass [Koppen] shared a memory and because she can't play she said, if you can, do it. KP [Antoni] had been asking me to play and asked again and sounded desperate, so I thought why not.
"It's a young team and for the favourites of the competition I think we've got a lot to work on. But that will come with time. I just want to help the team improve and get to where we should be."
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Olympic beat Warners Bay 5-1 in round one and coach Harmonie Attwill predicted "a really entertaining game" with Magic.
"I think both teams will feel like there's a fair bit on the line: it's always bit of a grudge match against Magic," she said. "I think it will be physical. I think it will have a lot of passion and I think the team who has strong defence and is able to take their chances will win."
Adding to the spectacle today will be the return of last year's WPL player of the year Jemma House, who missed the first round with W-League Jets commitments.
The match is at 4.30pm. At 7pm on Saturday, Adamstown play Mid Coast at Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility. On Sunday at 3.40pm, Charlestown host Maitland at Lisle Carr Oval.
On Friday night, Warners Bay beat New Lambton 8-1 at John Street Oval.
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