Bev Priestman Leads Wellington Phoenix Into A League Women Grand Final

Wellington Phoenix have reached the a league women Grand Final, and they will meet premiers Melbourne City at AAMI Park on Saturday, May 16 at 4:15pm AEST. The match gives the New Zealand side a chance to take the title away from home after a semi-final run that pulled the club into this position.

Priestman and Wellington Phoenix

Bev Priestman has framed the final as more than one match. “It’s been one of our bigger purposes, we want to put women’s professional sport and women’s professional football in New Zealand on the map,” she said.

She also pointed to the broader stakes for the team. “I think for a New Zealand team to be competing, beating Australian teams in football, I think that’s great. We’re flying the flag in that sense,” Priestman said. “But it’s not just about representing Wellington, it is about representing New Zealand.”

That message fits the way Wellington reached this point. Priestman had rallied the players and fans into turning up to Porirua Park for their semi-final performance, and the group now heads to Melbourne with a final in front of them rather than another chase at home.

Melbourne City at AAMI Park

Melbourne City come in as the premiers, so Wellington face the top side in the competition away from home. Priestman called that opportunity a “great feat” if her team can finish the job on Saturday.

For Makala Woods, the run already has history attached to it. “We’ve already made history, but you’re like ‘this’ close, so it might hurt that much more if you fail,” she said. She added that it would be “a disservice to ourselves if we look at it like we should be scared.”

Woods also described how her own role changed during the campaign. “I came in as an injury replacement when some really key players came out,” she said. “It could have been really easy to just not do well and then have all these excuses.”

Wellington now carry that mix of pressure and opportunity into the Grand Final. If they bring their best, Woods said, “I think the best version of us can beat any team in the league.”