Tara Andrews: Positional change

Saturday afternoon, a lovely day for a football game, Newcastle Jets vs Brisbane Roar in round seven of the W-League, our second match up of the season. We are past the halfway mark of the regular season so teams are looking to gain momentum and start to put really good performances together, including us.

Last time we played Brisbane, we didn’t play our best and I got a little bashed up by the defenders during the game. So this time we played them, an unexpected change was made on Friday night before our game. I was moved to the left wing and our speedy winger went to the middle up the top.

Now wing has never been my favorite position, I’m not one of those fast, agile players who likes to run at people and get down the line; I’m tall, lanky and hold the ball up to get others involved and occasionally have a cheeky shot. So I wasn’t in the happiest of moods on Friday night when I got home and my parents just kept saying 'you’ll do fine, you’ll be great' like parents are supposed to do.

Saturday was upon me and I was feeling quite nervous for how I was going to go on the wing. I kept telling myself just do the best I can and it will all work out. The game started and I worked my way into it and started to relax and knew I had it. 1-0, 2-0 - we were beating Brisbane Roar 2-0 at half time and we deserved it.

We hung in there, dug deep and got past constant pressure in the first 20 minutes to get on top. Left wing actually wasn’t too bad; I had so much more time on the ball and didn’t have crazy huge defenders charging into the back of me.

We got a 4-1 win and it was a solid team performance. I actually played pretty good there I think, or so I was told, and it helped having an American who is class and runs all day behind me at left back.


Having to adapt to different situations is tough but is done in all aspects of life. It can be hard but most people push through and deal with it; there’s no question about it, you just do it. If my biggest issue is playing on the wing in a football game then I have it pretty good, don’t I?


In round seven of the W-League, there were four upset wins including our win over Brisbane which now puts them at the bottom of the ladder, which I believe could be the first time in W-League history. It will be interesting to see how they react to this situation but it is great to see a more even competition with teams breaking through the barrier of expected losses against good teams.

I watched the Sydney Derby on ABC on Sunday and it was a very entertaining game and awesome to see my former teammate at the Newcastle Jets, Hannah Beard, getting player of the match for Western Sydney Wanderers


We have a week off this weekend so it will be good to recuperate and recharge for the rest of the season.


Tara Andrews is a long-time striker and current vice-captain for the Newcastle Jets, despite only being 20 years old, who recently spent time with the Colorado Pride and has represented Australia internationally with the Young Matildas. She previously held the record for the most goals scored in a W-League match with four against Adelaide United. Keep up with Tara's weekly blogs throughout the 2014/15 Westfield W-League season here.