Adelaide United Captain, Isabel Hodgson, has previewed her side’s Round 1 match of the Liberty A-League season.
Speaking to media from Coopers Stadium, Hodgson provided an overarching view on the team’s pre-season to-date and what fans can expect from her and Head Coach, Adrian Stenta’s, squad in 2022/23.
Shifting mindsets and expectations:
“We’re not just the underdogs that could maybe upset teams.
“We’re kind of (one of) the teams that are meant to win, so there’s a bit of a mindset change.
“All of the girls want to win every game, you can see that training even just in rondos people are yelling at each other because they don’t want to be the last in (the middle).
“That competitive nature is there and that mindset of winning every challenge is definitely there.
“I think that’s been our mentality for the last couple of years.
“(It) obviously paid off last year with the finals, but like (Adrian Stenta) mentioned, we kind of finished last year with a bit of a bitter-sweet feeling.
“We’re happy we made finals, but that wasn’t enough for us.
“That’s what we’re looking for this year, to keep doing better and better.”
Fresh, but familiar faces:
“We’re really fortunate that most of our players were here early on in our very short preseason, which is a change for us.
“Normally, (they come into the squad) after Round 1, so that’s really awesome.
“We’ve had a couple of consistent games against boys teams, which I think has really helped gel the team.
“Most of the new players have settled in really well and some have come back, like Maruschka (Waldus).
“It was really easy for her to settle back in to a team that she has played in, so it feels a bit the same as last year and the team is doing really well.”
Pre-season ankle woes:
“Unfortunately I picked up an injury early in pre-season, but I’ve been back running for a couple of weeks and into full training.
“I’ve been running pretty consistently with the rehab group, but there’s always that game element (which is different).
“I think I’ll give it everything I’ve got for as long as I can (during Sunday’s game) and if (Adrian Stenta) wants me to keep playing, I’ll keep running until I physically can’t anymore.
“We’ll see how we go (but you) never know in a game – sometimes you feel great, and sometimes not so good.”
