The final batch of Liberty Next Gen Tracker votes have been tallied as we crown the winner for the 2023-24 Liberty A-League season!
In both the Isuzu UTE A-League and Liberty A-League this year, we’ve kept tabs on the Next Gen Tracker, ranking the top five players who were 21 or under at the start of the season every month as the “Ones to Watch” in the A-Leagues.
The five selections for the last batch of voting in the Liberty A-League were revealed on the final episode of Dub Zone for the season – as was the overall winner at the end of the campaign.
Latest voting: Liberty Ones to Watch
The latest voting scheduled factored in the final five rounds of the season, with the Dub Zone panellists giving five votes to their top performer aged 21 or under prior to the start of the season, four to the next best, all the way down to one vote for the fifth-best performer across the final five rounds.
1 vote: Alyssa Whinham (Wellington Phoenix)
The 2023-24 campaign was shaping as a disappointing one for Alyssa Whinham before a late-season push into the Wellington Phoenix starting unit and a statement display against Perth Glory in early March, in which the Phoenix number 10 bagged a goal and assist in her best performance of the campaign.
2 votes: Alicia Woods (Brisbane Roar)
Teenage midfielder Alicia Woods signed a scholarship contract with Brisbane Roar in January and the mid-season recruit impressed in her seven appearances since under head coach Alex Smith.
3 votes: Ella Buchanan
Another mid-season signing, Ella Buchanan signed for Western Sydney after initially joining the club as a train-on player and the 20-year-old’s purple patch of form to end the season included a pair of goals in March.
4 votes: Shelby McMahon (Melbourne City)
Junior Matildas captain Shelby McMahon is just 15 years of age, but her phenomenal end-of-season form included a crucial goal for Melbourne City on the final day of the season which ultimately sealed the Premiership for Dario Vidosic’s side.
City led 1-0 when McMahon bagged an 89th-minute lead-doubler – a goal City would ultimately need as Perth Glory pegged one back in second-half stoppage time.
5 votes: Caley Tallon-Henniker (Sydney FC)
With two goals in her debut season as a Sky Blue, mid-season signing Caley Tallon-Henniker helped the Sky Blues come within a whisker of the Premiership this season, and played a crucial role in bolstering the squad in the absence of a number of Young Matildas stars who departed the club on U20 Asian Cup duty in March.
Tallon-Henniker, McMahon, Buchanan and Woods polled strongly in the final round of Liberty Ones to Watch voting, and together they represent the potential of players signed after the start of the season to make an impact in the Liberty A-League.
“All the credit (goes) to Caley Tallon-Henniker, who came in when the Young Matildas went away,” said Teo Pellizzeri on Dub Zone.
“The reason we’ve had such variance in who our ‘Ones to Watch’ have been is because of international call-ups and the ebbs and flows of form. Tallon-Henniker, a mid-season signing, Ella Buchanan who had the three votes there, also a mid-season signing. They’ve been signed for a reason: because they’re in form and they’re ready to play at this level.
“It’s a credit to both the coaches and the clubs for creating a train-on environment where a train-on can step up so seamlessly.”
Fellow Dub Zone panellist Grace Gill added high praise for McMahon who made her presence felt at Melbourne City after signing as an injury replacement for Matildas winger Holly McNamara in January.
“Shelby McMahon for Melbourne City, the 15-year-old. She scored (against Perth) in her fifth appearance in the Liberty A-League, but every time she’s come off the bench or started for City, she’s looked so comfortable,” Gill said.
“When I was 15, I didn’t look that composed and assured on the ball. She is such a tidy midfielder and I’ve really enjoyed seeing her stepped up to this stage.”
Overall winner: Liberty Ones to Watch
There could only be one recipient of 2023-24 Liberty Ones to Watch honours – and after a lethal start to the season, that player was Canberra United’s Vesna Milivojevic, who has since completed a move to Swedish side IFK Norrkoping.
The Serbia international scored her 10th goal of the campaign in the final round of the season; Milivojevic had scored eight goals in her first five games of the season but suffered a knee injury in the dying stages of Canberra’s big win over Brisbane Roar in mid-December, 2023 – a game in which she had scored a hat-trick.
Milivojevic’s output slowed following that injury scare, but the 22-year-old – who was 21 prior to the start of the season – did enough to hold off Melbourne City midfielder Daniela Galic to lead the polling with nine votes.
City winger McNamara came in equal third with seven votes despite not featuring in the league since her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in November.
“We can recall pretty comfortably at the start of the season how exciting Milivojevic was to watch,” said Gill on Dub Zone.
“Every game for Canberra, whether it was (Michelle) Heyman or Vesna, it felt like she was going to produce something. She’s got this air of confidence about her that she brought to this Canberra United team, and there were times you could really get the sense she was taking games on her back and saying: ‘I’m going to make this happen’ and she did that on a few occasions.”
Pellizzeri added: “It’s safe to say the knock to her knee she suffered while scoring a hat-trick against Brisbane curtailed her a bit.
“The trips overseas to play for Serbia, very busy international breaks in Europe have also slowed her down a bit . But she signed off with her 10th goal of the season against Brisbane.
“Double figures for a winger or attacking midfielder is a pretty good campaign. I think it could’ve been so much more if she hadn’t had that knee scare against Brisbane.”
