The Liberty A-League’s most prestigious individual prize will be awarded at half-time of Saturday’s Grand Final. We look at the key contenders for the gong.
The list of winners for the Julie Dolan Medal reads like a who’s who of Australian women’s football – and this weekend a new name will be added to the roll of honour.
During the era of the WNSL, legends like Sharon Black, Julie Murray, Joey Peters, Lisa De Vanna, Taryn Rockall and Heather Garriock were recognised. In the A-Leagues era, it’s been won by modern day Matildas icons including Sam Kerr, Michelle Heyman, Kyah Simon, Clare Polkinghorne, Tameka Yallop, Emily van Egmond and, most recently, Alex Chidiac.
This year, there’s a strong field of contenders vying to be the next name on the list of players to be named the best across the Liberty A-League season.
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Golden Boot winner Heyman has had a superb campaign with Canberra United, earning herself a ticket back to the national team in the process.
Philippines international Sarina Bolden has been a goal-contribution machine since landing at Newcastle Jets.
Cortnee Vine has enjoyed her most productive campaign yet after becoming a household name for heroics during last year’s Women’s World Cup on home soil.
Chloe Logarzo, Tameka Yallop and Mackenzie Hawkesby have been sensational since returning to the competition from abroad, while we’ve seen breakout campaigns from the likes of Western Sydney Wanderers’ Sophie Harding and Melbourne City’s Daniela Galic.
That’s before you consider exceptional seasons from the likes of City’s Rebekah Stott, Phoenix’s Mariana Speckmaier, Canberra’s Vesna Milivojevic and Victory’s Rachel Lowe, plus some standouts between the sticks in Glory’s Morgan Aquino and Sydney’s Jada Whyman.
aleagues.com.au looks at a handful of leading contenders before we find out the winner this Saturday at the Grand Final….
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Michelle Heyman (Canberra United)
22 games, 17 goals, 7 assists
Could Canberra United legend Michelle Heyman make history in 2023-24?
The Matildas great already has two Julie Dolan Medals to her name, earned 11 years apart at Central Coast Mariners in 2009 and in her comeback season at Canberra in 2020-21. Just Heyman, Clare Polinghorne and Sam Kerr have won multiple Julie Dolan Medals, and if Heyman claims a third she’ll be out on her own as the only player to claim the award more than twice.
Heyman returned from retirement in 2020 and the 35-year-old has since reclaimed the Liberty A-League all-time scoring record off Kerr, then proceeded to become the only player in competition history to score 100 league goals.
Heyman reached the second of those milestones this season with one of her 17 goals this season – a league-high which saw her secure the Golden Boot. The veteran striker also notched seven assists, contributing to 24 of Canberra’s 39 goals as United finished second-last on the table. Heyman’s rampant attacking form resulted in a Matildas recall after six years outside of the international squad.
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Sarina Bolden (Newcastle Jets)
20 games, 14 goals, 9 assists
Sarina Bolden was without a club at the start of the Liberty A-League season, and it wasn’t until Round 6 that a club took a chance on the Philippines international who went on to light up the league at Newcastle Jets.
Bolden was announced as a Jets player in the hours before their Round 6 clash with Canberra and by the end of the day, Bolden had scored her first two goals of the campaign in a 4-3 win.
After a dream debut, Bolden never looked back. The 27-year-old scored 12 goals in the regular season, including a four-game scoring streak and a hat-trick against Brisbane Roar.
She scored two goals in her Liberty A-League Finals debut to launch the Jets past Western United as the Jets went deeper than they had ever before in a post-season campaign.
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Cortnee Vine (Sydney FC)
20 games, 10 goals, 6 assists
No list of top Liberty A-League performers is complete without Sydney FC’s Matildas star Cortnee Vine.
The Sky Blues winger came into the 2023-24 season off the back of a memorable World Cup campaign with the Matildas, scoring a now-iconic penalty to defeat France in a Quarter-Final shootout.
Vine returned to domestic action with more eyes on her than ever before and the 26-year-old thrived under pressure. Vine scored 10 goals throughout the year, catching fire in the back half of the campaign with three two-goal games, and helped the Sky Blues to a second-place finish.
On Saturday, Vine will compete in the 2024 Grand Final against Melbourne City, on the hunt for back-to-back Championship titles.
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Sophie Harding (Western Sydney Wanderers)
21 games, 12 goals, 4 assists
Heading into the 2023-24 season, Sophie Harding had never scored more than two goals in a single Liberty A-League campaign.
That all changed as the 24-year-old put together a career-best display at Western Sydney Wanderers.
Her 12 goals and four assists helped the Wanderers build on their 19-point output in the 2022-23 season and push for a spot in the finals – a fight which went all the way to the final round of the season, when a defeat to Wellington Phoenix left the Wanderers outside the top six on goal difference alone, with a total of 33 points.
Every year offers up its surprises and Harding was one of the standouts in that department, scoring at a rate never before displayed in her four seasons in the Liberty A-League.
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Chloe Logarzo (Western United)
17 games, 9 goals, 3 assists
It’s hard not to look at Western United’s Elimination Finals exit and wonder what might have been without a season-ending injury to Matildas midfielder Chloe Logarzo, who had led Western into Premiership contention before a hip injury in mid-March.
Logarzo had played 17 games (all starts) and had notched four goals and one assist in four games before the injury blow. The 29-year-old scored nine times for Western in 2023-24 and by Round 18, had captained her side to six-straight wins and the top of the table. Western didn’t win another game in her absence before their eventual Elimination Final defeat to the Jets.
Tameka Yallop (Brisbane Roar)
20 games, 5 goals, 5 assists
The 2023-24 season had a World Cup flavour as a handful of Matildas returned to the Liberty A-League – and something just felt right about seeing Tameka Yallop back in the orange of Brisbane Roar.
The Queenslanders finished ninth with seven wins from 22 games but Yallop’s impact was evident throughout the season. The majority of her five goals and five assists came in the back half of the campaign as the Roar mounted a late charge with three wins in five games and that stretch of results included two goals and an assist from the energetic Matilda who ended the season on a high note.
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The winner of this year’s Julie Dolan Medal will be announced at half-time of Saturday’s Liberty A-League Grand Final.
Melbourne City host Sydney FC in this season’s title decider. Get your tickets TODAY as the league’s top-two finishers go head-to-head in an unmissable event at AAMI Park.
