Having etched their names into Ninja A-League history, Melbourne City will now aim to take another huge step forward this weekend when they face Taichung Blue Whale in the quarter-finals of the AFC Women’s Champions League. Ahead of the game, aleagues.com.au caught up with defender Karly Roestbakken.
When the full-time whistle sounded at ctrl:cyber Pitch on Sunday afternoon, you’d have thought there would have been scenes of joy from the Melbourne City squad.
Not only did superstar Holly McNamara’s hat-trick help defeat Premiership rivals Adelaide United 4-3, but it also saw the squad cement their place in history as they set a new Ninja A-League record for most games unbeaten: 19.
CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR TICKETS TO THE NINJA A-LEAGUE
So naturally there were smiles and hugs at the full-time whistle, and maybe the Melbourne weather also played its, part but the overriding feeling was that this was purely business for Matricciani’s side.
One more win in their quest for potential greatness
“Yeah, it’s pretty special when you really think about it, because I don’t think it’s fully sunk in,” said Roestbakken when reflecting on Sunday’s historic win.
“It’s crazy to know that myself and the team have produced something that not many players can experience. It’s just amazing to know that we will go down in the history books and it’s something that other teams will have to strive for. It’s a record that’s pretty hard to achieve.”
But it’s what the 24-year-old says next that perhaps helps gain an insight into the mentality of this so far all-conquering Melbourne City side.
INVINCIBLE? Analysing City’s historic run & the stat that shows they could get even better
“In all honesty, no,” replied Roestbakken when asked if the squad had been discussing the opportunity to make history in the lead-up to the Adelaide game.
“Like we all knew what was at stake. We all knew what we could achieve on the weekend, but we didn’t put much emphasis on it, because it is another game, and if we focus too much on something like that, a lot of things can go out the window.
“So we actually just treated it like every other game, every other week. We knew what we had to go in and do. We knew what was at stake. We knew, what we could achieve. But we just tried to prepare like it was just a normal game and not, not really much was spoken about it.”
A glance at the Ninja A-League table will tell you that with just four games left to play, City are five points clear heading into Round 20 which then prompts another question to be asked…
Can they go a full season unbeaten?
“Yeah 100% it definitely is a goal for us. No one wants to lose and now that the seasons are longer, it’s incredibly hard to actually go a whole season unbeaten.
“We’re never going to throw the term ‘invincible’ around. Like that’s not something that we’re going to throw around at all.
“I think we’re just taking it game-by-game and we’re trying to just focus on ourselves and how we can improve individually and as a team. How we can go into a match and and just really try to dominate as much as we can.
“But you know, anything can happen within this league.
“We’re a really hard working group, and we’re not going to go around saying we’re invincible, because we know that anything can happen in football.
“But as long as we’re prepared and we’re working hard each day we’re just gonna try to set ourselves up best as we can.”
For a club like Melbourne City, winning has become the norm. Whether it’s winning Premierships or Championships, their DNA has been altered over the years so that winning titles becomes an inevitability.
And like all successful sporting institutions, they look at what went right as well as what went wrong in order to help them maintain their status as being serial winners.
Therefore, when City agonisingly missed out on securing the Premiership/Championship double care of a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to Sydney FC in the 2023-24 Ninja A-League Grand Final, Roestbakken and co immediately set about making sure this season it didn’t happen again.
“I think you remember the losses more than the wins. So the feeling of losing, you don’t want to experience that, especially in the Grand Final.
“Last season, getting the minor Premiership, honestly, was one of the best feelings. And then going into the grand final, all we wanted to do was get that medal, and it was very heartbreaking to not achieve that.
“So I think a lot of the girls, as soon as that match was done, we were just focusing: ‘All right, it’s next season, we’re going to get it next season.’
“We just put our heads down, and we were like, Okay, what are we going to do? How can we individually make ourselves better, and how can we work as a team, work 10x harder to make sure that that we can make that into a reality?
“We still have a few games to go as well, but it is a big goal for us, and, you know, it adds a little bit more fuel to the fire, I guess, from last season. Because losing is not fun.”
For Roestbakken, the 2024-25 Ninja A-League season has so far proven to be a key indicator of her own progress, both physically and mentally.
Despite the fact she shot to fame in 2019 after receiving a shock Matildas call-up for the FIFA Women’s World Cup in France, Roestbakken has since flown under the radar, albeit through no fault of her own.
ON THE RADAR: Victory’s new goal machine is scoring every 71 minutes: ‘She has to be in the Matildas mix’
A complicated ankle injury meant the talented young player made just four appearances for City in the 2022-23 season, however the club put their faith in a player whom they believed could go on to help them achieve big things.
Fast forward two years and Roestbakken has already surpassed last season’s number of minutes played – 1003 minutes in the 2023-24 season compared to 1147 minutes this season – and has established herself as an important part of a squad which is competing both domestically in the Ninja A-League and in Asia via the AFC Champions League.
So, having already experienced football in Norway earlier in her career with LSK Kvinner FK, is the seven-time Matilda beginning to turn her attention back to Europe once more especially given she’s now returned to the national team set-up?
WEEKEND PREVIEW: What you need to know for Round 20 of the Ninja A-League
“Yeah, 100%,” said the defender as she drove home from another day’s training at the impressive City Football Academy.
“It’s only been, I would say, maybe the last month where, you know, I’ve got that itch and that desire to go back overseas again.
“I think I’m ready. Because for a while there I wasn’t really 100% sure if that was on the cards for me.
“I knew that I wanted it, but I wasn’t really sure if I was going to be 100% ready to do that for a while.
“But I’ve got that hunger and I’ve got that itch again where I’m like ‘Okay, I think I’m ready physically and most importantly, I think I’m ready mentally again.'”
She continued: “There was a long road of injury, and there was a long period where I just, I didn’t know mentally if I was going to be ready to go.
“But yeah, the last month, in the last few weeks, I’ve really gone, okay, I think I’m ready. So if the right opportunity was the right fit for me, it’d be hard to turn down. So if it is the right opportunity, I would absolutely love to do that.”
But before any potential off-season transfer moves are discussed and any Premierships clinched, Roestbakken and her City teammates have the small matter of a Champions League quarter-final to contend with.
BIG BUCKS: $2m Women’s Champions League arrives in Australia: ‘Something I didn’t know was possible’
Competing in the inaugural AFC Women’s Champions League courtesy of their Premiership win last season, City have taken the competition by storm.
Three-straight wins against Bam Khatoon of Iran, Thai side BGC Asian Scholars and Kaya FC Iloilo of the Philippines saw Michael Matricciani’s side seal top spot in the group in emphatic fashion and they now head into Sunday’s quarter-final clash with Taiwanese side Taichung Blue Whale at AAMI Park as strong favourites.
“I think, you know, like most of the girls, unless you’ve been with national teams and you’ve been travelling and you’ve played overseas, it’s pretty new to most people,” said Roestbakken when reflecting on City’s journey in the Champions League this season.
“We went to Thailand before, but having the game here and being able to play in the first women’s AFC Championship. You know, we’ve all grown up watching Champions League and everything like that, so it’s pretty special to think that okay, we’re actually playing in it, and we are competing against, you know, some really great teams.
“It’s great to see what we’re kind of up against, and where we kind of sit against other people. And it’s also just amazing to be able to have it in Australia and have it in Melbourne, have a standalone game at AAMI Park.
“Hopefully we can get a huge crowd and in front of our family and friends, most importantly, where they can come down and watch us.”
