When Newcastle Jets stunned the Liberty A-League with the signing of Melina Ayres in August, there was a telling quote that emerged.
After a pair of Championships and a Premiership with Melbourne Victory, the star forward opted for pastures new. However, this was not just about football. It was about lifestyle.
“I’m also anticipating enjoying life in Newcastle, finding the best surfing spots and embracing the football community in the Hunter region,” she said when the move was announced almost three months ago.
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Surrounded by eight golden beaches and blessed with a spectacular stretch of coastline, Newcastle is a beach town at heart. An avid surfer, Ayres is in her happy place and she is off to a good start as she prepares for a Victory reunion.
The Jets – without finals football since 2017-18 – showed their intent by pulling off a coup to lure the 24-year-old from Melbourne.
Ayres enjoyed a breakout season in 2022-23, knocking on the door of international selection and a maiden Matildas cap after scoring a Liberty A-League career-high 12 goals in 13 matches.
Long touted as a Matilda, she also bagged an unforgettable hat-trick in the dramatic semi-final win over Melbourne City before losing to eventual champions Sydney FC in the Preliminary Final.
Ayres became only the second player in the competition’s history to score a hat-trick in the Finals Series after superstar Matildas captain Sam Kerr, who achieved the same feat at Perth Glory in 2019. In fact, Ayres has done it not once, but twice, scoring her first finals hat-trick in the 2021 Semi Final win over Brisbane Roar.
“She’s a freak. She can score goals from anywhere. We’ve seen that,” A-Leagues legend Cath Cannuli said on The Official Liberty A-League Podcast back in April.
“My biggest concern for Melina Ayres is her fitness and her ability to stay on the pitch. I tweeted it straight after the game (the Semi Final win over Melbourne City);
If we can get her fit and playing a full home and away season, she could be the next Sam Kerr.
“She actually has an eye for goal, that’s something we’re really lacking within Australian football. If you look at all the top goal scorers; (Western United striker) Hannah Keane, she’s an American, that’s who’s won our Golden Boot. That for me is concerning.
“(Canberra United legend) Michelle Heyman has done fantastic to be up there, but we need our Aussie girls winning Golden Boot; we need them up there. That is something we’re lacking within our structure of football. Not just in female football, but in men’s football as well.
“We don’t have proper out-and-out strikers who can find the back of the net so easily. I think Melina Ayres definitely has that knack as a striker, she has that natural ability.
“If we can get everything else right for her, she is definitely someone that will be one of those next Matildas who will be in the fold.”
Ayres is once again looming as a potential Matilda ahead of Sunday’s return to Melbourne to face Victory at the ‘Home of the Matildas’, with the 2024 Olympic Games set to take place in Paris next year.
The Matildas are through to the third round of qualifying, which means a two-legged clash against Uzbekistan in February.
Ayres’ bullet header settled the F3 Derby against Central Coast Mariners in Round 1. It showcased her power and aerial strength.
She was not on target against Perth Glory and sat out last week’s last-gasp 1-1 draw with Western Sydney Wanderers. But Ayres is shaping up as the player to watch in Bundoora over the weekend.
“(The Matildas is) definitely (a realistic goal),” said former Sydney FC midfielder Teresa Polias in April of Ayres, who scored two goals in nine games for Icelandic outfit Breidablik during a loan stint at the end of 2022-23.
“During the season, she was off injured for a bit of time, so she didn’t come into the conversation as much. You could see when she did come back, she wasn’t there yet, she needed to get some minutes into her and find her form again.
“Now, seeing the form she’s in and the mentality she has… just her ability to score goals when her team needs, she’s done this year upon year.
“Definitely for the next cycle the Matildas will be starting after the World Cup, surely she’s got to be considered.”
