WESTERN SYDNEY DON'T DO 'HALF MEASURES'

With three losses in their last four, the decline of Western Sydney has been little short of breathtaking.

Of every W-League side, they've been hit the hardest by the transfer window, length of contracts and foreign departures. To lose Vesna Milivojevic in the past week on top of Lynn Williams' international absence, the departure of Denise O'Sullivan, and the injuries to Erica Halloway and Abby Smith...well, it's been colossal.

The impact on the club's fortunes has been justifiable and yet still disheartening. Unlike Sydney, who couldn't have predicted at the beginning of the season that Caitlin Foord and Chloe Logarzo would set sail for England just before the finals series, Western Sydney would have known that their best players were set to leave.

Between Ella Mastrantonio, Amy Harrison and Kyra Cooney-Cross, they still have arguably the finest Australian midfield in the competition. So why does the exit strategy now seem like a mess?

The question becomes; how much praise did Dean Heffernan deserve for the Wanderers' early season success, and how much pressure should he face for their end of season decline?

The scary part is it could get worse. For a club that had offered so little in the W-League until now, perhaps a finals appearance should be savoured as they look to learn key lessons for next season.

But without Kristen Hamilton for their next match, they're going to have learn much sooner than that. Otherwise, it could be pretty ugly.