These rising stars will be joined by WSW and Matildas veteran Servet Uzunlar, who is back in the W-League after taking time away from the game. Uzunlar was the Wanderers’ W-League Player of the Year in the club’s first season and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to help guide her younger teammates.

Another returning player is Caitlin Cooper, who spent last season with cross-town rivals Sydney FC. Cooper also has a great history with the club, being named the Wanderers’ W-League Player of the Year in their 2016-17 campaign. Cooper has bought into Barrett’s project, telling The Women’s Game; “Finals are 110% my goal and in helping create an environment within the team of success, belief and positivity, we will no doubt achieve [that] this year.” She’s also focused on making the Matildas squad for the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France.

She is joined by resurgent midfielder and former Matilda Kylie Ledbrook, who was central to Sydney's successes in 2017-18. Veteran striker Leena Khamis and NSW NPL Golden Boot winner Georgia Yeoman-Dale have also made the switch to the Wanderers.

Khamis told The Women’s Game that the chemistry she has developed with Ledbrook and Yeoman-Dale will be helpful given the number of new signings and new relationships that will need to be developed on the pitch.

“A few of us played in the NPL and had a successful season and wish to carry that over,” she said. “It’s a new-look team. I think a very experienced team, which I think will hopefully help during the season.”

That chemistry can only be helped by the recruitment of Young Matildas striker Remy Siemsen, who became Sydney FC’s top scorer and won the W-League Young Player of the Year in 2016-17. Recently, Siemsen has been plying her trade in the US with the WPSL team California Storm.

These stellar signings come after a number of departures in the off-season. Midfielder Kahlia Hogg has made the move to Adelaide, while WSW have also lost the services of veteran W-League players Ellie Brush, Rosie Sutton, and Trudy Burke. Other players who have not re-signed this year include Marushchka Waldus, Lee Falkon, Marlous Pieete, Olivia Price, Alix Roberts, Katelyn Leadbetter, Sunny Franco, Chloe O’Brien, and Alex Huynh.

On the international front, WSW have re-signed talented midfielder Lo’eau LaBonta, whose technical abilities and reading of the game made her a crowd favourite last year. LaBonta returns on loan from her North American NWSL club Utah Royals, where she played a key role in helping them to fifth place in their inaugural season.

Like many of her WSW team-mates, she believes in what Barrett wants to do at the club: “For the team, especially with this new and experienced squad, I think a goal everybody is going to buy into and commit to is making finals,” she told The Women’s Game. “With that mentality, I believe this squad will be very successful.”

LaBonta also played a part in attracting her Utah Royals team-mate, defender Sydney Miramontez, to the club for her first stint in the W-League. 

The two Americans will be joined by Ghanaian international and W-League debutant Elizabeth Addo, whose career has so far taken her across Europe and North America. The tricky forward most recently made several appearances for Seattle Reign FC in the NWSL, helping the team finish third overall in the 2018 season. Her experience, technique, and physicality could be exactly what the team needs to fire them into their first ever top four finish this season.