Courtney Anderson will be back in Mid North Coast colours this Herald Women's Premier League and it is a sight that pleases coach Mick Grass.
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A young Mid North Coast side finished last in 2019 and the club will again rely heavily on youth this campaign. Anderson takes grand final experience back to her former club.
The fleet-footed striker was part of the Mid North Coast side which made finals in 2017. She did not play WPL in 2018 when the club withdrew for a season then joined league heavyweights Merewether when living in Newcastle last year.
Grass said Anderson was back living on the Mid North Coast and described her as "a good pick-up" as the club continued rebuilding.
Anderson was one of Merewether's younger and least experienced players in a team which included the likes of W-League striker Rhali Dobson. She featured in all 24 games and scored 14 goals. That included one in the grand final, which United lost 4-3 to New Lambton.
Ahead of the championship-decider last year, Merewether coach Cassandra Koppen described Anderson as a player who "gets better every week".
This year she will have a senior role alongside defender Micheala Elford.
"Michaela was a Middies player," Grass said. "She went over to America on a scholarship for a season and now she's back and is another good pick-up. She's a good physical player so she will give us plenty in that department. We lost some players from last year but we've managed to keep eight, possibly nine.
"Our senior squad, first and reserve grade combined, will be an even younger squad than we had last year, but what we do have this year is some senior players who have come back which will definitely be helpful.
"Courtney will be turning 23 this year and Michaela is about 20 this year and they'll be our two senior players. The rest will be teenagers from 15 through to 18."
Grass said the focus remained improvement and player development this year.
"If you put everything down to your results, people get disillusioned," Grass said.
"Last year we talked a lot about how we were going to improve and how we developed our game and developed as individuals. There was more to what we were doing last year than just winning or losing, which I think has allowed players to stay motivated and encouraged them to keep playing and keep coming back."
Mid North Coast open their season against Newcastle Olympic in Taree on March 8.
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