![Proven striker Melina Ayres has joined the Newcastle Jets for the 2023-24 A-League Women's campaign. Picture Getty Images Proven striker Melina Ayres has joined the Newcastle Jets for the 2023-24 A-League Women's campaign. Picture Getty Images](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/AVQVfAtGgzehhK8J9F6uCU/8e926ca2-3210-4830-a2c6-ca786718ca5b.jpg/r47_5_1017_678_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
NEWCASTLE Jets coach Gary van Egmond has scoured the globe assembling a squad capable of making the A-League women's finals.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Swiss international Lorena Bauman, two-time championship-winning striker Melina Ayres and American duo Izzy Nino and Maggie Shaw are among 15 fresh faces.
Former Matilda Gema Simon and industrious midfielder Libby Copus-Brown have returned home.
Club games recorder holder Cassidy Davis, last season's leading goal-scorer Lauren Allan and exciting teenager Lara Gooch remain from the squad which finished 10th .
Now the hard work begins.
The Jets start pre-season training on Monday and have five weeks before the season-opener against the Mariners on October 14.
"It has been been a big search from a recruitment perspective," van Egmond said. "We have scoured the globe and all the competitions to ensure we get the best players here.
"The club has been fantastic with the investment they have put into the women's team. We have a couple of players still to come in. One of which will be pretty exciting.
"We have some really good young players. Lara Gooch was just starting to hit her straps lasts season before unfortunately succumbing to injury. Claudia Cicco is another one coming through. Then you have stalwarts in Cass Davis and Gema Simon.
"From a coaching perspective, I'm pretty confident we can put some things in place quickly. There will be some principles of play that we will have. Culturally, it is important for us to establish off the bat what the team stands for. We are starting with a great Aussie BBQ tomorrow morning for the girls from the US and Switzerland. We want the overseas players to understand what the town is about and what the supporters want to see. That leads into the way we want to play and how we express that on the field.
"We have a number of friendlies locked in. We will have a game nearly every week against A-League opposition."
![Newcastle Jets A-League women's coach Gary van Egmond. Picture by Simone De Peak Newcastle Jets A-League women's coach Gary van Egmond. Picture by Simone De Peak](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/AVQVfAtGgzehhK8J9F6uCU/f24f74f9-501d-4773-b783-5ef03dba193f.jpg/r338_480_1840_3377_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
The Jets conceded a league high 53-goals at nearly three per game last season.
Nino, a 186cm goalkeeper, Shaw, Bauman and Simon will be crucial to turning that around.
"We can't get away from the fact that we conceded a lot of goals last season," van Egmond said. "We needed to ensure that we bolstered that area."
At the other end, Laura Allan was the leading goal-scorer with five.
Ayres, 24, scored 11 for Melbourne Victory including a hat-trick in win on penalties over arch rivals City in the final.
"To have someone of Melina's ilk come to our club is fantastic," van Egmond said. "She is a proven goalscorer in the league and is very ambitious to take the next step. She feels confident that the Newcastle Jets can provide that for her as well. It is great that we have so many players coming in."
The pre-season includes a three-day tour to Tamworth, sponsored by the Greater Bank, highlighted by a friendly against a Northern NSW Select side at Scully Park on September 23.
"It is a good opportunity for us to get away to a regional area to bond, train and play games, but more importantly engage with the community," Davis said.
"Gary and the staff have put a great team together.It is exciting to have new players and the quality of players we have coming into our squad. It's important that we build on what we did last season."
Van Egmond and Davis, who has played a record 129 games straight, believe the league will boom this season following the success of the Matildas at the World Cup earlier this year.
"It will be a massive year," Davis said. "People are still buzzing about the World Cup. Women's football is being talked about. It's the perfect time for us to start our season. With the squad we have, I think we can put on a show."
Van Egmond, whose daughter Emily helped lead the Matildas to the semi-finals, has no doubt that interest in the women's domestic competition will be heightened.
"There will be bigger crowds, " van Egmond said. "It is fantastic entertainment. Everyone is understanding more now about the women's game. People understand that you have a female game and a male game. We are not comparing one to the other. It is a stand alone game. People see it for what it is - how athletic and technical the girls are. It is a great product.
"If you look at Sydney FC's recruitment, Melbourne Victory, Melbourne City ... it has all gone to another level. That is off the back of a successful World Cup."