As Jenna Kingsley was receiving her player of the year accolade, the W-League Jets newest recruits were settling into their new surrounds.
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Kingsley earned the Herald Women’s Premier League’s most prestigious award this month for her stand-out performances in the Northern NSW elite competition.
It came 12 months after she made the tough decision to relocate from her home in Sydney to Newcastle to reignite her W-League career.
Now, Liana Danaskos, Tara Pender, Elizabeth O’Reilly and Emma Stanbury hope to follow suit after putting pen to paper with the Jets for their 2016-17 campaign.
“I love it up here,” Kingsley said. “I wouldn’t go back now for sure.”
The 24-year-old came to Newcastle last year “with the intention of moving back after the season had finished”.
But the former Australian under-17 player stayed on at season’s end.
“I liked it so much here and I wanted to keep training with Deansy [Jets coach Craig Deans], so I stayed,” she said.
The move to Newcastle came after back-to-back knee injuries brought the former Central Coast Mariners and Western Sydney Wolves player to a standstill.
“I came to Newcastle because I felt like I wanted a bit of a change and wanted to start fresh,” Kingsley said.
She had not played since having a second knee reconstruction when she arrived in Jets camp but went on to played in every match of their 2015-16 campaign.
Kingsley already feels fitter and stronger after a solid season playing for Wallsend in the WPL.
Pender, Stanbury, Danaskos and O’Reilly come to the Jets after successful winter seasons of their own.
They all played in the Sydney women’s National Premier League – Pender, 19, played with Blacktown and the remaining trio were part of the championship-winning Sydney University side.
Attacking midfielder Stanbury, 25, was in the Jets’ 2014-15 squad. She had limited game time but Deans expects more impact from her this time around.
O’Reilly, 24, is a midfielder and played for the Central Coast before heading to the United States to play college football.
Danaskos, 21, is also a midfielder and Deans said Pender was a forward “with a lot of potential”.
“The squad is looking more balanced this year and has got more quality across the board,” Deans said.