South Melbourne are in free fall. No, not the men’s team, they have steadied the ship, but in fact the women’s team, who are struggling with a coaching change and have lost four league games in a row.

Let’s see how the season has unfolded for the women’s team.

• In Rounds 1 to 5 the team collected 13 points.
• In Rounds 6 to 10 the team collected 6 points.
• In rounds 11 to 15 the team has collected 8 points.

Since then the team has not won a league game.

After leading the pack early in the season, the team now sits in 7th place and finds themselves outside of finals contention with four rounds to go.

The demise of the squad’s form is underlined by its results against the cellar dwellers FV Academy. Earlier in the season South defeated them 7-2, in their most recent meeting they drew 0-0.

When trying to work out why the team’s form has deteriorated it’s easy to point to the departure of head coach Matt Shepherd back in June, however the team had already started to drop down the ladder in his final month in charge.

The club’s Technical Director of Female Football, Justin Micallef. has since stepped into the head coaching role, however he has been unable to reverse the dip in form that was occurring since May.

Something needs to change quickly, or else the club is likely to miss out on finals. Although still in touching distance of the top four, the team faces an unenviable set of fixtures coming up.

The team will likely need to get at least 9 points from their remaining games to make finals and will have to do so against Preston (9th), Bulleen (2nd), Essendon (3rd) and Boroondara (5th).

Considering the fixtures, finals are looking unlikely for the women, however, as is the case for the men, the Cup competition may prove the saving grave of the season.

South have qualified for the Final of the Nike FC Cup and will face ladder leaders Heidelberg in the final. A win against the old rivals will undoubtedly mark an overall successful season, however a loss coupled with a failed league campaign will surely trigger a review of the senior program at season’s end.

South next face Preston on Sunday the 3rd of August at Lakeside, offering a chance for the women to rekindle their league season against a traditional rival.