Coach Bev Priestman (left) and Mackenzie Barry lead a team with a real chance of finals football. Photo / Photosport
Aiden McLaughlin for LockerRoom
With just four games to go in the regular season, the Wellington Phoenix women’s playoffs destiny is in their own hands.
Saturday evening saw an impressive 3-0 win against Brisbane Roar at Hnry Stadium in Wellington move Bev Priestman’s side up to third in the A-League ladder.
With the top six sides in the 11-team competition making finals football, the Phoenix travel to bottom-placed Sydney FC on Friday night in pursuit of another three points that would get them closer to their first playoff qualification since their inaugural season in 2021-22.
A player who’s been there since the beginning is 24-year-old central defender Mackenzie Barry, who is approaching 90 appearances for the side, an ongoing appearance record for the Phoenix.
Barry, originally from New Plymouth, is leading the side at present with regular captain C.J. Bott on maternity leave, and it’s a role she is embracing in the side’s most impressive campaign to date.
“It’s an added responsibility and I’ve been working on some specific leadership skills. Since C.J. is now pregnant, Bev asked me to be the captain for the rest of the season which is pretty cool,” Barry says.
“It’s definitely a little bit more pressure but I think I felt prepared. I’ve been at this club for a while and I know how things work in the A-League and a lot of the younger girls have respect for me. It’s about being a role model and setting standards at training, making sure that we’re training how we play and keeping everyone focused on our goal, which is making the finals.”
With the least goals conceded in the league (13) and the best goal difference (+19), the Phoenix’s consistency this season has been one of the keys to their success and Barry is quick to point out why that is.
“The overall level of training and the content in the meetings and our game plan has gone up multiple levels. Bev demands respect from the room and everyone in there wants to work hard for ourselves and for her and our teammates.”
“Bev is a great leader and draws the best out of people. I also think we’ve had some really great international signings who have lifted the quality as well and made a huge impact coming in. Also, everyone gets along really well off the field. We do a lot of things together out of choice and we’ve got a really hardworking team.”
Barry knows all about working hard. Her football journey started when she was 6, playing for her primary school in New Plymouth. By the time she was 10, she was training and playing in the Taranaki representative programme before making the Central Federation team when she was 12 years old.
“It was difficult doing the reps as we would have to travel from New Plymouth to Palmerston North after school, so thanks to my parents for doing that because I wouldn’t have been able to make those trainings otherwise,” Barry says.
Although when she was coming through the ranks, pathways were limited, Barry is excited to see the growth of the women’s game in this country and also the increased opportunities that’s brought.
“I think now, more than ever, with the Phoenix and the Phoenix reserves, and there’s age groups and the academies, they really set a pathway for young girls which is so exciting.”
“We have so many young players coming to watch our games as well, and they tell us about how they love to play and how we inspire them, which is really amazing because when I was their age I didn’t really have that as much, especially physically going to games because a lot of the games we watched were on TV, so it didn’t have that same feel.”
When Barry was younger, she played on the wing, but it was her coach for the Central team, Leon Birnie, who spotted her potential to make the switch.
“When I was younger, I ran everywhere but when I started playing rep football, Leon thought I had defensive tendencies. He put me at centre back and I’ve been playing there since then. I had that competitive hunger to win the ball and was physical, strong, fast and that really helps when you’re up against physical forwards. I enjoy winning the ball back and then giving it to my more creative players to go forward, although in trainings I do love small-sided games when I get to shoot.”
Birnie would continue to be Barry’s coach on a higher stage, taking charge of the New Zealand Under-17 side that made history by claiming the bronze medal at the Fifa U17 World Cup in Uruguay in 2018.
“I loved the age group, it was fun. You meet so many new people. Coming from New Plymouth, I didn’t really know many people in the team as most of the girls were based in Christchurch, Wellington or Auckland, so it was so cool. U17’s was my first time travelling outside of New Zealand and Australia with a football team. We went to Uruguay which was a new experience as well, a very different country to where I’ve been previously and the tournament went really well. We had a great group of girls and we also got along really well off the field as well which helped.”
Barry went on to make her senior international debut for the Football Ferns in 2022, coming off the bench against Japan. Although she missed out on selection for the Fifa World Cup on home shores in 2023, she was selected for the 18-player squad for the Paris Olympics the following year.
Most recently, she was part of the squad that travelled to the Solomon Islands as part of their quest to win Oceanian Football’s one direct spot for the 2027 Fifa World Cup in Brazil. After 8-0 victories against Samoa and the Solomon Islands, the Ferns defeated American Samoa 3-0 in their final game to secure a semi-final spot against Fiji on April 12 in Hamilton.
But before then, the Phoenix is the focus. After the trip to Australia this week, they host Western Sydney, who currently lie in 10th on the ladder on March 29 before an away trip to second-placed Adelaide United on April 3.
“There’s quite a tight turnaround and plenty of travelling, but these last few games are going to determine the outcome. It’s make or break now, it’s super close but I’m feeling pretty confident we can move up a couple of spots hopefully and get some more wins. It’s about consistency and being smart about how we play now. Not conceding and getting goals where we can is really important and would set us up well for the playoffs.”
This story was originally published at Newsroom.co.nz and is republished with permission.