Sydney FC shrug off horror week in search of true selves for A-League Women finals | Jack Snape

The Sky Blues – the most consistent club in the A-League Women and defending champions – have spent three weeks pulling themselves together after a calamitous collapse in the final days of the season last month, when two losses handed the premiership to Melbourne City.

The run largely coincided with the recovery of Vine – the team’s leader in goals and assists – and the return of Hawkesby, who had struggled for game time in England.

After discussions with Brighton at the end of last year, Sydney FC paid a transfer fee to bring Hawkesby, who grew up in Wollongong, back home just six months after she had left.

The club’s chief executive, Mark Aubrey, was brought in from outside football in October, after 20 years in the gaming, entertainment, and technology sectors.

Critics suggest the club, with its desirable location, list of honours and large junior catchment, is simply a beneficiary of circumstance.

“The three week break has been good,” Thompson says.” “We took a couple days off after the Victory loss to give everybody some time to reset and then we came back in and you could tell in our training environment, just how hungry everybody is.”