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Oz Blog Interview: Central Coast Women Goal Machine Michelle Heyman

A change of team is proving just the thing for W-League striker Michelle Heyman, writes Goal.com's Fiona Crawford.

Nov 25, 2009 12:37:07 AM

Michelle Heyman, Central Coast Women (Getty Images)

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Michelle Heyman, Central Coast Women (Getty Images)

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Scoring an impressive 10 goals in eight games, including a hat trick in round seven, has made the W-League’s leading golden boot contender Michelle Heyman the player to watch.

She’s already surpassed last season’s golden boot winner Leena Khamis’ season total seven goals and out-scored experienced Matildas strikers Sarah Walsh and Lisa De Vanna.

But it’s perhaps her change in form that’s most interesting.

Heyman’s W-League career kicked off with Sydney FC in season one but she finished the season frustratingly without having scored a single goal. She changed to the Central Coast Mariners in the off-season and, like the team itself, Heyman has exploded out of the blocks.

"They’re a good family bunch and everyone gets along," she tells Goal.com, before going on to pay tribute to the international players who’ve joined the Central Coast’s ranks.

"They’ve helped everyone in our team really well. They’re more tactical than us, they communicate really well, and have taught us a lot.

"Goalkeeper Jill [Jillian Loyden] is amazing. I’ve never seen a player like her. She’s the second keeper at her club [in the US] and trains with the US number one keeper."

Transformed | Heyman didn't score once at Sydney

Indeed, Heyman agrees that the international players who’ve joined the Central Coast and other W-League teams have really raised the bar, expanding the league tactically, providing quality service, and encouraging the Australian players to develop.

Heyman laughs when I comment that they aren’t over here for a holiday then.

"No," she says, "they’re all about the football."

They’re also encouraging Heyman and her team mates to head over to try their luck in the Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) league in the US.

Leading the golden boot race and talking of playing overseas must sound slightly surreal to 21-year-old Heyman, who came to football relatively late. She started playing at age 11, largely because her uncle was the coach, and only realised football was a serious career option two years ago.

Fast forward those two years and she’s scored 10 goals in eight games, is five goals clear of her nearest golden boot rivals, and her team is now sitting both on top of the table and on a five-match undefeated streak.

Hearing that list, Heyman concedes that she’s "pretty pleased" to have achieved her season two aim of scoring at least one goal. I say that she should be more than "pretty pleased".

So how many goals are enough? Or are there never enough? Heyman laughs again and says she’s "just going to keep trying. I think I’ve missed over 100."

Really? Well, she says, "I’ve missed more than I’ve scored. I’m never pleased with myself if I don’t score, because that’s my job."

Clearly she’s doing a good job.

US Calling | Does an overseas move beckon?

Heyman says she feels fitter and stronger in season two and has really clicked with her team mates. "Everybody fights for each other, everybody wants to win, and nobody wants to back down," she says.

So does she feel any pressure now that the Central Coast are top of the table?

"There’s no pressure on us at all," she says. "I think Brisbane had all the pressure because they won it last year. All our girls were watching the computer screen with the live score updates," she says, referring to Roar Women’s shock draw with bottom-ranked Adelaide United last weekend, which saw the Central Coast claim the ladder lead.

The Central Coast meet Newcastle Jets this weekend, who’ve been sharing the bottom of the table with Adelaide. It’s an almost identical match up to the one that tripped up the Roar, but Heyman says the Central Coast have learned from the Roar’s lessons.

"We would never underestimate them," she says of Newcastle. "We want to try to keep up the hard work and try to finish the game with the three points."

Something tells us the Central Coast will finish up with the full three and Heyman herself will finish with the golden boot.

Fiona Crawford, Goal.com

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