Hawkesby thrives back in the play
From zero minutes in a regular season to playing six full games in a month – Mackenzie Hawkesby said she has no regrets about leaving the WSL and returning to the A-league.
Hawkesby, 23, signed with Brighton & Hove Albion in July last year – just after winning her third title with A-league side Sydney FC.
The midfielder said it was difficult to pack up and leave her family and friends behind – but you don’t turn down an opportunity to play in the WSL.
Hawkesby struggled to break into the side – playing just one cup match in her six months with the club.
“Obviously going into it I knew I wasn’t going to be playing a lot but the environment was unreal over there,” Hawkesby said.
“Their training facilities and training every day full time was good but as a player you need to be playing some game time and I wasn’t really getting that at all.
“As a footballer you just want to play, so I saw a chance to come home and I think it was the right decision.”
While the WSL stint yielded less game time than expected Hawkesby said she still learned plenty from the venture. “A lot of it was resilience,” she said. “It’s not easy to go overseas to play and be away from friends and family and everything but I’ve learnt what it’s like to play overseas and got a taste of the WSL, which is an incredible league.
“I watched some of the best players in the world play and was able to see where I am compared to where I want to be in my career. Technically I’ve been able to improve my game, I took a lot of different things from it and now I’m trying to translate that into the A-league.”
The move certainly got Hawkesby back on the field, with the midfielder playing 90 minutes of all seven games – six of which have been played in the past four weeks.
It was a “shock to the system” that caused plenty of sore muscles but Hawkesby said she was loving it.
“It’s honestly been the best,” Hawkesby said.
“I’ve had a lot of support from Ante (Juric), he’s just been so good with helping me transition into coming back and it feels like I never left.’’
Sydney will play Perth at Leichhardt Oval at 6pm (AEST) on Saturday.