Insight Body & Mind Women’s Match Preview: Royals Chase Four on the Bounce at the Home of the Matildas
A huge thanks to Insight Body & Mind for presenting this weekend’s women’s fixture.
Round 9 sends the Royals Women to the Home of the Matildas in Bundoora on Sunday 19 April to face Melbourne Victory, and this is a squad travelling with genuine tailwind behind them. Three wins on the bounce, a climb to fifth on the NPLW ladder, and a striker in Kelli McGroarty who currently looks incapable of going 90 minutes without hurting someone’s defence. The Royals sit just three points off top side FC Bulleen Lions, which feels a long way from where this side was after the opening rounds.
The run that has reset the season reads: 3-1 at Avondale, 3-2 at Keilor Park, and last weekend’s 5-1 demolition of Melbourne City at Cross Keys Reserve, where McGroarty emptied the clip for four goals in a performance that ranks among the best individual showings the club has had in years. “Machine Gun Kelli” is now on ten goals in seven games, scored in every match since returning from her Round 5 suspension, and she is right in the thick of the Golden Boot race. Beyond her, Mikaela Jurcic has been pinging diagonals from the back like a metronome, Isabella Sewards has grown into a proper threat, Ava Groba keeps setting the pressing tone, and Amy Parkinson has been relentless down the right.
Melbourne Victory are no gimme, though. The A-League club’s entry into NPLW Victoria is the story of the 2026 season across the competition, and while Victory sit ninth at present, they have a game in hand and a record of 3 wins, 1 draw, 3 losses from their seven fixtures. They beat FC Bulleen Lions in Round 1 and have drawn with Heidelberg, so on their day they have shown enough to trouble any side. Playing on their own patch at the Home of the Matildas, on a surface built for football played at pace, they will fancy themselves.
The one flag to watch is in goal. Zara Board missed last weekend with an injury and remains in recovery, which could mean another outing for Sophie Dehne, who stepped in capably for the visit of Melbourne City. Whoever wears the gloves, the defensive platform in front of them has quietly become one of the reasons this side is climbing.
Four wins on the trot would be a just reward for the effort this squad has poured into the last month, and it would keep the pressure firmly on the top four. Get behind them if you can make the trip.
Forza Royals!