Penrith local Bryleeh Henry enjoyed her first season in the W-League so much that she’s coming back for more.
The Werrington Downs resident, who recently signed a new one-year deal with the Western Sydney Wanderers, joined the club last season after making waves in the NSW National Premier League Women’s competition with Football NSW Institute where she scored seven goals in 10 games.
The 18-year-old former Xavier College student shone in her first W-League season and scored her first goals, a double against Melbourne City, towards the end of the season.
Wanderers W-League coach Catherine Cannuli said she’s excited to work with Henry again.
“Bryleeh is a dynamite on the field and her hard work over in the domestic competitions over the last few years has seen her reap the benefits in the W-League,” she said.
“She is a passionate western Sydney girl and has a wealth of talent that we are looking forward to continuing to develop.”
Henry, who was a member of the Junior Matildas back in 2019, said she was grateful for the chance to return to Wanderland for another season.
“I was beyond grateful for the opportunity to make my debut in the W-League last season and even more grateful to make it at my hometown club,” she said.
“I love the Wanderers. They are a family-based club and really take care of their players. The culture at the club is one I have never experienced before and having such an amazing culture really makes training every day so much more enjoyable.”
The Wanderers missed out on a spot in the W-League Finals last season, finishing in sixth position with just four wins to their name. In June, they promoted club legend Catherine Cannuli as the team’s head coach.
Henry said she’s ready to help to take the Wanderers to a Finals berth this upcoming season.
“I learnt so much and I felt I grew massively as a player and a person [last year],” she said.
“I know I still have a lot of work to do as a player to get where I want to be but I’m extremely excited to start working under Catherine and keep building from last season.
“We were so unlucky to just miss the Finals stage last season, which was disappointing, but we will build off that and pick up where we left off and keep improving to hopefully bring the trophy home.”
The 2021/22 W-League season is scheduled to kick-off on November 12.
Nathan Taylor
Nathan Taylor is the Weekender's Deputy Editor and Senior Sports Writer. He also compiles the weekly Chatter on the Box TV column. Nathan is an award-winning journalist, who has worked at the Weekender for a decade.