Nicki Flannery is on the substitutes bench with her head in her hands. It is the 34th minute of Canberra United’s match against Adelaide United in the 2018-19 W-League season. Former Canberra striker Michelle Heyman is kitted out in red and yellow, facing the club she had represented for almost 10 years. The narrative of betrayal quickly unfolds as Heyman crosses for teammate Veronica Latsko to score the opening goal.
Just after the half-hour, Flannery sends a shot high and wide of the far post. It hasn’t been the young winger’s best match, but it is still early and she needs to find her rhythm. A minute later, her jersey number flashes up in red on the substitution board. She bursts into tears before she reaches the bench.
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That game has stayed in Flannery’s memory, lingering like smoke after a house fire. The official reason given for the substitution was unclear, but many who watched Flannery in that moment, curling up on the plastic seat and hiding her face from view, felt that her time at Canberra was coming to an end.
“That was definitely one of the toughest moments in my career,” the 22-year old told Guardian Australia. “I’m obviously not that old, but that was a really challenging thing to swallow. These things happen, though, and they’re little tests; you have to overcome them.
“I never want to feel like that again, nor do I ever want one of my teammates to feel like that. It was definitely one of the hardest things to get through, but two days later, I went and trained my ass off. I tried my hardest. You’ve got to keep going; you surprise yourself as to how strong you can be if you just keep going.”
Flannery signed with Newcastle Jets the following season. She was one of several Canberra players who left the club between 2017 and 2019, scattering across the rest of the league as United dipped in form and fortune. She is also one of the players who has returned to the club this season, drawn back to the place she and many others, including Heyman, Grace Maher and Kendall Fletcher, have always called “home”.
After dominating the W-League for the first half of the 2010s, the club slowly became a shadow of its former self. Where it had been known as a greenhouse for nurturing future Matildas over several seasons, the squad began to be regularly overhauled. Playing styles were confused and inconsistent. Fans were disillusioned, players unsatisfied. A reset was needed. The pandemic, which forced all W-League clubs to turn inward, presented Canberra with the opportunity to do just that; to return to who and what they were.
Now, it appears to be working. Heyman, Canberra’s talismanic striker, announced her return with a hat-trick against her now-former side Adelaide in round one. Flannery – who helped hand Melbourne City their first ever defeat in 2017 – scored the winner against them in stoppage time in round two. Maher, who was held in high regard before fading somewhat at Victory, equalised against Brisbane with a half-field goal of the season contender in round three.
Flannery’s performances have been particularly emblematic of United’s “homecoming” narrative. Her goal against Melbourne Victory on Sunday afternoon – a fizzing counter-attack where she sliced in behind Claudia Bunge to receive a pass and slot across the goalkeeper with her second touch – was the goal of a player experiencing the kind of confidence and freedom that comes from being back where she belongs; the football she was known for before that tearful afternoon in Adelaide.
“We all want to put in for each other,” Flannery said. “That’s something I know I experienced here a little while ago; it’s really just finding the right people and bringing them together.
“It’s such a proud moment to step out onto the field again. Just to be around this team and Vicki [Linton, head coach], we were welcomed back like we never left. That’s something Canberra has been known for: how much of a community value there is to the club, including the fans, the players, the staff. It’s an honour to play alongside people you’ve grown up playing with or are aspiring to be.
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“It’s so nice having players know you and know how to get the best out of you. Vicki has done so well in understanding every one of us as individuals, as different players with different personalities, and allowing us to bring that out on and off the field.
“A couple of my ex-teammates have said, ‘you’re starting to play like you again’, which is such a refreshing thing to hear. The injuries were the hardest thing to push through; it’s inevitable in football, but having people say that, it means a lot. You just feel valued and trusted and believed in, and that’s something really powerful, especially in women’s sport.”
