Kyra Cooney-Cross stepped up to another level last season and the teenager looks capable of taking the A-League Women by storm again.
Cooney-Cross, 19, starred in 2020/21, her winner direct from a corner in the Grand Final against Sydney FC helping Victory secure the Championship.
Such were her performances, Cooney-Cross finished tied for second for the Julie Dolan Medal, alongside Emily Gielnik and behind only Michelle Heyman.
Cooney-Cross scored six goals and provided four assists in 14 games in a standout campaign.
She was equal fifth in the league for goals scored, equal fourth for assists, first for chances created (41) – nine more than any other player, third for shots (38) and first for crosses (82).
Cooney-Cross burst onto the scene as a 15-year-old for Victory in 2017 and, after two seasons, joined the Western Sydney Wanderers.
The attacker went up a level in 2019/20, scoring four goals and providing three assists in 13 games.
And on her return to Victory, Cooney-Cross went to another level again last season.
With a Championship-winning goal alongside her name, Cooney-Cross made her Commonwealth Bank Matildas debut earlier this year.
Cooney-Cross is already capped nine times by Australia, having featured in every game at the Tokyo Olympics as the Commonwealth Bank Matildas finished fourth.
She helped form one of the A-League Women’s best attacks last season, combining with Melina Ayres, Catherine Zimmerman and Lisa De Vanna.
Cooney-Cross, Ayres and Zimmerman are all back as Victory aims to defend the Championship in 2021/22.
Zimmerman, 27, is the oldest of the group, but the trio combined brilliantly last season to form one of the league’s best attacks.
With the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand also on the horizon, Cooney-Cross will be keen to continue impressing.
Fresh from her heroics of last season, the Victory star will be one of the must-watch players in the A-League Women this upcoming campaign.
