From long-term injury to final-minute assist, the beginning and end of 2025 were very different for Melbourne Victory’s Sienna Techera.
The teenager linked up with the A-League Women’s team ahead of last season, only for a spell on the sidelines to close off opportunities until a first match day squad appearance when Brisbane Roar visited AAMI Park in April.
It was then a case of keeping her head down during the off-season, putting in the hard yards for Box Hill United. Across eight matches, she netted five times for Pythagoras as they won the NPLW Victoria Championship.
Elevated by this experience, boosted by the individual and collective achievement, Techera earned her First Team break on the opening weekend of the 2025/26 season.
Speaking to MelbourneVictory.com.au, the winger looked back on, again versus the Roar, this time, making her way off the bench.
“I think the first word that comes to mind is surreal. It is a dream come true to play for your childhood club, something you grew up supporting and watching every weekend. Being able to get on the pitch with the girls, actually play, make an impact in the league, in the team and be around it was just surreal for me.
“Obviously, as a team, it wasn’t the result we wanted. Personally, the emotions were crazy. It was a mix of nervous, scared, excited, happy – everything at once. You build your whole life for that one moment.”
With a taste of ALW action, Techera has taken flight, making a further seven appearances before the end of the year for the Girls in Blue.
Although with all of these being as a substitute, there is no time to stand still. The journey is just getting going.
“The debut was really just the starting point. And I think having those emotions and feelings that really just set the tone for the rest of the season, because you’re only feeling emotional about something that you’re very passionate about.
“Now it’s just uphill from here. Every game that I come on, I remember the first time standing on the side coming on in that Brisbane game, that feeling, and I harness that now into every game that I play.
“Every day, it is just striving to be better and improving; that’s just been the highlight for me. It’s just continuing to progress and knowing that the sky’s the limit.”
And there is no better mentor for Techera or any Women’s player than Victory’s Head Coach, Jeff Hopkins, the competition’s most successful boss.
“He’s an amazing coach, he’s one of a kind. You never think as a kid that your dreams will actually come true, and then they do, and Jeff is a big part of that dream. Being able to be coached by him, learn from him and all his experience and wisdom, it is something very rare. I’m very lucky to have experienced it and still be experiencing it.”
In eight Victory outings, precisely half have ended in wins, with the 19-year-old adding fresh legs and energy in the closing stages of matches where any slip in concentration could be decisive.
But perhaps Techera’s most recent impact, away to Central Coast Mariners, should be recorded as her most notable.
Introduced for the final 25 minutes, Victory were trailing by three in their third away fixture across eight days over Christmas. Even at the end of regulation time, the deficit remained.
Then, in a stoppage-time salvage, the visitors hauled themselves level. Box Hill United teammates Rhianna Pollicina and Sofia Sakalis netted before Techera, when the moment called for cool heads, cued up Ella O’Grady’s dramatic equaliser.
“Looking back, it was probably the craziest game of my career. I’ve never been involved in a game where we scored three goals in five minutes.
“It’s a testament to the depth that we have in our team. Being able to come on and really make an impact, and then obviously change a result from potentially getting no points to getting a point, was the real highlight that day. It just shows that Victory, as a team and as a squad, are never beaten and never says die until the last whistle blows.
“I can tell when Courtney’s (Newbon) winding up for a big kick, so I knew it was coming to me, had to judge it in the air, had to win the contest over my full back, and I won it. As soon as I turned, I saw Ella making the run. I thought Ella is probably one of the fastest girls on this planet. Let’s kick it forward, let’s see if she can run on to it, and she did.”
Next up for the A-League Women’s team is the hosting of eighth-place Brisbane at the Home of the Matildas this weekend.
Before going against an opponent who seems a constant in Techera’s story, she reflected on being injured a year ago and how this challenging period has set her up for everything she has faced since.
“I think that taught me a lot mentally. It built my character a lot, because I had to compete and fight for maybe a spot that wasn’t going to open up, but I still did it, and I think that’s what’s got me to this spot.
“Today, being able to look back now, and be in a completely different position, is just a testament to if you stick around and work hard, then good things will come.”
