The World Cup starts this weekend and a number of our Arrive Alive Women’s Premier League stars are off to cheer for The Socceroos in South Africa.

Will that have any effect on their respective teams during their absence? That’s a question that will be answered starting Sunday when the Arrive Alive Women’s Premier League moves into Round 12 of the competition.

At ELS Hall Park the NWS Koalas host competition leaders the Illawarra Stingrays.

The Koalas come into this match on the back of successive wins; a 5-1 victory over Inter Lions and a 7-0 win over Southern Branch. Those two wins would certainly have given The Koalas some heart after a fairly miserable start to the season. They’ve now snuck up the ladder to be five points out of fourth place; a seemingly difficult gap to rein in but, should they keep winning, anything could happen. A match with the 2009 Premiers does provide a test of the home side’s mettle though; are they up to causing an upset?

The Stingrays have ten wins and a draw from their 11 matches this season. Like all champion sides they’ve managed to come up with the goods even in the most difficult of matches. They’ve had their share of injuries but Illawarra are blessed with a bevy of talented players who have been able to cover the gaps when one of their number has been relegated to the physio’s table. This week they may be stretched a little further though with the irreplaceable Michelle Carney on her way to South Africa for the World Cup. The Stingrays have their fingers crossed that striker Ash Connor will be back from injury to help steady the ship.

The Illawarra Stingrays without Michelle Carney? Isn’t that like a banana smoothie without bananas? Whilst I respect NWS Koalas recent resurgence but The Stingrays look to have too many big guns for mine. The Stingrays to win.