WATCH: MelindaJ 'Mindy' Barbieri talks on joining the Jets

Newcastle Herald

Forward MelindaJ 'Mindy' Barbieri brings plenty of experience to the Newcastle Jets for their 2023-24 A-League season.

Transcript

00:00 Mindy, you were a last-minute signing.

00:03 How did that all come about?

00:05 - Yeah, so it was very unexpected, but it was awesome.

00:10 I do know Gary from the past,

00:12 so we've had quite multiple conversations in the past

00:16 about me potentially coming to Newcastle.

00:19 And one thing led to the other,

00:20 where he picked up the phone,

00:22 I picked up the phone, I answered.

00:23 He said, "Hey, do you wanna come down?"

00:25 I said, "Yeah, why not?"

00:26 I respect him highly as a coach,

00:28 and I think he's fantastic in terms of his ability

00:31 and what he wants to do with not only an individual,

00:34 but the group as well.

00:35 And I think that his values, morals,

00:38 and footballing style really suited me.

00:40 So as soon as he asked, it was a no-brainer.

00:42 And I think a lot of the girls

00:43 have the same kind of feeling towards it.

00:45 - And what are you hoping to get out of the season here?

00:47 - Yeah, I think, like I said, we've all got the same goal.

00:50 We wanna pretty much change the perspective

00:52 of what Newcastle Jets is,

00:53 and we wanna be able to pretty much be that team

00:57 that people come into the game,

00:59 and they're like, "Okay, we've got a real fight on our hands."

01:02 And that's the team we're gonna be.

01:04 We are that team.

01:06 I personally believe, like I said,

01:07 with a new team and new bunch of girls,

01:09 we definitely have a lot of things to work on,

01:11 but unpredictability is probably gonna be our strength.

01:15 - What do you think that you can bring to the team

01:17 and the attack?

01:18 - Yeah, so like I said, I think linking up with Melina

01:20 is gonna be a really big thing.

01:22 I don't have to really get to know her or anything like that.

01:25 So I think that's already one strength,

01:27 bringing into the team.

01:28 Having that connectability is gonna be a massive thing,

01:31 especially going into Western Sydney and so forth and so forth.

01:35 I think that I'm able to just be able to bring my experience.

01:39 I think that was one of the biggest things as well

01:41 when I was talking to Gary about coming here

01:44 was the fact that, okay, let's bring your experience into it

01:47 and let's really get the girls up and going.

01:50 Obviously, we do have young players,

01:51 so confidence is quite a thing

01:54 that I think experienced players can be able to bring them up

01:57 to what we're trying to get to

01:58 and the support and everything like that.

02:00 So maybe for me, like I said, personally,

02:03 I wanna get out of being able to go not one step further,

02:08 but all the way,

02:09 and that's the goal that we have as a team.

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