In their first year under the Magpies banner, the former Thornton Redbacks team went from cellar dwellers to fifth, claimed the Women's State Cup trophy and 16-year-old Bronte Peel one of their hugely talented teenagers was named the Herald WPL youth player of the year.

IN THE NEWS

Peel finished fifth on the goal scoring table with 10 goals. Her teenage teammate Mercedes McNabb rounded out the top 10 with seven.

Inaugural coach Keelan Hamilton and the team exceeded all expectations, but Walker believes it's just the beginning of greater things.

Walker had been earmarked by the Magpies to take over from Hamilton, but the 2021 coach was poached by NPLM team Lake Macquarie for the 2022 season.

"I guess it was always the plan for me to move across, but with Keelan taking on another opportunity it came around sooner I had expected," he said.

Walker, who has been coaching in Magpies NPL Youth program, has been coaching for 13 years, eight of those with female teams.

"I've coached from six-year-old girls as a Dad through to adult women," he said.

"This is certainly my first opportunity at, if you like, a professional level, but I think the skills from the Premier League Youth and the experience in the female space of sport will certainly help us achieve what we want to, which is to really build upon the foundation of Keelan and the team put together last year.

"They are a great group of committed women not only to their own individual football aspirations but to a very good team environment. They are all about building the team, women's football and the club."

Walker said the club had retained most of last year's squad and they would look to recruit where needed to boost the team.

But he said a huge amount of improvement will just come from the youth of the team having had a year of first grade football under their belt.

"I believe one of the statistics was that the average age of the team was 20 with eight of those being teenagers," he said. "It is an extremely young squad, if you take in we've got a lot of 16-year-old girls playing first grade.

"For one of those younger girls in Bronte Peel to be acknowledged as youth player of the year by Northern NSW Football is a testament to that. There are other excellent performers who are also just 16 in that squad.

"Not to take away from the more senior players in the group who are helping shape and guide those young women.

"You say senior but really they are only a few years older than the teenagers in the side, it's just that they've been around at this level for a few years now.

"Players like Sophie Stapleford, Lisa Cochrane and the like are helping shape the younger girls."

Walker acknowledged there was a substantial gap last season from the top two teams Broadmeadow Magic and Newcastle Olympic to the rest of the competition but Maitland was well placed to start bridging the gap.

"I think that building from fifth spot where we were last year is certainly where we want to step from," he said.

"It's certainly a challenge to go from fifth to first but to be able to take a step and be in that top four is certainly the first goal, even potentially the top three.

"I believe the key to those top two is the blend of experience and youth and that is something Maitland has shown with the men's NPL success this year."

Maitland starts pre-season training in the next two weeks.

"There will be a small break for Christmas but even then the players are wanting programs to be able to train and work on themselves in that period," Walker said. "There's no shortage of commitment from them."