Jukic and teammates celebrate one of many MUM FC goals in 2020 *Credit FotoEnzo
Winning is in Katarina Jukic’s blood as much as football is. From playing against two older brothers in a round ball mad household growing up, to battling against the boys in her junior days, and bouncing back from personal adversity in more recent times. It's a will to win which has held her in good stead and that competitiveness reflects well on the driven way she plays the game.
Jukic’s career has had more highs than lows, but she nearly walked away from football completely late last year. In a Women’s Premier League clash with Northern Redbacks she fractured her cheekbone in three places as she pursued a third consecutive Gold Medal for women’s player of the year. The seven week injury put pay to those ambitions and unrelated off-field problems meant she briefly considered her next move in football. But that engrained fighting spirit remained key throughout her recovery and now she is back in the goals and making her mark in the NPLW WA.
That mentality was embedded in her from a young age with Jukic growing up in a football obsessed European home. Luckily for the forward and her siblings, kicking a ball as youngsters was encouraged by her father Ned, even if it was indoors and a few ornaments were lost along the way.
“We used to go all out in the house with tackling each other, it was so competitive,” Jukic said.
“We had a games room which was nearly the size of an indoor pitch with couches at each end for goals. It was the perfect area and we used to play until we were forced to go to bed.
“My mum used to hate it. She would be yelling at us, telling us to stop and dad would answer back to mum for telling us off! We broke so many vases, but as long as we were playing football my dad was happy and didn’t care, so she had to put up with it really.
“My brothers would all go to the park to train most nights and I just wanted to be a part of it. I did everything I possibly could to get better, so he would train me like my brothers and help me improve too. As soon as I first started kicking a ball, I just wanted to grow up playing football.”
Katarina Jukic is enjoying her football again after a frustrating 2019 *Credit @FotoEnzo
Ned’s passion for the game clearly made a positive impact on his children as they all became good footballers in their own right. Kat’s eldest brother Luka was a standout U18s player with Western Knights and even had an offer to trial in England before injuries set him back. His career outside of football became priority after that, although he would eventually return to play with Knights in the future.
Kat’s other older sibling Andrija is better known to fans of Western Australian football. He played the majority of his youth career at Perth Glory before signing with the senior team, where he was part of the squad that played finals for the first time in the A-League era. He has also played locally at NPL level and is currently back at boyhood club Western Knights in State League Division One, as their quest to return to the top flight of semi-professional football in WA continues.
Ned also coached Kat’s younger brother Ante who was teammates with women’s stars Marianna Tabain and Sam Kerr. To this day, he still cheers on Kat at every women’s NPL WA game, but it was the inspiration growing up which made her the player she is today.
“When we were younger my dad had this video tape of Diego Maradona, which he would put on the VCR every public holiday,” she said.
“He was dad’s favourite player, my brothers wanted to be like him and I think he still has that tape sitting around somewhere. He loved Maradona so much, I think because he had such freedom to play beautiful football and took on that mindset of being the stand out player.
“Andrija and I are quite similar I think. We both like to dribble, do tricks, play in that free role and get on the ball. The great recent generation of Croatian players then came through the system and became a massive influence on us as well.
Her older brothers also played an important role in supporting Kat’s development as a footballer, even if on occasions there was an element of tough love to it.
“We all pushed each other in a good way as siblings, but if there was an opportunity for one of us to give the other some stick, it was seen as a chance to drive each other on,” she added.
“In the cup final against Balcatta a couple of years ago I missed a penalty and I didn’t have to tell my brothers it had happened, because as soon as they found out they would not let me forget about it!
“We would come home from school, eat quickly, and then it would be boots on and down to the park. We kicked a ball against this shoulder height brick wall and practised left foot, right foot, inside foot, laces, even toe-poking because sometimes you don’t get the time to weigh it up.
“Then dad would come down to meet us after work and would train us on what we had been doing. But my brothers have always encouraged me, told me to keep going for it, and if it wasn’t for them on occasions I don’t think I would be playing now.”
Having played with her brothers at the Knights she joined East Fremantle to play girls football at age 15. Jukic played in Division Two initially, but didn’t find it competitive enough compared to what she was used to, so stepped up to the Premier Division and that’s where her football took off.
Jukic is the NPLW WA leading scorer with nine goals *Credit @FootballWest YouTube
An opportunity to play in the NTC Senior team came about before her break in the W-League arrived with Perth Glory. Jukic had played in the Women’s Premier League against Glory’s then newly-appointed head coach Nicola Williams, who has since gone on to work with the Young Matildas, Trinidad & Tobago and AC Milan. Williams was keen to sign the forward to her squad and that faith in Jukic’s ability made a lasting impact.
“I was always hopeful of making the Glory setup at some point, but Nicola took the risk and chance on me and I owe her for that. It was so important for my development,” she said.
“I think a lot of people thought I was just a work horse or a bully but she saw the football side in me. Sometimes I’ve maybe cared too much about what people think, which probably effected my game a little, but ultimately when the ball comes out I’m always giving 100% on the pitch.
“I was confident of stepping up because I played with and against many of the girls in the Women’s Premier League. I enjoyed the training rather than seeing it as a challenge, because I thought that was my next natural progression.
“The greater intensity, the step up in quality, the speed of the game, it reminded me of playing against my brothers. And I was playing with Marianna (Tabain) and Sam (Kerr), who I was already really good friends with.”
Along with Glory in the W-League, Jukic also played at Beckenham Angels and Queens Park before moving with several teammates to Murdoch University Melville (MUM FC) at the start of 2020, as the newly formed NPLW WA competition came together for its inaugural season.
It’s been an exciting campaign with six teams currently separated by nine points as the race for Top Four Cup places heats up. MUM FC lost their round one clash at home to Balcatta but are unbeaten since, and they made a statement at the weekend with a 4-1 win in the reverse fixture at Grindleford Reserve, which puts them three points clear of Perth Soccer club at the top with six games to play.
“Having all the games live streamed, and the commentators, it’s been a great step up for the women’s league this year and it’s exciting. It’s building that professionalism and the competition is serious which I know the girls love,” Jukic said.
“The start has exceeded our expectations a little even though I was confident we could give any team a run for their money. The chemistry of our side is good and if anything our start has put a bit of pressure on us to keep winning, but we don’t want to lose that momentum.
“It’s going to be such a tight finish to the season. Plenty of teams have dropped points where we haven’t expected them to and it could be anyone’s game in the finals this year. Every point counts in this shortened season.”
Jukic herself has had a successful start to 2020. She currently leads the race for the Golden Boot with nine goals in her first eight games, including a run of scoring in the first five fixtures of the campaign. She puts that down to a strong relationship with fellow attackers Ellie LaMonte and Stacey Learmont and having a good blend of experience and youth at the club.
Jukic scores with her head in Round One *Credit - @FootballWest YouTube
“Stacey and I read the game in similar ways because we’ve played together for so long. She is aware of what I want to do and vice-versa and she’s so selfless with her runs to open up space,” Jukic added.
“With Ellie, she took time to find her feet, but having played with her for the last few years she has improved so much and this has been her best season.
“Those relationships are something that naturally forms with trust. Our coach Pete (Rakic) also allows us the freedom of interchanging as a front three, but we still have that responsibility and understanding of the game plan he sets.
“The young players have been important too. Charli (Wainwright) is such a talent and has a lot of potential, but just needs to find that confidence in her game, while Poppie (Hooks) brings so much energy and a fearless approach which is great. It’s exciting to see them develop and to have the opportunity to help them improve.”
Events of the past year have freshened Jukic’s passion towards the game. There’s a nice symmetry forming as she looks to help guide the next crop of young women’s footballers coming through the system, akin to the way in which father Ned taught her about the world game, but for now she’s excited about rest of the season with MUM FC and is hopeful of staying in the game beyond her playing days.
“I’m probably coming towards the end of my career, but staying injury free and playing the best I can is my main target. I’m in a good headspace now where I just want to play football and have fun,” she said.
“I would love to be involved in coaching once I’ve finished playing. Helping the younger girls and giving them advice as a senior player gives me such a buzz. At this stage, I think I prefer the mentoring side and assisting with the one-on-one stuff, but I’d never rule anything out.”