It was announced on Thursday that Nairn would captain Victory’s women’s side after a stellar 2015-16 season in the W-League, claiming the Players’ Player of the Year award in May.

The American arrived back in Melbourne two weeks ago coming off a successful season in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) with Washington Spirit where it was on verge of claiming the championship against Western New York Flash in extra-time before a late equaliser eventually saw them lose on penalties.

And after having already played two past seasons with Victory, she now works under new coach Jeff Hopkins who holds vast experience working with Brisbane Roar’s A-League and W-League team, taking over from Dave Edmondson.

Victory have a young squad maturing according to Nairn and believed finals was a realistic goal when her team travels to Adelaide on Sunday to meet the Reds in the campaign opener.

“When I heard Jeff was going to be the head coach, I had players reaching out to me from all over saying ‘you’re so lucky you have Jeff, he’s such a great guy’,” Nairn said.

“He’s such a great coach as well, he breaks everything down, we’re in five days a week, couple of hours we’re doing video and everything is just extremely organised and that’s all you can ask and get better each and every year, I think he’s the right man for the job.

“Our first goal is to make finals and then take every game as we can, try to get points where we can, climb up the ladder and just get better each and every game, our first goal is winning this weekend and then we’re going to go for the finals and keep going.

“The girls have come back hungry, they have a year under their belt and they’re excited to get back together and their eyes aren’t as big anymore, they’ve been there for a year and each and every year we’re going to get better.”

Victory’s inexperienced squad consists of flourishing Young Matildas MelindaJ Barbieri, Annabel Martin and Ashleigh Lefevre who are all away for the AFC U-19 Women’s Championship Qualifiers in Nanjing, China.

The trio will miss this weekend’s opener against the Reds, however the opposition will also miss W-League championship player Alex Chidiac, Grace Abbey and Emily Condon due to Young Matildas call-up.

Barbieri, only 16-years-old claimed Victory’s Young Player of the Year Award this year, while Martin, 18, claimed the women’s Victory medal after dominating the scenes.

Nairn spoke of the continuous improvement made by both players and their eagerness to learn at a young age.

“Last year I think they were happy to be there and this year they are holding the standard, they are the standard,” she said.

“I think it’s just going to be so beneficial for them and their growth as players to play with Victory and getting games, game time and contribute as Mindy did a bunch of times last year and Bell who won a team award in her first W-League season, so that’s huge.

“The more they can realise they’re the big guns on campus, I think the better we’ll do as a team.”

Nairn also spoke of the conveniences behind playing in the NWSL and subsequently W-League with no breaks from football.

She also encouraged more Americans to give the W-League a chance in their careers with just four international places available in each team.

“As soon as the coaches are named for the W-League, once the gates open for us to start talking to coaches, you have so many players emailing and calling,” she said.

“Those four spots are huge and once you have your foot in the door you have to really prove yourself and really show people why you can play as an international because those four spots are huge.

“I mean you ask any American, they want to come down here, play and see what this league is about, I’ve been fortunate enough to be here for three years and I’m looking forward to continue to come back because it’s such a great organisation, they get better each and every year.”