Latest news with #ChloeCraig
BBC News
4 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Celtic aim to 'right the wrongs' of trophyless season
Chloe Craig says Celtic need to "get the fans back on board" as they look to "right the wrongs" of last season in the new SWPL 2024-2025 season was a bitterly disappointing one for the then defending champions as they finished fourth - 15 points behind table-topping Hibs - and failed to win a domestic missed the majority of the campaign after suffering an ACL rupture last September, but the centre-back believes if Celtic "block out the noise" they can return to the heights of previous years despite some notable summer departures."It's been good to get the girls back in and try and make the wrongs right," Craig said."I think it's just about taking the pressure off ourselves. We've not got any pressure on us this season."Of course, Champions League was a big thing for us in terms of the amount of games we played. That's something we don't really have this season and can use to our advantage domestically. But for us, in previous seasons, we've won trophies, we've won the league."It's just about getting that fire back in the belly to go and redo it."I think there's been a lot of noise around the club with either fans or people not liking where it's going or what's happening, stuff like that."So for us, it's proving that we are Celtic, we are good, we're still the club that have won trophies previously."The 31-year-old felt some of last season's woes could be attributed to a lack of experience of being the hunted rather than the hunter. And with women's football developing at a sharp rate, reminding themselves no game is easy is paramount to being added: "When you compare the team now to the team we won the league with it's completely different."But people that come into the team know that they're not just playing for any club, they're playing for Celtic so they know that comes with pressure and high standards."With how the seasons have been going previously, you can't take any game lightly. Every team is good and they'll hit you with surprises in their own ways. "It's just us getting our heads down and trying to get the fans back on board."
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Chloe Craig: We are all raring to go for league opener against Hearts
As we enter the second week of August, the new SWPL season is now almost upon us with the opening fixture of the campaign quickly approaching. The Ghirls kick-off the 2025/26 campaign this Sunday, with a trip to the capital on the horizon as the Hoops take on Hearts at the Oriam. With the start of the new season coming this weekend, clubs from across the SWPL attended a league season launch event, speaking to all different forms of media to look ahead to another campaign getting underway. In attendance for the Hoops was defender Chloe Craig, who also spoke to Celtic TV at the event to preview the Celts' opening fixture Although the centre-back won't be in action for the first game of the new season, it is a campaign which she is looking forward to getting underway as she edges closer to her return each day. Reflecting on the hard work in pre-season, Craig admitted that the entire squad are raring to go as they aim to bounce back from last season. She said: 'It's been a long pre-season. But it's a pre-season that we have been working to right the wrongs of last season. 'So, it's been really beneficial for us, and we are excited to get it going on Sunday.' "I think it's important for us to have the season come around this quick, because of the season that we had. 'Obviously, we know it wasn't the best season we could have had. So, to get back into it and into the grind, trying to correct those wrongs. 'That is what you look forward too and you need, so that your main focus is getting back to the right ways.' It has been a busy few weeks for the Celtic squad, with much of their preparations taking place at Barrowfield. The Ghirls also spent some time on a training camp in Newcastle over the past week, with plenty of hard work going in, on and off the pitch. Craig believes that time away will be hugely beneficial for the Hoops, and has been the ideal preparation for their opening fixture in the capital. The defender also insisted that she cannot wait to see the Celtic fans turn out in support once more. 'The workshops and the team work that we done in Newcastle behind the scenes was really big for us,' she said. 'We have definitely taken a lot from that time away. That has just made us raring to go for the week ahead, preparing for the opening game against Hearts. 'It will be a hard first game. I've said in previous interviews that you can't take any team lightly. Every team comes with their surprises, and that includes us. 'But it's about doing what is right for us and focusing on ourselves and sticking to our game plan on the day.' 'We all can't wait to be back out and seeing the fans. It's been a long time since we have seen them. 'Even with the way they have supported me. I can't wait to have that opportunity to give back to them and also hear and see them chant in the stands.' Join the Journey - Season tickets avaliable now With the 2025/26 campaign set to get underway, the support of the Celtic faithful will be as important as ever. First up is an away visit to Hearts, but soon follows the Hoops' first home outing of the season against Hamilton Accies at New Douglas Park on Sunday, August 24. And you can play your part as Elena Sadiku's side aim to make a strong start to the season, with season tickets avaliable to buy online Hearts Women Vs. Celtic Women - Sun, Aug 17th 2025, 13:00
ABC News
19-07-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Leinster residents hope for restart after closure of BHP nickel mines
Chloe Craig wants to give her daughter Haylee the same childhood she experienced growing up in a mining town described as an "oasis in the desert". Leinster was established in vast bushland about 970 kilometres north-east of Perth during Western Australia's 1970s nickel boom. It was built for workers and their families in the days before fly-in, fly-out work rosters became standard practice in the resources sector. Ms Craig's family moved to WA's northern Goldfields in 1991 and lived on a pastoral station, before settling in the "closed town" of Leinster. "It's a great lifestyle … I've grown up here, now she's growing up here," she said of Haylee. "The freedom she gets out here is second to none and not a lot of kids get it these days. "It definitely isn't the same as when I grew up — there was a lot more kids and a lot more freedom … you came home when the lights came on." A year ago, that lifestyle appeared to be under threat. The moment Leinster locals hoped would never come arrived in the form of a major announcement to the stock exchange on July 11, 2024. BHP's decision to suspend Nickel West originated from the mining giant's global headquarters in Melbourne and filtered through the ranks of the nickel bosses in Perth's St George's Terrace. "Everyone's heart sank, it was the unknown," Ms Craig said. "It was massive for the town. At the time it was horrible." The town's population halved, virtually overnight, as workers either took redundancies or were redeployed within BHP. "Not on Christmas Day, but leading up to it and afterwards, there were removalist trucks everywhere and people leaving left, right and centre," Chloe's partner Harry Reynolds said. "We thought we were safe out here for a long time, we thought nickel was all good. "Then all of a sudden, they shut the doors." BHP estimates the population at Leinster has fallen from about 600 people to 220. West Australian law prohibits BHP from simply walking away from Leinster. Under the Nickel (Agnew) Agreement Act 1974, which was approved when Sir Charles Court was premier, the Big Australian is legally bound to provide water and power to the town site. It is also required to provide housing for police, education and medical staff for the town. Workers who live permanently in Leinster enjoy heavily subsidised housing and free utilities. Any change of the status quo requires state parliament's approval. The most recent update, in 2023, required BHP to prepare a community development plan, including "proposed strategies for community and social benefits" and to review its mine closure plans. It was the modernisation of the five-decade-old state agreement which gave Ms Craig's father, Peter, hope for the future amid major investment by BHP in an Australian-first nickel sulphate plant. That addition to Nickel West's Kwinana refinery was expected to produce enough nickel sulphate crystals to make 700,000 electric vehicle batteries each year. "When you see mining companies spending money, it gives you a sense of security," Mr Craig, the long-serving president of the Shire of Leonora, said. "Leinster was moving pretty fast for a two, three-year period, and nickel was pretty steady until the bombshell hit with Indonesia." Indonesia's emergence as a globally significant, low-cost nickel producer caught Australian producers off guard and changed market dynamics. The result was at least 10 nickel mines closed across WA last year, from the Savannah mine in the Kimberley to the Ravensthorpe mine on the south coast. The impact is magnified in the one-pub town of Leinster, where sombre celebrations are being planned for the town's 50th anniversary next year. "It's been a huge downturn in the population of Leinster, around 50 per cent if not more," Mr Craig said. He had been calling for answers leading up to the suspension announcement after months of speculation, during which he said the community was kept in the dark. The question on everyone's lips is whether the Leinster nickel operations will ever restart. "Who knows what the future is?" Mr Craig said. BHP has committed to reviewing its Nickel West business again in early 2027, which not only includes the Leinster operations but the Kalgoorlie nickel smelter and Kwinana refinery. BHP vice-president of WA nickel Dan Heal said about 350 of the 3,500-strong workforce has stayed on at Nickel West, including about 150 in the northern Goldfields at Leinster and Mount Keith. He would not say whether Nickel West would be put up for sale, but confirmed the Perseverance underground mine at Leinster was being maintained "in a state that keeps our options open for the future". "It's very early stages of our review and what comes next for nickel," Mr Heal said. Those options could be limited by low nickel prices which are expected to last towards the end of the decade. Members of Leinster's small business community who have invested heavily in the town's future are taking a glass half-full approach. Mathew Read manages a mechanical business, after moving to the town from New Zealand during the pandemic. "It's sad to see the town reduced to a small size," he said. "I'm not so sure if it will reopen or not … they're [BHP] spending a lot of money on the place, but whether it reopens or not I am not too sure. "We'll remain here in Leinster, we've definitely got a few years left here, as long as the town stays open, we'll be here for a long time yet." Tim Fletcher has worked in Leinster since 2011, and now runs his own electrical contracting business. "Long-term, I think it's going to be OK … I've got a positive outlook in regards to Nickel West," he said. Santina Morelli has lived in Leinster for eight years with her husband, who works at the nearby Agnew gold mine. Her home decor business sells everything from baby clothes to household items but she has been supplementing her income by working part-time at the local supermarket. "It's a ghost town during the day … it's very quiet," Ms Morelli said. "You don't see the children running around having fun like we used to. "There's quite a few families still in town — we've got 60 children in the school, but there was 120 before the shut down, so quite a few have left town." She volunteers for St John Ambulance and hopes to stay in Leinster until retirement in the coming years. "We love the lifestyle — it's not an easy lifestyle, but it's a simple one," Ms Morelli said. "Definitely hopeful [the mines will reopen] … we ask questions and 2027 is when we'll get the answer." Ms Craig and Mr Reynolds have no desire to move. "I've got no plans to leave … I want to be out here as long as possible," Mr Reynolds said. Ms Craig said she would wait to see what the future brought. "A lot of us who have stayed behind have young kids and we're happy to stay if the mine reopens," she said.
