Football
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Melbourne City, Seattle Reign star Jess Fishlock 'nowhere near retiring'

Melbourne City's Welsh wonder Jess Fishlock is unsure whether she'll be back to repeat her heroics in the W-League next season.

But if she does, she's likely to simply play and not combine coaching duties with her on-field efforts after rousing City to the championship from fourth place.

City claimed back-to-back titles on Sunday with a 2-0 defeat of Perth Glory in Western Australia.

Fishlock again scored and was best afield, a week after her goal against premiers Canberra United earned City a Grand Final berth.

City did it the hard way, losing senior coach Joe Montemurro in a club reshuffle midway through a six-game winless streak.

Into the breach stepped Fishlock, who became the first player-coach to win the W-League in the competition's nine-year history.

As she arrived back into Melbourne on Monday, the Wales international was delighted with her side's efforts.

But she couldn't erase the memory of her immediate reaction to City's Grand Final triumph, slumping to the ground rather than leaping in jubilation.

"I was tired," she explained, laughing.

Perhaps that's why she's keen to relinquish senior coaching duties in a bid to extend her stellar playing career.

Fishlock, who has married W-League duties with on-field efforts with Seattle Reign in the US-based National Women's Soccer League, couldn't commit to returning for another season at City.

"I have not decided [about my future]," she said.

"How we figure that out will be determined in talks in the next couple of weeks. I'm nowhere near retiring. I've still got time in these legs."

Fishlock said she understood the magnitude of her personal success as a player-coach.

"It is special. It feels special," she said.

"But I would not have been able to do it without the player and staff group we have."

She said two away finals, including an extra-time win last week, made this year's success better than their 2016 title when City became the first club in Australian history to record a perfect season.

"It made yesterday even more special because it wasn't easy coming from the Canberra game and flying to Perth," she said.

"At 2-0 when you see time ticking down and you're in control, you're just waiting for the whistle to go.

"That's why I fell to the floor. I knew what it took for these girls to achieve what we did."

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