By Molly Magennis
After two practice matches to help get back into the swing of things, the Williamstown VFLW team is ready to take on Darebin in their round one clash this weekend.
Midfielder Ruby Tripodi said their first practice match against the Saints showed some promising signs, despite the 14-point loss.
“We’ve got a bit of a different look this year in a sense of we’ve gained a fair few new players with a fair bit of experience as well, like we’ve got, for example, Bridie Kennedy who has played AFLW, and you’ve got a few others who have played VFLW for other clubs as well,” she said.
A key focus for the team this season is working on the brand of footy they want to play, Tripodi said.
“That brand is like high pressure, contested territory, and aerial strength, and so we’re using our height as well as having that really high pressure, get things done now kind of mindset rather than sit back and wait,” she said.
“We’ve been really like, trying to drive that and drive that mindset of our brand of footy.”
Coach Penny Cula-Reid has also echoed the sentiment of building a different ‘brand’ of footy, saying that the turnover of players from the last season has really helped to spur on this change.
“With that (change of players) comes a different brand of football that we want to play,” she said.
“It’s really interesting as a coach, it’s sort of like, do we have a game plan and find the players for the game plan or with the players, do we pick the best type of game plan for the playing group that we have?
“For us, it was about making sure….what are our team’s strengths and how do we play our strongest football with what we have. Building a brand of football around our team’s strengths, and then trying to….implement that in two games is going to be a tricky challenge.
“In the glimpses that we did see when we got it right is how good we’re gonna be.”
On a personal level, Tripodi said she wants to focus on her contested footy, which has been something she’s honed in on over pre-season.
“[I’ve] been putting a lot of work in over pre-season to you know, work on that high pressure contested footy, which is a part of our brand and I guess what myself as an inside mid [will] probably be focusing on the most this season,” she said.
With Darebin being another standalone club, Cula-Reid said it’s always nice to play against them in round one.
“As [a] technical standalone club, it’s always really nice to play them in round one because we both feel like it’s a highly winnable opportunity,” she said.
“You know, the sense of excitement about potentially winning our first game, starting the season off with a bang.”
The Gulls will face off against Darebin this Saturday, February 12 from 12pm at La Trobe University, Bundoora.
