Groves piecing Big V Women’s puzzle together

VAFA Big V Women’s coach Paul Groves is excited by the possibilities as he and his coaching panel build their squad for 2024.

“First and foremost, it’s an honour to be able to assist an Association that has meant so much to me in my journey,” says Groves, who coached the Western Bulldogs to AFLW premiership glory in 2018 and is currently an Assistant Coach with Old Melburnians Premier Men’s team.

“When Jason Reddick (VAFA CEO) rang me last year, I started by building an understanding of who’s out there. I learnt that there’s a lot of outstanding talent across all divisions of our competition. Having seen different leagues, there’s no doubt in my mind that we’ve got the best comp under the VFL.”

Groves learned a lot from his inaugural Big V experience in 2023 and is keen to build upon that knowledge in 2024.

“The women certainly take a different approach to the men. They’re inherently keener and more willing to turn up for the Big V – maybe it’s more of a novelty that they’ve had less exposure to through their football journey, given we had so many first-timers.

“And they rightly saw it as a real avenue for higher level exposure and bought in. I wasn’t planning to show much vision, for example, but they asked for more. They really immersed themselves in the experience. It was great.

“And the camaraderie is certainly one piece that we won’t need to work super hard on. They embraced that side really well and this year we add interstate travel away together, so that shared time and experience will add another layer for us.”

Groves and his staff are clear on their expectations from those selected to pull on the coveted Big V jumper.

“I expect the women we pick to embrace the opportunity, immerse themselves in the Big V and what it represents. When you step onto that field, you’ll be representing your family, friends, footy club and people across our competition. We will emphasise that and tap into former Big V players who now live in Perth.

“We want to make it a thoroughly enjoyable weekend away to network with staff and other players you don’t normally get to spend time with. But, at the same time, we’re there to do a job and that will be our primary focus.”

Groves is looking for versatility in his squad.

“We’re looking at players who can play multiple positions. Most of the top-end players tend to be midfielders, but can they also play as a genuine defender, for example?

“Ultimately, we want to reward girls playing exceptional VAFA footy and we’ll try to mould positions and structure around the talent we’ve got. Our core group of leaders are still quite young. We have 5 or 6 who weren’t available last year but will be this year. We’ve also got new teams – Yarra & Monash – up into Premier Women’s, so that provides new top-end talent as well.

“It’s a very competitive squad to get into!”

But Groves expects that his opposition will be more powerful too.

“We’re anticipating that Perth will also have a deeper pool to pick from. They’ve got a few more ex-AFLW players who might make their squad.

“It’s going to make for a fantastic challenge!”

The VAFA Big V Women’s squad will be announced on VAFA.com.au at 2pm on Monday May 27.