VAFA Big V Women’s coach Paul Groves and his coaching panel have picked a fast, versatile line-up to cross the Nullarbor and take on the Perth Football League at Steel Blue Oval, Bassendean on Sunday July 7. See the full team below.
12 of the 25 players pulled on the Big V last season and Groves is keen to keep developing this core group.
“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,” said Groves.
“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.”
Groves got a preview of his opposition when they played a recent warm-up game.
“Perth Footy League played a game the other week, so we got to scout that and get a bit of an idea of what their forwards do especially and they’re going to pick a team that can run well, so we’re going to try to counter that.
“We’ve gone for more of a running versatile team this year as opposed to a little taller last year.
“A number of girls who played VFLW last year like Jess Joyce & Sarah Cameron have come back into the team. Plus a few girls that weren’t available last year, such as Dakota Villiva from Kew and Taylah Watson from West Brunswick – it’s pretty exciting to have them come into the mix.”
“We feel really balanced. There’s going to be girls that play predominantly midfield for their club team who will go forward or back to grab their opportunity to play for the Big V.
“We’ll need a balance between inside power and outside run. The ability to play multiple roles is a huge advantage in State footy because it gives us options to switch things around and maximise match-ups.”
The balance between youth and experience is another that Groves has focused on, with senior players such as Kate Stanton and Kate McCarthy bringing their AFLW experience to the group.
Current VAFA Premier Women’s league-leaders St Kevin’s have 7 players in the line-up, followed by MUWFC with 5 and Old Scotch with 4.
The final team will be presented with their jumpers at the 2024 Big V Luncheon, to be held on Friday, July 5 at the RACV City Club. See event details here.
The VAFA Big V Women’s team will play the Perth Football League on Sunday, July 7 at Steel Blue Oval in Perth. The match will be live-streamed on VAFA.com.au and KommunityTV.
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