WEST Adelaide has undergone an overhaul off the field, as the Bloods search for a return to the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) Women’s finals series, something that is achievable in 2023 according to captain Madi Russell. The intercept defender said last season was one to forget for the Westies, but conceded there were some unforeseen circumstances on the eve of the season that impacted the on-field results.

“I think last preseason or even going into the season we had a few things that were not foreseen or didn’t know they (players) were going to come back,” Russell said. “A couple of pregnancies and a couple of ACLs. We started off the season rocky and we previously maybe relied too much on our AFL girls coming back into play and I think that key message of being as strong as your weakest player is massive in our team. I think building from the ground up is really important for us, so we’re moving in positively for the season.”

In 2023, former Sturt coach Bruce Dawes has taken over the head coach role from inaugural West Adelaide women’s coach Mark Moody, with a new-look off-field team making tweaks to the structure and tactics. Russell said it had been good to hear new ideas and perspectives over the preseason.

“We’ve been having to learn lots of new structures and I think for a lot of us we’ve only ever had the same coach so I’ve been learning so much in the last two months since we’ve started preseason,” Russell said. “Whole new coaching panel which has been interesting and good and fun, refreshing. It’s been good.”

West Adelaide played off in the 2021 SANFL Women’s Grand Final, going down to Glenelg in the decider. After that breakout season, Russell was appointed Bloods captain, but admitted 2022 did not exactly go to plan. After winning its opening round match – against eventual premiers North Adelaide no less – the Bloods went winless for the remainder of the season, losing 11 straight games to receive the wooden spoon.

“No one wants a season how ours went last year but I think moving on from that this preseason we’ve been working really hard and I think throughout the whole process we’ve really stayed united as a team and as a cohort whether that’s coaching, support staff or players we’ve stayed really tight together,” Russell said.

“I think that’s really helped us and our culture has remained as good as it was two years ago when we were second on the ladder. We’ve just got to work on that on-field stuff and we’ll work hard on preseason and get to where we need to be next year.”

Not only the captain, but also a natural leader in defence, Russell saw plenty of the ball as the Bloods struggled, but knew that her side was still considerably younger than most opposition sides and was still learning to compete at the level.

“Last year was my first year as being captain of the side as well, which obviously was a challenge at any time of year, but it was a really good learning curve I think for me going straight into it,” Russell said. “But leading the side as first year defensive end, it’s not even our defensive end, it’s our whole team is young.

“It’s challenging in some aspects but they do teach us girls a lot as well. In the next two to three years they are going to be our competition and developing them as players as well and they’re teaching us a whole lot along the way as well to get them where they need to be for the next couple of years.”

West Adelaide will be buoyed by the return of teenage SANFL Women’s best and fairest winner and potential top AFL Women’s draft pick, Lauren Young. The 17 year-old returns from an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury that put a line through her 2022 season.

“Obviously she’s a good one, but I know one person doesn’t win a game for the team, it’s been a whole united team effort and I think that you’re only as good as your weakest players,” Russell said. “You’ve really got to build from the bottom up, you can’t just rely on the top, we’ve got to build up from the bottom so that’s been a really key theme this preseason, it’s been good.”

West Adelaide has been focusing heavily on skills, structure and fitness, with the emphasis on building depth in the playing group. As for what the Bloods could achieve, Russell was not taking anything off the table.

“Everyone has their eye on a premiership at the end of the year and definitely a goal we’ll be working towards,” Russell said. “Even from finishing from last season, taking it one step at a time and trying to reach that goal at the end of the thing, rather than taking one big bite and trying to get there all at once. We’ll be aiming for a flag as everyone is, but putting in the steps to make that possible will be massive for us this year.”