FOLLOWING Gippsland Power’s first ever number one AFLW Draft selection in Ash Centra, a new group of young guns are set to hit the Coates Talent League Girls competition. Boosted by four Vic Country hub members including an Under 16s MVP, coach Nathan Boyd said the squad “bats deeper” than in the past.

PRESEASON

“It’s been really good. I think that third crack at it being very familiar with our region and knowing the girls coming through into the top-age year has made it a lot easier to plan. We’re starting to really see the progress of the Under 16s bottom-age into bottom-age 18s into top-age 18s. Probably put in more work through our training loads than we have over the last couple of years and I think we’ve approached coming close to Round 1 in pretty good shape. We’ve got a really good mix of top and bottom-age girls as well.”

TOP-AGE VIC COUNTRY HUB MEMBERS

Maya Crestani
Ruck | 184cm | 02/08/2007

“Maya’s come through and has just continued to develop from the start of preseason to now. She’s a tall, strong, really, really competitive kid who lacked a bit of polish in her disposal but over the last 12 months we’ve seen her hands and kicking have grown immensely. She’s still one of the most competitive kids out there so she’s going to be one of those rucks who has a bit of grit and grind and we’ve been really impressed with how she’s attacked the preseason from a conditioning sense, but looking at her hands out of contest and her kicking, it’s been real growth.”

Rebecca Fitzpatrick
Midfielder/Forward | 172cm | 31/01/2007

“Fitzy was nominated as our captain, so another year of leadership. She’s the ultimate leader. She’s a leader who trains at the highest level, she prepares at a high standard, she’s the community connection in our group. You see what you’re going to get from Fitzy each week. She’s tough, she’s contested, she’ll put her head in the hole. Wins the footy for her mates, and if she doesn’t then she fights hard to get it back. Preseason’s looked a little bit different for her in the sense that we want to try and work on her kicking and some of those different types of kick and she’s certainly coming along quite nicely. She’s had an uninterrupted preseason which is super.”

Abby Hobson
Tall Forward | 174cm | 11/09/2007

“Abby’s been really powerful in any aerial contests and takes everything. She’s got clean hands, her kicking’s grown and probably off the back of an interrupted end to last year, she’s got herself in really good condition physically. She tested really well and looks really smooth when she’s moving out on the ground. We’ll give her some opportunities ahead of the footy and we might see if we can play her up the ground a bit and play her through the middle and on the wing.”

Ella Stoddart
Tall Utility | 174cm | 30/01/2007

“Ella’s just a naturally gifted footballer, she’s full of energy. The left foot is such a weapon, it’s tough to actually predict or work through where we’re going to play her. I see her playing as a defender and giving us run and rebound, and her growth over the last 12 months has been the defensive side of that. We see that she’s pretty competitive and think she’s going to give us a really good contest. I can see a time where she plays in the midfield and she’s winning the footy and getting it inside 50 and then she’s pretty dangerous in front of goal. She’s not one of those kids that likes to give the ball off if she’s within range she’ll have a look and she’ll have a shot so looking forward to seeing Ella this year as well.”

>> PROFILED: 2025 Vic Country summer hub

OTHERS TO WATCH

“It’s a bigger group with who we think are at the top-end so we maybe lack that real pointy end like we had with Ash (Centra), but we probably bat that little bit deeper. We’ve got girls like Chelsea Sutton whose come through with an uninterrupted preseason and she’s really competitive in the air and pretty electric on the floor. She kicks goals, she’s done really well. Acacia Sutton as well, and we’ve got Lilly Leighton coming back as a 19-year-old. She tests really well and has been training with Collingwood and looks good training with the VFL side and she is ahead of most of our girls through stoppage and midfield work.

OVER-AGERS

“We’ve got a couple, so we’ve got Zahri Burn coming back. Our ruck last year interrupted with a couple of injuries and she’s going to come back and play a role as a defender and a forward so just throw her at both ends of the ground and let her jump at the footy. We’ve got Charlize Dent who played one game with us last year. She’s a 180cm ruck so we’ll give her one more opportunity as a tall, developing player.

“Shanelle Kingston, outside tall basketballer we saw a little bit of growth in her footskills, but her speed and her ability to cover the ground was really, really impressive. We’ve got a first gamer in Tia Jenkins, she’s coming through as a netballer, loves footy, giving it a go for the first time. We’ll see those girls as overagers and the hope is that Zahri and Lilly are off playing VFL footy. And Siena Lane just off the back of shoulder op and a really, really rough year last year will come back and we hope to put her in front of clubs to find her VFL home and potentially move into an AFL club.”

BOTTOM-AGERS

“Bottom-age group are another unique group. You’ve got kids like Grace Dillow and Lily Milner who have been around our programs for a long time and they’ve got great weapons. Grace is one of the best groundball players I’ve coached and Lily in terms of decision making and her foot feel and her ability to use the ball is fantastic. I think the balance we have in terms of our top and bottom-age is really, really nice.

“We’ve got some really experienced girls leading some of the newer girls coming out of our 16s. Really excited by Stella Kittelty, she’s an ex-gymnast. Comes out of the Dusties (Warragul Industrials), watched her play a couple of local games and love the fierceness that she takes to the contest and the speed she has away from the contest. She’s a bit of a surprise packet for me I reckon, will be one to keep an eye on.”

STYLE OF PLAY

“I think from a contest perspective we’re very competitive and combative, we like to be quite physical, sort of nose in the trough and be up for that scrap. I think from an attacking sense, we’ve got some speed on the outside so hopefully we can be really competitive inside defensively and when we win it get it out to the outside and break lines. We’ve got a couple of really strong targets ahead of the footy that we can kick the footy to as well so when it’s going our way, hopefully it’s quick. Hopefully it’s nice and tough and contested on the inside and we’re taking marks inside 50.”

ROUND 1

vs. Dandenong Stingrays
Sunday April 6, 11:00am
Morwell Recreation Reserve