GREATER depth, buy-in and a hunger to be more competitive has the Sandringham Dragons ready to make an impact in the 2025 Coates Talent League Girls season. Coach Martha Cantwell is pleased with how the preseason has gone, and is excited about what the squad can accomplish this year.

PRESEASON

“We’re really happy with preseason just overall. We’ve got a couple new members to the squad that are very new to the program who have fit in really well. The group itself feels really connected and just in terms of the vibes from a culture standpoint, it’s really nice feel around the club and I feel like we have a lot of girls who have really bought in this year and probably just in terms of overall just like our bottom-end, we have better depth amongst the groups. We have more girls with ability to compete overall which we’re pretty happy with.”

TOP-AGE VIC METRO HUB MEMBERS

Sienna Sharp
Tall Utility | 177cm | 30/09/2007

“Sienna is our captain, she’s been voted in by her peers. Staff and coaches look at that too, but it was so strong the vote in her favour and again that’s just the relationship and the influence she has on the girls around her. She’ll play as a key forward this year. We had her down back last year and that was just due to other top-agers, depth and then just getting a little bit of versatility to her game knowing that she would only play forward this year for us anyway. She’s had a really good preseason, really consistent. She had a syndesmosis last year, so the way that she went about her rehab and getting back on track, I just don’t think she’s missed a beat. She’s been so consistent and it’s obviously paid off her. We’re just hoping for continued growth throughout the season.”

Macy Watkins
Midfielder | 172cm | 24/05/2007

“Macy doesn’t miss a beat, she’s put in so much work, even away from the club just to get better with her craft skill wise but even in the gym and all those sorts of things. She’s trying to really take that whole complete look to try and get better. She’s our vice-captain … she leads really, really well on and off the field. She’ll play midfield for us this year. The thing we’ve been working on is trying to get her play more of an offensive game. I think last year when we brought her into the midfield, she automatically went into the ‘I can do the defensive stuff, I’ll tackle and let others shine’ but we’re really trying to encourage her to take the game on from the get-go. From a skills point I think her work inside and her hands to get it out is what’s most impressive. I think she should be really confident in her game and her preparation.”

>> PROFILED: 2025 Vic Metro summer hub

OTHERS TO WATCH

“Another one that I’ve spoken to everyone about that I’m just surprised she’s not amongst radars yet. There’s a girl called Amy Smith, she’s brilliant. She’s done a bit of work in the off-season, she’s had a couple of little setbacks like little niggles and injuries but I think she’ll be flying from Round 1. She’ll play inside mid for us, she’s played wing historically. She’ll also be able to play off half-back. Her kicking ability and her game sense and awareness are her best traits. Just sees the game, opens up the game, understands it. I’m super pumped what her season will look like, she’s a great player.”

OVER-AGERS

“We’ve got Kera Galaminda Gellar but she’s recovering from an ACL so she won’t be on the track for a while. She’s still going through her rehabilitation. Really, really hopeful in the backend of the year we can get her involved so she’s still going through that at the moment. Last year we were super keen as an 18-year-old just based on her preseason and what she was showing overall, but unfortunately she’ll be a few months out.

“But then we have Ash Patton, really excited to work with her. She’ll start the year with us and then it will be an ongoing relationship with us and Zebbies (Sandringham Zebras) because it will be really good for her to play some senior footy too. She’s only been at our club for a short amount of time and the way she’s transitioned in seamlessly with the group, it’s just completely natural. We’re looking at her inside because we know she played a bit off half-back and high forward, but she’ll also rotate through the backline for us too. I think the way she can open up the game and take the game on is her absolute weapon.”

BOTTOM-AGERS

“There’s a girl called Chloe Williams, she’s a 17-year-old this year. She’s super impressive, she’s just one of those no fuss, just rocks up, trains well, goes about her business and she just competes so well on the field. She plays so naturally. She played at the end of the year last year for us as a high-forward and I think with a game to go we chucked her on the wing. We were so impressed with her on the high forward but for whatever reason we needed a wing and then we were like ‘oh my god’ and we were even more impressed with that too.

“She’s a left footer, just so natural in the way she goes about it. She’s tall, but she’s not a super, super big frame but she competes so well in the air but has really classy skills. I would say that she’s up there with one of our best players and I’m super keen to see how she goes as a 17-year-old.”

PLAYSTYLE

“We just want to be adaptable. I know there’s a lot of teams looking top go fast. We want to move the ball fast where we can, but it’s more about finding space and getting the ball forward, but we want to have the ability to pull the triggers and controlling the game from the back half and then putting a bit more speed on the ball. Our biggest thing at the moment is just being able to go from fast to tempo footy and start to learn when’s the best time to learn that. If we can open up the other side of the ground and get the ball moving fast we will, but it’s all about controlling the ball from the back half and put some speed on it after that.”

ROUND 1

vs. Eastern Ranges
Sunday April 6, 2:00pm
RSEA Park

“I’m really excited because I think our preparations in terms of our last two practice matches, we played Western Jets and we played Oakleigh. I think that was a really good build-up into Round 1 and what that’s going to look like for us. I feel like our girls are ready, Oakleigh was a really good challenge for us in terms of what’s expected in terms of what its’ going to feel like and look like.

“Our biggest challenge is making sure we’re ready to go as soon as the game starts and sticking to our process and every five minutes is rechecking in and sticking to our process. Overall it should be a really competitive match, I’m actually really looking forward to it, it will be a challenge, but if we can get it equally matched early I think it can go really well for us and be a really competitive game.”