TASMANIA DEVILS finished on top of the Coates Talent League Girls Country Pool last season, and though they did not progress further in finals, showed plenty of progress with talented young guns coming through the program. Coach Jess Wuetschner is into her second season as coach, and her list boasts a couple of Academy members. We spoke to her about the Devils’ season ahead at the Tasmanian Preseason Testing Day.

PRESEASON

“I think for me personally being able to be on the helm for the whole preseason allowed me to really get to understand the players a lot more and their needs and stuff like that. It’s been a very busy preseason, but the girls have been phenomenal in terms of their application and work ethic. They’re looking really fit so I’m excited for the season ahead.”

TOP-AGE ALLIES HUB MEMBERS

Priya Bowering
Midfielder | 169cm | 02/01/2007

“Priya’s a very consistent player for us. Obviously a strong inside mid whose improved her running capabilities as well so I’m really excited to see if she can take her game to another level this year.”

>> FEATURE: Priya Bowering

Mischa Barwin
Midfielder/Forward | 167cm | 04/12/2007

“Misc will probably play a little bit more midfield this year, she’s obviously quite electric and we need a bit more speed through our midfield so she’ll certainly fill that role. But we’ll be sure to play her up forward to get a few goals out of her as well.”

Harriet Bingley
Tall Utility | 174cm | 23/03/2007

“Harriet’s done really well this preseason, she’s gotten herself in really good shape which will allow her to play a bit through the midfield more so this year, as well as playing that key position role as a centre half-forward or centre half-back.”

OTHERS TO WATCH

“I’ve been a huge fan of Lucah Conkie since last year. She’s a rebounding half-back flanker. I’m really excited to see what she can do this year. Mia Anderson coming off some early injury last year got going towards the end of the year and had a really good preseason as well. Beyond that probably some of the younger players like Evie Ward and Evie Bingham, I’m excited to see if they can take that next step at the 18s level.”

MATILDA LANGE (U16s MVP)

“Matilda Lange is still only 16 so she’s two years outside of her draft year, but anyone whose seen her play knows the type of talent she is. Right now it’s about trying to continue to build her and develop her and make sure she keeps growing.”

TAKEAWAYS FROM LAST YEAR

“A lot of that shows when we play our best footy we can win games and if we stop doing that in the last quarter we got run over a couple of times. I think working on finishing off games, that game awareness when we need to slow it down, are just all things that the young girls are learning. We’ve certainly applied that into the preseason.”

FIXTURE CHANGES

“Obviously the players want to play as much as they can, but I think they also understand, particularly the north and north west girls with the travel component and the girls in Year 12 have a lot of commitment there as well. It was more for the welfare and benefit of them long-term. There will be plenty of football for them to play whether it be CTL, local or Allies.”

IMPACT OF TASMANIAN AFLW TEAM ON PATHWAY

“We brought in the 13/14/15 Academy last year with anticipation that this would happen, and then I think in the near future, the club will probably take a hold of the Academy rather than the AFL and AFL Tas. We’re still trying to work that out and build that pathway. Obviously with the excitement with the new team, there’s a lot of new kids wanting to play football. It was good to build it out last year and get better for this year.”

SEASON EXPECTATIONS

“We obviously want to win, winning is important whether it’s a development league or not. If you’re winning you’re probably doing things right. For us it’s about consistency, we were a bit inconsistent last year. We want to be a consistent team, tough to play against and we want to be that team that no one wants to come down and play. We’ve got some good high-end talent, but it’s about how we can keep developing them to be the best possible players they can be by the end of the season.”

ROUND 3

vs. Sydney Swans Academy
Sunday April 25, 11:15am
Blacktown International Sportspark

Note: Tasmania Devils have the bye in Rounds 1 and 2.