After an emotional victory over the Gold Coast Suns last week, AFLW Assistant Coach Tanya Hetherington says the side will be once again ready to embrace the opportunity as it looks to continue it’s momentum heading into it’s Semi Final clash with Adelaide.
See what Hetherington had to say on preparations ahead of Saturday’s game, riding the emotions and facing Adelaide.
Congratulations on our first ever finals victory over the Gold Coast Suns. It was a full four-quarter performance and we looked like we took our opportunities when they came up. What was the overall coaches review of the win?
It was a fantastic win built from ferocious pressure from the girls, as seen by the 106 tackles we laid. We were really impressed with the girls ability to absorb the momentum shifts at times and get it back on our terms as quickly as possible.
The scenes from the boundary after the game were incredible, as has the member and fan support throughout the season been. What has the support of the members and fans meant to the team this season?
They were incredible! I was in awe after the game watching the fans interact with the team. It has meant so much to the playing group to know wherever they play we will have the support of our members, fans and family in the crowd cheering us on every week.
Following the emotional highs of last week, how do you make sure the team stays focussed on the job at hand?
It’s important to celebrate the achievement of winning that final as it is a big moment in the club’s history. But come Monday it’s business as usual.
The girls know we have a job to do and we want to give ourselves the best chance of progressing further into this finals series.
What do preparations look like heading into our Semi Final?
A lot of recovery to begin with followed by our main training sessions to reinforce what we are doing well and how we will take it up another notch heading into a semi final.
We face Adelaide, who come off a close loss last week, but finished the regular season at the top of the ladder. What do we make of the opposition? What do we need to do early in the game as we expect them to come out firing.
Adelaide have been a consistent high performing team since the inception of the AFLW. We respect them enormously, but we are excited about the challenge that awaits.
We are confident that if we keep building our game like we have shown over the last few weeks then we can compete with any side.
What will be the final message to the team, to ensure we play our best footy and come away with the win?
We want the girls to embrace this opportunity and to leave nothing out there. If it’s anything like last week, that should set us up for a thrilling game!!
