By Jonty Ralphsmith
Gippsland Power’s girls currently occupy first place in the Coates League Vic Country conference after defeating Sandringham on Sunday at Morwell Recreation Reserve.
The Power didn’t just beat the Dragons; they turned it into an obliteration, running out 12.9 81 to 2.5 17 victors.
Having struggled to play four quarters of footy against quality opponents in the past, Gippsland showed they could do that by extending the lead at every break.
The Power scored three goals in the first quarter while keeping Sandy scoreless, before a four goal to one second quarter had the result sealed by the half.
Gippsland dominated territory, winning the inside 50 count 44-17, while the pressure brought was immense.
Defeating Vic Metro-based teams is significant for country-based sides, which do not train together as often due to the geographic difficulties.
Sandringham is the second Metro team the Power have defeated after accounting for Western Jets by 12 points earlier in the season, among the program’s four wins from seven games.
Bendigo is the only other country team to take two games off the Metro sides so far in 2024.
Coach Nathan Boyd has seen the program take great strides forward since arriving ahead of the 2023 season.
“When you look at the whole season, we’ve been relatively consistent with performance,” Boyd said.
“We’re giving our players more opportunities and time to grow – consistency in terms of coaching and what we’re valuing is really helping the girls.”
“We know we have a couple of very good footballers who give us great composure and decision-making and really good control of the ball and there’s a layer of players who have taken big steps.”
“That gives us more depth and everyone else is stepping up.
“The talent will continue to grow and grow with the increased time being put into female footy in Gippsland.”
The Power have smooth-moving, contested-marking freak Ash Centra and rugged midfielder Jas Sowden as AFLW Academy members likely to go high in the draft this season.
There is also a strong layer of talent that will push for VFLW opportunities next season, while Ella Stoddart and Pakenham’s own Abby Hobson are among a strong bottom-aged contingent.
The Power are also blooding a series of well-regarded under-16s players in the under-18s program, led by Grace Dillow, who is averaging 12 disposals and four tackles.
Tough Pakenham under-16s girl Ava Deszcz has also been given opportunities, alongside Mia Smith-Clark.
Boyd gave an insight into some of Gippsland’s risers through 2024.
Zali Gallagher: “She’s got great pace to burn and is one of the best tacklers. She’s very combative and bounces back up and is really resilient. Her ability to break lines is cool and she’s connected the group as a leader.”
Zahri Burn: “She had a superb game on the weekend. She was excellent in the way she jumped in the ruck against the number one hit-out to advantage team in the competition. There was glimpses of the technically sound craft she’s developing to give us first use.”
Maya Crestani: “She’s continuing to develop and we’re continuing to see little snippets.”
Lilly Milner: “She was one of our best on the weekend. She was strong, competitive and had a little bit of fight. She was playing as a half-forward and was classy when she got her hands on the ball.”
Chelsea Sutton: “While on the stats sheet it didn’t show, she had a massive impact for us with her pressure, her work rate and energy in the forward half.”
Rebecca Fitzpatrick: “In terms of consistency and ability to impact through the four quarters, it was her best game as well.”
Abby Hobson: “She’s been consistent. When she has time and space, she’s hard to outmark. She might not hold onto everything but she’s bringing it to ground and giving us lots of opportunities to score. She was the beneficiary of a lot of energy on the weekend – she put herself in good spots.”
Meanwhile, Gippsland’s boys made it two from two for the club against Sandy, winning 10.8 68 to 7.8 50.
It was fitting that Brodie Atkins kicked the match-sealer late in the last quarter, after a strong day for the bottom-ager where he combined 17 disposals with 11 tackles.
In the absence of gun Xavier Lindsay, Max Stobie and Tooradin’s Jesse Craven stood up in the middle against a Dragons lineup weakened by school football.
Tom Hanily was lively inside 50 as he continues to build his craft while Tooradin key-position-player Jehi Esler spent some time in the ruck in the second half due to a teammate’s injury.
Marking forward Asher Eastham kicked 3.2 to continue his goal-scoring ways.
Dandenong’s girls also had a good victory, beating Sydney’s Academy 7.6 48 to 5.4 34.
Jemma Reynolds and Kayla Dalgleish were strong for the Stingrays, while AFLW Academy player Zoe Besanko kicked two timely second-half goals.
Under-16s player Marlee Black, the daughter of former Dandenong Stingrays coach Craig Black, made her debut and collected eight disposals while Tahlia Sanger played her best game since returning from an ACL injury in round 6.
Next week, Gippsland will take on Bendigo at La Trobe University on Sunday in a double-header; while Dandenong have a double header against GWV the previous day.
