VU Western Spurs will field a team in both Division 1 and Division 2 of the Northpark NFLW and is confident of producing strong showings in both divisions.
The club is confident its recent off-field success will pay dividends on the field in 2017.
Spurs relocated from St Albans to Footscray in late 2015 and have formed strong partnerships with the Maribyrnong City Council and Victoria University, and a community partnership with the Western Bulldogs.
Coach of the Spurs’ Division 1 team, Caroline Kilmartin, is keen for the first bounce of the 2017 NFLW season.
“It’s been a long time coming and we’re really excited for the season,” Kilmartin told NFL.org.au.
“We feel that we have a strong team and it’ll be interesting to see what other teams have got out there.”
Christina Polatajko, coach of the Spurs’ Division 2 team, is also excited for the season to finally begin after a six month pre-season in preparation for Round 1.
“We’ve been talking about Round 1 for a long time and it’s finally only days away.
The girls are just pumped to get out there,” Polatajko said.
As a whole, Polatajko believes that the pre-season has been incredibly strong, with over 150 players on the club’s list.
“Our training sessions have reflected our numbers. It is going to make life hard when it comes to selection in terms of competition for each position but the girls are really committed.
“We will see how we go in the next couple of weeks and hopefully they will settle in and come together.”
Both the Division 1 and Division 2 teams are aiming for a winning season but have set short-term goals as well.
“Given that we don’t know what we are up against, our goals for this season are really broad,” Kilmartin said.
“We don’t really know what other teams have got, but we know what we have and that’s a very strong side.”
Polatajko said she was hopeful of having an even contribution within her side.
“My expectation is that the girls will build relationships. I always say that you can have the best skills but if we can’t play together, we won’t win games,” Polatajko says.
“The expectation is that we go in every week wanting to win and we improve each week. Finals is the dream but we haven’t played these teams before so we are going to take it week by week.”
VU Western Spurs’ Division 1 team will play away its opening match against Deer Park under lights on Saturday April 22 and the Division 2 team will play against West Preston-Lakeside on Sunday April 23 at J.E. Moore Park.
