Calder Cannons primed for strong NAB League Girls season

The Calder Cannons’ talent runs deep in 2021 and has the team primed for a shot at a NAB League Girls premiership. SEE THE FULL SQUAD HERE

Ben Higgins

@ben_higgins84

3 min read

February 5, 2021 - 8:00AM

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Georgie Prespakis in action for the Calder Cannons. Picture: Julian Smith

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A strong, deep list has Calder Cannons primed for a shot at a second NAB League Girls premiership.

The Cannons have a rich history in the competition having been inaugural premiers in 2017 and reached the grand final in 2019.

Prospective No.1 draft pick, Sunbury’s Georgie Prespakis, while Essendon Doutta Stars junior Shelby Meyers and Pascoe Vale’s Emelia Yassir will serve as vice-captains.

SEE THE 2021 FULL CALDER CANNONS GIRLS SQUAD BELOW

Prespakis and Essendon Doutta Stars’ Tahlia Gillard will represent the Cannons in the elite AFLW Academy squad, while Neve Crowley, Kasey Lennox, Peppa Poultney and Emelia Yassir were all in Vic Metro’s under-16 squad in 2019.

Cannons coach Ross Smith has also nominated Zali Friswell and Ella Nickolaus as two more players to watch.

Peppa Poultney rises high in the ruck. Picture: Julian Smith

“We’ve got a very talented list, this group coming through was always pretty strong, so we expect to be competitive,” he said.

“We’ve got some strong 19-year-olds returning, our 18-year-olds and we’ve got some promising 16-17-year-olds that will complement our squad.”

Prespakis will have plenty of eyes on her this season after bursting onto the scene as a 16-year-old.

The highly-rated youngster won the NAB League Girls league best-and-fairest and was named in the Team of the Year, won the Cannons best-and-fairest and EDFL Girls Under-18 best-and-fairest from just five games for Sunbury Lions.

Smith said it was important to manage expectations and allowing his young star to be her own player.

“It’s tough for Georgie, she’s been spoken about quite a bit and had a few media commitments,” he said.

“With her sister playing at Carlton it’s only natural for her to feel a bit of pressure but she’s carving her own career.

“She’s still got some areas of her game that she needs to work on, she leads really well by example and football talent and is working hard on developing other aspects of her leadership.

Neve Cowley in action for the Calder Cannons. Picture: Julian Smith

“She’ll play midfielder, play a bit forward, she’ll have her time on the bench like everyone does, which she may not be used to.”

Calder didn’t have a player drafted to the AFLW last year for the first time and will be looking to graduate several players this season.

Smith, the long-time Cannons boys coach has added the girls squad to his role this year and has been impressed with his team’s preparation despite a compromised pre-season.

“We’ve got a very talented list, this group coming through was always pretty strong, so we expect to be competitive,” he said.

“We obviously had a limited training period pre Christmas, training in small groups and no mixing, so that was quite a challenge.

“The girls really attacked it and we’ve been able to provide a fair bit of information with our Hudl account, a lot of online education.

“Since Christmas we’ve been able to train as normal and had some match simulation, which has given us a chance to look at how those fundamentals have been applied.”

The Cannons open their season against Dandenong Stingrays at Craigieburn on Sunday.

(From left) Maddie Prespakis, Charlie Rowbottom, Georgie Prespakis and Georgia Patrikios launch the NAB League Girls season with some Auskick future AFLW hopefuls.

CALDER CANNONS NAB LEAGUE GIRLS SQUAD

Jessica Zakkour (Greenvale)

Reese Sutton (Sunbury)

Emelia Yassir (Pascoe Vale)

Kasey Lennox (Wallan)

Neve Crowley (Aberfeldie)

Ruby Taranto (East Sunbury)

Kasey Mueller (Sunbury)

Zali Friswell (Aberfeldie)

Maggie Styles (Pascoe Vale)

Olivia Manfre (Keilor)

Ruby Smith (Westmeadows)