See the full 2021 Northern Knights NAB League Girls squad here

Reigning NAB League Girls premier Northern Knights don’t need to look far for motivation in 2021. New coach Leigh Clarke previews the season. FULL SQUAD NAMED

Ben Higgins

@ben_higgins84

3 min read

February 4, 2021 - 8:00AM

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If the Northern Knights needed any motivation ahead of the 2021 NAB League season they need only look for Zara Flanagan.

The promising young player suffered her second ACL tear at training on Monday, just days before Round 1, in a shattering blow.

However, Flanagan returned to training this week to encourage her teammates on ahead of Sunday’s season opener.

SEE THE 2021 FULL NORTHERN KNIGHTS GIRLS SQUAD BELOW

“We had a much-loved player go down with a second ACL on Monday night but true to her character she’s not made it about her,” Knights coach Leigh Clarke said.

“It wasn’t a great start to the week but she was back at training having a laugh, crutches and all, and the girls are excited to play that’s for sure.”

Grace Wake in action for the Northern Knights. Picture: Julian Smith

Taking over the reins from Marcus Abney-Hastings, Clarke will have some elite talent at his disposal and some high standards to maintain.

With the 2020 season cancelled after three games, the Knights remain reigning premier and have produced the last two No.1 AFLW Draft picks.

South Morang’s Maykaylah Appleby has been selected in the AFLW Academy squad for this season, while Darebin’s Maeve Chaplin will look to impress recruiters after being surprisingly overlooked last year.

St Mary’s Teleah Smart and Lower Plenty’s Mikayla Plunkett have been named co-captains for 2021 with Georgia Kitchell, also St Mary’s, to serve as vice-captain.

Clarke was pleased with how the squad was shaping up but wasn’t putting any expectations on the team.

“We started match simulation a couple of weeks ago and it was extraordinary to watch some of the girls who were dragging their tails around through training and a veil had been lifted off them after they’d played a game,” he said.

“The conversations were really positive around they’d forgotten how much they love playing, it was really good to see.

“We certainly see some young talents coming through and I hope I’ve been able to communicate to them that we have some positive expectations of how their season can go.

Leigh Clarke during his time as Oakleigh Chargers coach. Picture: Andy Brownbill

“We’ll take it as it comes but our expectations initially are built on the players expectations.

“Some have huge expectations of where they want to get to and that can be detrimental, so it’s bringing some down a little bit, and also bringing some up to expect more of themselves.

“We just want to get these girls back to what they love doing, which showed with the match simulation.”

Clarke himself will have to adjust to football’s return with coaches not immune to rust after missing out in 2020.

The first-year coach has moved across from Oakleigh Chargers, were he coached the boys team to the 2019 flag, and will led the Knights girls and boys programs under the new NAB League structure.

“I know I’ve got to think about how I’ll do things this week and I’ve been doing it for 10-12 years but I haven’t for 12 months,” he said

“I took over at Oakleigh after back-to-back premierships, from Mick Stinear, so I’m used to coming in with big boots to fill.

“All respect to Marcus, Nat (Grindal) and Rhy (Gieschen), they were able to build a really strong culture around the program.

“Initially I wanted to look at how they did things and not fiddle around too much but hopefully over time I can stamp some of my own flavour on it as well.”