Geelong VFLW side returns to GMHBA Stadium for first time in two years

Geelong’s VFLW team will sport a different look in 2024 with the inclusion of 15 new faces. Coach Elise Coventry opens up on the season ahead and game plan.

Geelong Cats’ Abby Favell lines up for the VFLW program again in 2024.

Geelong hopes added dash to its game can challenge rival defences ahead of a new VFLW season.

The Cats open their 2024 campaign against Carlton at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday, as they seek a return to finals after missing out last season for the first time in six years.

Geelong VFLW coach Elise Coventry said the Cats would look to become less of a “kick-mark” team and hoped a return to running in October boded well for a better run game.

“Hopefully a bit more speed on the board will challenge defences,” Coventry said.

“But apart from that, we need to be really strong defending as well.

“We don’t know much about our competition because the teams have changed. So just really focusing on making sure we know how to be predictable to one another and react off the back of that.”

A disappointing end to the 2023 VFLW season saw Geelong miss finals by half a game, after picking up just two points in their final five games to slip from second to eight. It was the first time since 2017 the Cats had missed VFLW finals and second time in program history.

However Geelong’s list looks vastly different this year, with 15 of their 30 VFLW-listed players classed as a new to the program.

Some are familiar faces, including former AFLW-listed ruck Sammy Gooden, as well as Denby Taylor, who retired from the AFLW in 2022 but returns to football after rediscovering a passion for the game. Several newcomers also hail straight out of Coates Talent League clubs Geelong Falcons, GWV Rebels, Calder Cannons and Sandringham Dragons.

Ella Firth is one of 15 returning VFLW players for Geelong.

With players coming through various pathway programs and academies together, Coventry believed it made it easier for her squad to gel quickly.

“It’s surprising, I think I have to introduce this new player and all of a sudden they’re like ‘I know her’,” Coventry said.
“And the benefit of being in Geelong is they quickly catch up and get to know each other outside footy.”

Coventry, who is also a backline coach for Geelong’s AFLW team under coach Dan Lowther, said the Cats aimed to have consistency between its two programs.

“We’ll have some AFLW players come through at stages and we expect them to feel like they know the system because it’s very similar,” she said.

“It can’t be exactly the same, the players are different, the level of competition is different but the foundation is very similar.

“We’ll try and play a similar brand of footy to the AFLW team, and that’s progressing each year as our fundamentals get better.”

With Geelong’s AFLW team making finals their past two seasons — including their first finals win in 2023 — Coventry agreed it gave the entire program confidence their game style “stacked up”.

She said she’d encourage her team to have fun running out on GMHBA Stadium this weekend, in what is their first home game there since April, 2022.

“It’s first game back out on the deck with a double-header with the men,” Coventry said.

“I want to see them enjoy it and embrace the challenge of playing against an opposition and put into use everything we’ve trained.

“And if we make mistakes, move on really quickly because it’s round one. I really don’t want us to fall back into timid footy off the back of one or two mistakes.”

Geelong plays its first two home games at GMHBA Stadium this year, with a return to Colac in round four also on the fixture. Their remaining home games will be at Deakin University, while they’ll head interstate to Sydney to face GWS Giants’ academy in April.

“The draw is exciting for us this year,” Coventry said.

Originally published as Geelong VFLW side returns to GMHBA Stadium for first time in two years