Melbourne AFLW star Daisy Pearce says there’s enough female talent to sustain expansion
AS the AFLW’s best prepare for Saturday night’s State of Origin clash, Melbourne star Daisy Pearce has no doubt there is enough female talent to sustain an expanded competition.
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AFLW star Daisy Pearce believes women’s football has the depth to sustain the league’s expansion as the league awaits a decision on new licensees.
The AFL Commission this week delayed its decision on which clubs would be awarded licences for 2019 until after its September meeting.
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Essendon, Geelong, Gold Coast, Hawthorn, North Melbourne, St Kilda, Richmond and West Coast have applied for licences for 2019.
Five — the Cats, Eagles, Kangaroos, Saints and Tigers — were awarded provisional licences after missing a berth in the inaugural competition.
“From a talent perspective, you create the opportunities and people will rise to those opportunities,” Melbourne marquee star Pearce said.
“There is a great number of girls coming up underneath us that have now had the chance to develop their football in really quality talent pathways and expose them to AFL environments, like the experience we had last year, and they will quickly get up to standard.
“When I wear my Melbourne hat I think just bring two (teams) in so our odds of winning the flag are a bit better for another year.
“But then I see merit in being quite ambitious with it and bring in six because I guess it only gets harder to expand the longer you go on and the more teams are established ... there is huge interest now.”
Pearce and the AFLW’s best will take centre stage in Saturday night’s State of Origin clash between Victoria and the Allies at Etihad Stadium.
After the success of the inaugural AFLW season, won by Adelaide, Pearce expected the standard to rise significantly.
“Given the short time frame that all the pieces of the puzzle were put together last year, the team announcement, the draft, the start of pre-season ... it was a mad rush,” she said.
“We’ll have more time in the lead up, I think our pre-season will be a bit longer, but also you’re not having to start from scratch in terms of what’s expected and what the level is.
“We come in with more experience and we know what it is going to look like, so you can really sink your teeth into the football type stuff a bit earlier on in the program.”
Opposing captains and coaches have billed the pre-finals bye Origin battle as potentially the highest quality game of women’s football seen to date, harnessing the top talent from the inaugural AFLW season.
Allies captain Chelsea Randall predicted the match was likely to be the best game of women’s football ever played.
“I think that’s what you’ll see on the weekend ... it’s the best of the best,’’ Randall said.
Victorian coach Debbie Lee said she expected the level would “go up a notch” from the opening AFLW season, while Allies and Adelaide’s inaugural premiership coach Bec Goddard said the match would show how far the women’s game had come.
“Debbie and I played against each other in 2001 in freezing Canberra, she was playing for the Big V and I was playing for the ACT ... we got beaten that day by about 30 or 40 goals,’’ Goddard said.
“Beating Victoria back in that day was like a distant mirage and here we are now playing at Etihad, prime time and it’s free entry for everyone to come down and see the greatest show so far of women’s footy.’’
Pearce said she felt physically fresh after recovering from a “reaction” to the back of her foot that she healed with rest after the AFLW season.
“I had to give it time to settle down and rehab it properly and strengthen my calf to make sure that I didn’t end up in the same position when I got back here,” she said.
“It’s something I had for probably 18 months and didn’t think anything of it, but then you get around better quality medical staff and someone sticks their scanner on it and tells you it’s not normal.
“(But) it’s all good now.”
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AFLW STATE OF ORIGIN TEAMS
Etihad Stadium, Saturday, 7.40pm
VICTORIA
1 Brianna Davey Carlton
2 Alicia Eva GWS
3 Jamie Lambert Collingwood
4 Karen Paxman Melbourne
5 Emma Kearney Western Bulldogs
6 Daisy Pearce (c) Melbourne
8 Sarah Hosking Carlton
9 Ellie Blackburn Western Bulldogs
10 Kaitlyn Ashmore Brisbane
11 Lauren Spark Western Bulldogs
12 Jess Dal Pos GWS
13 Lauren Arnell Carlton
14 Lily Mithen Melbourne
15 Kara Donnellan Fremantle
16 Jasmine Garner Collingwood
17 Steph Chiocci Collingwood
18 Melissa Hickey Melbourne
19 Sarah D’Arcy Collingwood
21 Nicola Stevens Carlton
23 Moana Hope Collingwood
28 Sarah Perkins Adelaide
30 Alison Downie Carlton
Coach - Debbie Lee
ALLIES
1 Emily Bates Brisbane Lions
3 Katie Brennan Western Bulldogs
4 Emma Swanson GWS Giants
5 Elise O’Dea Melbourne
7 Tayla Harris Carlton
8 Emma Zielke Brisbane Lions
9 Kate McCarthy Brisbane Lions
10 Ebony Marinoff Adelaide
11 Leah Kaslar Brisbane Lions
12 Ebony Antonio Fremantle
13 Jessica Sadunary Adelaide
14 Sabrina Frederick-Traub Brisbane Lions
15 Renee Tomkins GWS Giants
16 Stevie-Lee Thompson Adelaide
17 Dana Hooker Fremantle
20 Hayley Miller Fremantle
22 Courtney Cramey Adelaide
23 Kirby Bentley Fremantle
24 Jess Wuetschner Brisbane Lions
26 Chelsea Randall (c) Adelaide
35 Bianca Jakobbson Carlton
60 Emma King Collingwood
Coach – Bec Goddard
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