Geelong AFLW coach Dan Lowther backs program to develop young ruck Lilly Pearce at rapid rate

Geelong’s AFLW ruck stocks took a hit in pre-season through retirement and work commitments. But coach Dan Lowther has backed his program to develop an emerging ruck quickly.

Geelong AFLW coach Dan Lowther. Picture: Josh Chadwick/Getty Images

Geelong AFLW coach Dan Lowther is confident the Cats can cover a lack of ruck depth to their list, with untested tall Lilly Pearce making “huge gains” since joining the Cats in May.

The Cats lost Olivia Fuller (inactive list) and Erin Hoare (retirement) ahead of the season, with emerging VFLW ruck Lilly Pearce a replacement signing for Fuller.

However the Cats opted to recruit a running utility in Caitlin Thorne as Hoare’s replacement — Lowther said the Cats had their eye on Thorne for up to 12 months as her flexible skill-set suited a game that is “only getting faster” — with veteran forward Kate Darby expected to be a second ruck option.

Young ruck Lilly Pearce has joined Geelong this season. Picture: Brad McGee/Geelong Cats

Lowther conceded the initial plan was for Pearce — who spent a season on Richmond’s list but is yet to make her AFLW debut — to learn under Hoare, but had seen strong signs of improvement in Pearce in her three months already in the program.

“We’re confident our program can develop players at a pretty rapid rate,” Lowther said.

“The plan was for Lilly to have Erin as a mentor for at least eight months but things changed.

“So we need to prioritise getting her better, and I’ve had this conversation with her, if we don’t think she’s going to help us win the game, we’ll prioritise something us.

“It’s not like because she’s the tallest she’ll have to play ruck.

“The way she’s tracking is really positive, she’s made some huge gains but she was always going to take time as a bit of a project.

“Now the opportunity is there for her to play, we’ve got Kate Darby who can support, we’ve got some other mechanisms to pull as well that we might need to pull at times.

“But if she’s going really positively, we’ll play her.”

Kate Darby is expected to provide ruck support for Geelong. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Pearce played just 10 minutes of match simulation against Collingwood last week following a throat injury, though she will line up in Saturday’s practice match against Essendon, likely testing herself against rising Bombers talent Steph Wales.

Lowther was pleased with his team’s showing against the Magpies, as the Cats worked their Irish talent, along with several new draftees and recruits, into their line-up.

“Our midfield and front half looked a little different to last year but we were still able to organise the game on our terms and get a few things done that supported our game style,” he said.

Geelong lines up for an official practice match against Essendon on Saturday, with Lowther hoping his see his group take further strides.

“Last week we were a bit slow around our contest, so we sort of want to make sure we’re strong from the start around our contest method and our ability to win contested ball and then off the back of that challenge forward and hit the scoreboard a bit more than we did last week,” he said.

• Geelong play Essendon from 1pm on Saturday, at Windy Hill.

Originally published as Geelong AFLW coach Dan Lowther backs program to develop young ruck Lilly Pearce at rapid rate