Week four sees a top of the table clash, when Yeronga travel to take on Coolangatta for what’s set to be a ripper of a game. Plus there will be an important battle between Wilston Grange and UQ, and an encounter between Zillmere and Coorparoo.
Match of the Round
Coolangatta v Yeronga
Forget ‘match of the round’, this one is ‘match of the season’ (so far). Both sides want to take that top spot; winning on Saturday will achieve just that. It’s the best defensive side against the most agile attacking side. Coolangatta show immense pressure, and have rarely let goals in so far this year. Yeronga had eight different goal kickers last week, so they have the ability to throw Cooly a curveball when going forward.
Both sides welcome back their U18 Queensland stars, such as the likes of Courteney Bromage and Jess Watts (Yeronga), as well as Ruby Blair, Kalinda Howarth and Arianna Clarke (Coolangatta). This match will go down to the wire… Who will come out on top?
Where & When: Peak Oval, Coolangatta Tweed @ 4:45pm, Saturday May 14
Last time they met: Round 18, 2015 – Yeronga defeated Coolangatta by 28 points
2016 form: Coolangatta (3/3 Wins) Yeronga (3/3 Wins)
Key match up: Hannah Sexton (Coolangatta) v Kate McCarthy (Yeronga) Both girls are playing for new sides. But Kate McCarthy is playing against her old Cooly teammates for the first time this season. Both are super quick and create plenty of running opportunities when going forward. They are barometers for how their side is going.
Coach’s Thoughts
Aaron Russell, Coolangatta
“We’ve been pretty happy with our efforts defensively but our girls are looking to take our physicality up another notch.”
“Our main focus at training this week has been around decision making in pressure situations and our forward entries.
“Its going to be a team effort- Yeronga consistently use their main ball movers to link up.
“Our quick application of pressure as a group will go a long way to reducing continuity in their linkup.”
Scott Stephens, Yeronga
“If we are going to win, we need to play with intensity for four quarters.
“This week we’ve continued to work on our structures and developing our style of play.
“Coolangatta have a lot of quality players that will provide interesting match ups with our girls, we won’t be looking to shutdown just one person in particular.”
Prediction: Yeronga by 3 points.
Wilston Grange v University of Queensland
This one’s going to be interesting. The red lionesses are coming off their first loss of the season to Yeronga last week, but it was their best game so far, so they will want to penetrate that consistency throughout the remainder of the season. Wilston Grange are still searching for their first win of the season, and will be boosted by the inclusion of Under 18 All-Australian, Tahlia Randall, who can have a massive impact on the game. Can UQ bounce back to their winning ways or will Grange register their first win of the season?
Where & When: Bendigo Bank Oval, Wilston Grange @ 4:45pm, Saturday May 14
Last time they met: Round 15, 2015 – Wilston Grange defeated UQ by 12 points
2016 Form: Wilston Grange (0/3) UQ (2/3)
Key match up: Emma Gerke (Wilston Grange) v Dania Herdman (UQ) – It’s all about the tag. Herdman is extremely strong around contests, always taking her physicality to the next level. Emma Gerke will relish the challenge to shutdown Herdman, which will go a long way in getting her side closer to the win.
Coach’s Thoughts:
Damien Richards, UQ
“We don’t want to do too much differently this week from last week. We’re still working on improving the way we play, the execution of it.
“We need to continue our trends and work on the small things that are going to make the difference in the long run.
“Tahlia Randall is the best underage player in the state and we need to make sure she doesn’t have a big impact on the game.
“We are not really worrying about oppositions and shutting them down at this stage of the season, focus is on getting our game plans right.”
Marcus McDonald-Camden, Wilston Grange
“We will be looking to play the game quarter by quarter, build a thinking of ‘nothing but this quarter’ then once we reassessed move onto the next one with the same method of thinking.
“We have been working on ball movement from our back flank into our forward 50, that’s where teams will create damaging runs and points on the board.”
“As well as keeping the team in high spirits and building a strong culture of (for lack of a better saying) “sticking together through the hard times”
“We need to stick to our game plan and be prepared for a very tough hit out from the start- they are a quality side, with a clear direction on how they want to play their football.
“We will need to be prepared to control the tempo.”
Prediction: UQ by 17 points
Zillmere Eagles v Coorparoo
This is an important match for Coorparoo, who are still looking to register their first win of the season. They’ve showed signs of flare and quick attack, which they will be looking to put in place over four full quarters. Zillmere had an impressive win last weekend. When Tayla Harris impacts the game, it spurs her side forward to register big numbers on the scoreboard.
Where & When: O’Callaghan Park, Zillmere @ 4:45pm, Saturday May 14
Last time they met: Round 11, 2015 – Coorparoo defeated Zillmere by 83 points
Form going in: Zillmere (1/3) Coorparoo (0/3)
Key match up: Lucy Thompson (Zillmere) v Adair Henderson (Coorparoo) – Key forward v key defender. These girls will line up against each other, in what should be a classic match up. If Adair can shut down Thompson, especially with Zillmere having a formidable attack, that will go a long way to Coorparoo winning on Saturday.
Coach’s Thoughts:
Jacob Simmons-Bliss, Zillmere
“The message to our playing group is to build on and continuously improve on our previous performance from last week.
“We were able to execute our game style for a long period of time and we adapted well to what the opposition threw our way in terms of trying to disrupt our game style.
“We have been educating our players on how to ensure that we can play our style of footy which we know is successful for us, for longer and more consistently against all opposition.
“We have been teaching our players how to adapt and slightly tweak our game style in the heat of play to combat what the opposition may throw our way this weekend.”
By QWAFL writer Jessica Stewart
Twitter: @Jess_Stewart16
