AFLW Senior Coach Scott Gowans kicks off Round 2 preparations with his weekly conference.

See all the key talking points following the team’s season opening victory over Collingwood.

On the season opening victory over Collingwood

I was pleased with getting the win.

I think we got a lot of improvement on our style that we want to play, but ground size dictated a little bit how we played that night and the other thing is you're playing an inaugural team and you can't bank that many pre-seasons into some of those players that have had the eight and nine pre-seasons.

We competed really well and I was really pleased that we finished the round number one for pressure, which is something we pride ourselves on. So, overall, a good night.

The latest on Maddy Collier

She’s okay. She felt a bit crook the day after, but she's come through really well now. That's footy, that's part of it and we move on from there, but the main thing is she's fine.

We are going to get a specialist to have a look at her and just double check that she's okay. She's in protocols and there's definitely no rush for Maddy.

The good thing is that she's ticked a lot of boxes already, which is great. So, she's a minimum of 12 days and then if it's a bit more, it's a bit more, but her health's a priority.

Maddy's one of those people that is so resilient, but she's also really honest with where she's at. She's an experienced athlete, so if there's anything at all that pops up over the next couple of weeks, she'll put her hand up.

That's really pleasing to have that in the back of your mind, that she won't come back before she's ready.

Update on the rest of the squad

We're really healthy at the moment. Alana Woodward is almost there, she will probably be next week.

Then obviously we've got Maddy and really that's about it. So we're really healthy at the moment, which is a great position to be in.

Facing St Kilda this week and stopping Jessie Wardle.

She's a terrific player, one of the superstars of the competition. The interesting thing was when you look at the Saints, they won really well, but they had ten players get over ten possessions.

They shared the goal kicking, so it wasn't just Jessie, which is really pleasing as well. They had ten goal kickers, so they just played a really good game of footy. And they're going to be a really tough opposition.

How special was the atmosphere of the season opener at North Sydney.

It's credit to everybody at the club, not just to get the ground up and running, but to actually give an experience to the fans that come to our games.

I think that's really important. Our attendance is amazing. A little bit about the way we play footy, but also a lot about people that put on all the stuff they do around the ground to have fan interactions.

I love walking around after the game and you just see all the happy faces, and the face painting and all the stuff, the posters, just everything that they do. The club do it really well and I think it means a lot to the players.

The noise was unbelievable, and being up in the coaches' box, you could hear the noise, and that helps the players get through games. Henson Park's no different as well. You hear the noise there as well, and it just gives you that extra player.

That's a big part of what we're trying to build as a culture, as a club, and I'm really proud of that so far.

After a win to open the 2024 NAB AFLW Season the team are on the road and bound for Melbourne. 

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