AFLW senior coach Scott Gowans has delivered his last weekly press conference for the season ahead of Round 10. Speaking to the media on Wednesday, October 30 he discussed learning from Round 9 against Brisbane, Laura Gardiner and how the condensed fixture impacted the season.
See what he had to say below.
On the final game at Henson Park this season
“I think it's one of our favourite grounds to go to. Hopefully everyone turns out and we can put on a bit of a show and the weather holds. There's nothing better than seeing the crowd on the hill cheering us on.”
On takeaways from Round 9
“Just to be adaptable. They changed things up at quarter time and we didn't adjust. It's the lesson that against the good sides you can go in with a well-set plan, but they are that good that they just change things up. Then you've got to be able to be on your toes and change things as you need to try and get the game looking like what you want to.
“There are a few little lessons in there with structural stuff that we went through this week. They're a very good side. They're the reigning premier for a reason. There's a similar margin to last year, so it's good to pit yourself where you sit from year to year. They're the benchmark.”
On Laura Gardiner
“We discussed the way we're structuring our midfield group. Our midfield group has actually been going really well. It was on the basis of, does Laura come back and play forward, or what do we do? Do we rest her? We just made the decision that, based on the medical advice, she was 100 per cent fine to go.
“We just thought, it's one of our better players, so let's put her back in. I thought she did okay. She was under a lot of pressure, and they put a lot of time into her, but Laura just works through the game and just runs it out. She's an amazing athlete.”
On the young side finding confidence
“There's been some real strength in the performances. We don't focus on the score itself in review. We basically take the lessons from what the opposition threw at us. I think we've got a lot of growth this year. It's been positive from a perspective that you learn different things of what sides do to you, how they stop your momentum and what they do when they get momentum.”
On West Coast’s season so far
“They've done very well. Again, structurally [Daisy’s] a very sound coach and she's very keen to take the game on, which is great because that's what we do as well… Both sides are on a journey of learning, and I suspect in another three or four years' time we'll hopefully both be competing for finals, so really looking forward to hit out against them. They've got some great talent on that list and a lot of young talent. They've built it up and they're a formidable force if they get going.”
On how the group is feeling after the condensed fixture
“It was more just the lack of access to them from a training perspective, because we couldn't train and you're basically playing three games. Particularly in our situation, we're in a learning phase that we didn't get time to review properly and then go out and train it, so we found that we were making the same mistakes for three games in a row.
"That fourth game, when you come out of the condensed fixture, there's a little bit of fatigue there, so you're sort of sitting in that world of not training even post-condensed fixture, which makes it hard. I think it really hampered us from a learning perspective… probably more the lesson than the fatigue side of it.”
On growing the game
“For me, I would like to see the season come forward. I've been a big advocate for Tier 1 venues, and the season coming forward will allow us to do that. Whether it's doubleheaders or just access to the better grounds, I think the product will be better.
“The spectacle will be better for the spectators, and the crowd will come eventually. I'd love to see the traditions start to perform as well, that there's a particular game, whether it's us or GWS on a particular round, and just lock that in. I'm fine with midweek footy, but you need the proper break… I think the big lesson is that it's critical from a learning perspective, and from being able to train and make the product better. That's really important for the growth of the game.”
On Giselle Davies’ injury
“She's probably 50-50 at the moment, but she'll go through a test tomorrow at training, and she's walking around at the moment now so she seems ok.”
