THE Cranbourne Eagles enter the 2016 season relishing the renewed challenge of finding out how they measure up against Victoria’s best in the newly founded VFL Women’s competition.
As the 2015 VWFL Division 1 premiers, the Eagles will join Knox, Geelong and Seaford against last year’s Premier Division heavyweights when the new state competition kicks off on April 3.
Club captain Ash Fennell, who will be pulling on the blue and gold for a sixth season, says it is exciting times ahead for her team and women’s football in 2016.
“There’s a really big incentive for everybody now that women’s footy is going to be on the big stage,” Fennell said.
“We want to be able to compete which goes without saying and we’ve been stepping up our skills and our fitness to ensure we can match it with the best.”
Cranbourne has come a long way in the four years since they first fielded a senior women’s team.
The Eagles had only played in one Grand Final prior to 2015, capping off a meteoritic rise up the ladder from the bottom rungs in 2014 to the premiers the following year.
Club stalwart Keith Edwards, who was involved in Cranbourne’s Youth Girls side for six years, will be continuing in his role as assistant to Cranbourne senior coach Kris Smith.
Following their Grand Final victory over Knox last season, Edwards believes there is a heavier weight of expectation for the Eagles in 2016.
“The expectations from my point of view are fifty-fifty, that we win at least as many as we lose,” Edwards said.
“You don’t want to aim too high, but you’ve got to have a goal and it’s better to be positive than negative. If you go the same as last year you don’t improve.”
During the off-season, Cranbourne had six representatives selected as part of AFL Victoria Women’s Academy which saw more than 100 of Victoria’s best female players complete a detailed training program covering areas such as kicking, strength, conditioning and nutrition.
The group included Bianca Jakobsson, who last season combined with fellow Eagles Academy selection Hayley Wildes for 80 goals. The pair was joined by Danni Hardiman, Cara Moody and Tess McEvoy as part of the Academy, and will look to utilise the skills learnt over the summer for the upcoming season.
With strong academy talent filtering through the ranks, the opportunity for growth and continued improvement for the once fledgling side is ripe.
Director of Female Football, Marion Edwards, who has seen the progress Cranbourne has made over the last four seasons, believes it’s the players who are striving to improve and ensure they adapt to the higher of level of play.
“We did a longer pre-season than we’d ever done before because the girls were actually keener to get involved,” Edwards said.
“We normally don’t start back until February, but we started back in January because the girls said that they wanted more time and that they want to be fitter.”
Cranbourne will start its season on April 3 against fellow 2015 premiership team Darebin at A.H Capp Reserve.
By MICHAEL DI PETTA and CALLUM O’CONNOR
ABOUT THE CLUB:
The Cranbourne Football and Netball Club, established in 1889, is located in the City of Casey which is one of the fastest growing municipalities, not only in Victoria, but Australia.
We are the largest football club in the City of Casey and unique in its kind with our unmatched diversity through our varying playing groups. With numbers consisting of 125 senior footballers, 80 female footballers, 25 All-Abilities footballers and 100 netballers. On top of this, we have 450 non-playing members and volunteers. These numbers have increased steadily in past years, this trend is expected to continue.
Our commitment to Women's football has recently been rewarded with nomination and acceptance in to the Women's Football State League - a new competition aligned with the VFL. This offers exciting times ahead for our Club.
The Cranbourne Football Club is one which has been built on loyalty and commitment, and these two key ingredients have brought about great success throughout the club's history. Our club has a large sponsorship and membership base that will ensure the long term future and viability of the Eagles, hopefully for another 125 years or more.
We have strong affiliations with other local football clubs including Cranbourne Super Rules Football Club, the Cranbourne Junior Football Club and Narre South Lions Junior Football Club.
The club provides a unique community sporting and social outlet to Casey residents of all ages and abilities. Not only do we provide a pathway for talented junior footballers to improve and succeed at a higher level, we spend equal time and resources on all members regardless of their sporting ability. We provide to the community a vibrant, forward thinking family orientated organisation open to all, real benefits include confidence building, healthy environment, positive social interaction, and community spirit.
WEBSITE: www.cranbournefc.com.au
FACEBOOK: Cranbourne Football and Netball Club
TWITTER: @CrannFNC
Last Modified on 25/03/2016 00:06
