Melbourne Uni and VU Western Spurs both head into Round 7 VFL Women’s action refreshed after a week, with each coming off different form prior to the Melbourne v Brisbane women’s exhibition game, as Kate Withers reports.
Despite a loss in Round 6, Melbourne Uni sit in second position on the ladder with five wins and one defeat.
Uni coach, Andrew Jago, sited a poor first quarter performance against St Kilda in Uni’s only loss to date as a major blemish in his side’s season.
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“We couldn’t get our processes working, and that was due to their pressure,” said Jago.
“St Kilda worked hard around the ball and put more pressure on our ball carriers than we did on theirs, so they thoroughly deserved the win.”
Unperturbed by the pressure of sitting five and one, Jago says the side is more concerned with upholding its own standards.
“We don’t worry too much about the win-loss ratio, we try to judge ourselves against the internal measures we put in place.”
Talking on the Spurs this weekend, Jago knows his side will face a different opponent to which it faced in 2015. Jago praised the off-season efforts of VU, attributing strong player recruitment to a drastic turnaround in Spurs performance.
“Last year they didn’t win a game, but this year they’re three and three (wins and losses),” said Jago.
Buoyed by standout performances from several players for the Melbourne Football Club in its win over Brisbane in the women’s exhibition match last weekend, Jago is confident his side can tackle VU on Sunday.
“Ellie Blackburn had the most possessions of anyone on the ground (25), and used the ball exceptionally well.
“Brooke Lochland, Nicole Hildebrand, Alicia Eva and Cecilia McIntosh all had a really positive impact on the game too.”
Jago says the key to a win this weekend will be getting the first shots in against a tight VU defence.
“They (VU) work exceptionally hard defensively and roll numbers back behind the ball, so we will have to move the ball exceptionally quickly and score before they get numbers back.”
The Melbourne Uni versus VU Western Spurs game will be video streamed on the VFL website Sunday from 2pm.
CLICK HERE for the link on game day
Photo: Cameron Grimes
Last Modified on 27/05/2016 23:12