Ballarat interleague co-captains Rose Russell and Emmerson Hitch say the team is embracing the rare opportunity to come together as a virtual \u2018best of the best\u2019 to represent the BFLW against the Central Victoria Football League (CVFL) on Saturday 4 July.<\/p>\n
The 2.30pm clash at Alfredton Recreation Reserve marks the BFLW\u2019s first foray into senior interleague competition.<\/p>\n
It will come against one of the recognised strongest country women\u2019s football leagues in the state, centred around Bendigo, but boosted by reigning four-peat premiers Castlemaine and Macedon Ranges-based league newcomers Wedge-Tailed Eagles.<\/p>\n
While a senior team previously represented the former Goldfields women\u2019s league, the BFLW has until this season only fielded junior interleague teams.<\/p>\n
Co-captains Russell, from Redan, and Hitch (Darley) say the honour of being selected as co-captains has been made even more special by leading a \u2018first-time\u2019 team<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first ever BFLW interleague team \u2013 I\u2019m extremely excited and absolutely honoured to share it with Emmerson. She\u2019s an absolute legend,\u201d said Russell, who turned 32 on Wednesday, the same day the captaincy announcement was made.<\/p>\n
\u201cSeeing her from the other side at Redan, watching her at Darley, she\u2019s always got great things to say and speaks so well.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a big honour.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know how many seasons I\u2019ve got left in me, so it really is an honour to get there to an interleague game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hitch, co-coach of last year\u2019s Devils premiership team and a forwards coach with Coates Talent League club Western Jets, echoed the feelings of respect and admiration.<\/p>\n
\u201cRose is fantastic. The way she talks and the energy she has, that engaging mindset of getting around everyone, she just warms up the room,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t get to see that when you are playing against her, but we know she is always hard at the footy.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom a Darley perspective, through the years, we have always had to keep her in mind and have had to tag her at times.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut being on the same team and seeing her get around the girls, getting to co-captain alongside her is something I\u2019m enjoying and I love the friendship we\u2019ve formed over the last few weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n
The BFLW is being coached by Danyel Waters, who is in her first season as Darley\u2019s senior women\u2019s coach.<\/p>\n
She will take charge of a team of 24 players.<\/p>\n
While they have long-been rivals on the field, with Darley and Redan dominating the premiership scene in recent years, Hitch and Russell do share a bit of common ground.<\/p>\n
Both are school teachers – Hitch at Melton Secondary College and Russell at St Francis Xavier Primary School in Ballarat.<\/p>\n
For Russell, captaining an interleague team for the first time continues a family tradition.<\/p>\n
Her father Stephen Russell, a life member at Hampden Football Netball League club Camperdown, was an interleague captain, as was her grandfather Ray Russell, also a life member and Camperdown premiership player.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a bit of a fun fact I only learned this week,\u201d Russell said.<\/p>\n
\u201cToo bad my brother doesn\u2019t play footy anymore, but that\u2019s okay, I\u2019ll continue the tradition.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just love footy. I honestly wish I were one of those girls who got to play juniors as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut that\u2019s okay, I\u2019m making up for it now.\u201d<\/p>\n
After eight weeks of training together, Russell has gotten to that point where Saturday can\u2019t come soon enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never played footy interleague before, I\u2019ve played netball interleague, but to have like the best of the best from every team and to create a super team is really exciting,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cDanyel is such a fantastic coach and really thinks about everything; really focused on where everyone is playing and their role in the team.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a good team, but we are the underdogs, playing against Bendigo, but sometimes that\u2019s a good position to be in with a lot to prove.\u201d<\/p>\n
A privilege for both captains as part of the interleague experience has been getting to better know their normal on-field rivals.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve loved training and taking a mask off the opposition. It\u2019s always been us versus them, but now we are in a team together,\u201d Russell said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSpeed and skill are our strengths, and I feel like we have a good balance as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s some older girls like me, but we have a 17-year-old in Leivi (Lane). A great depth of experience, but plenty of adaptability.<\/p>\n
“We’ve been training for some different scenarios under Danyel and she\u2019s been watching a few of the Bendigo games as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are ready to go and there\u2019s a bit of a home ground advantage.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s pretty bloody cold in Ballarat right now, so I\u2019m sure we can work that to our advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n
Added Hitch: \u201cThat\u2019s the special part about interleague, coming together with the other girls.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s absolutely amazing that we finally have this opportunity to be a part of the inaugural Ballarat women\u2019s interleague program.<\/p>\n
\u201cTraining over the past eight weeks \u2026 you\u2019ve known of players from Redan and East Point etcetera, but to come together collectively and to learn off each other and to embrace each other\u2019s strengths and weapons \u2026 I\u2019ve definitely made a whole lot of new friendships.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of those are with the Redan girls. There\u2019s obviously been some tension through those grand finals over the past few years, but this interleague environment is such an awesome experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd that\u2019s what football is about, the connections and the relationships that you make with people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hitch is expecting Ballarat to thrive on the challenge of coming up against a Central Victoria team that will arrive in Ballarat with more unknowns than knowns, but with an impressive recent form-line in representative games.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the best of the best of the Ballarat league to go up against a pretty strong Bendigo side that for the past four years has dominated their interleague games, we\u2019re just happy to get a chance to play such a quality opposition,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll embrace the challenge,<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019re going to see a real quality game of women\u2019s football and to be involved is just fantastic.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s great to finally get the chance to represent the league.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ballarat interleague co-captains Rose Russell and Emmerson Hitch say the team is embracing the rare opportunity to come together as a virtual \u2018best of the best\u2019 to represent the BFLW against the Central Victoria Football League (CVFL) on Saturday 4 July. The 2.30pm clash at Alfredton Recreation Reserve marks the BFLW\u2019s first foray into senior […]<\/p>\n