CVFL plan to take Ballarat down

CENTRAL Victorian Football League (CVFL) senior interleague co-coach Eloise Gretgrix says the squad has gelled remarkably quickly and has embraced the challenge of taking on an unfamiliar opponent.

The CVFL has unveiled a 29-player squad, including five emergencies, for its clash against the BFLW in Ballarat on 4 July.

Seven of the league’s eight clubs are represented within the squad, with a team-high nine from Golden Square and five each from Castlemaine, Eaglehawk and league newcomers the Wedge-Tailed Eagles.

Gretgrix, who is sharing the coaching reins with Leigh Stevens, is confident they have built a team that will not only represent the league with honour, but prove a formidable rival to a Ballarat team playing its first senior interleague contest in seven years and on home turf.

“We had a lot of girls try-out, so it was a tough process getting down to the final 29,” she said.

“We’ve got a lot of the best girls which is a win for us. It’s something new for us, playing Ballarat.

 

“I know myself, the first year I played it was a round robin against a few different teams, and last year we were up in Mildura against Millewa.”

The CVFL was successful in last year’s clash against Millewa, winning by 73 points.

Key figures in the win, Golden Square’s Taylah Moore, Kira Gibbons (then playing for North Bendigo) and Liz Watkins, will again don the blue and yellow against Ballarat.

Undoubted strengths of the squad are its height, led by Golden Square ruck Karley Hynes, Bulldogs teammates Moore, Gibbons and Carly Geary and White Hills’ Sasha Pearce, and an explosive midfield mix.

Gretgrix, whose own on-field season with Castlemaine is yet to get off the ground due to a knee injury, said it was pleasing to get representation from nearly every side.

That includes one from Bendigo Thunder, whose place in the competition was in doubt during the pre-season due to a player shortage, and five from the Wedgies in their first season in the CVFL.

 

“I haven’t really had a look at the Wedgies (who played Castlemaine last weekend) other than at interleague tryouts but they have some really strong players,” Gretgrix said. “I’m really excited to see how they shape up.

“Hollie Maher, from Thunder, trained really well at both trials and was a bit of a standout.

“We’re really excited to see her in the side and looks like a lot of Thunder people and everyone else is excited for her too.”

Much like the Wedgies have done in the CVNL, the BFLW competition has been boosted by a new senior team this season in the Ballarat Swans.

With five of their own players in the current 26-player Ballarat squad, the Swans sit behind traditional powerhouses Darley and Redan and top side Bacchus Marsh in fourth spot on the ladder in the seven-team competition.

Gretgrix hoped their interleague aspirations reflected a healthy CVFL competition, in which her own side Castlemaine’s recent dominance has been seriously challenged by top-of-the-ladder Golden Square and a fast-emerging Sandhurst, and Eaglehawk also showing encouraging signs.

“It has become more of a level playing field, which is great to watch,” she said.

 

“Seeing Golden Square and Sandhurst in particular stand up this year is great for the competition.With the side we have been able to put together, I feel pretty confident about our chances. Winning last year showed we are more than capable of giving Ballarat a run for their money.”

CVFL senior interleague squad: Hollie Maher (Bendigo Thunder); Grace Brady, Eillish Cumming (E), Alice D’Arcy, Paynton Joliffe, Mikaela Trethowan (Castlemaine); Nikeah Anderson, Lucy El Hage, Monique Gavriliadis, Alannah Leach, Lexi Moss (Eaglehawk); Ava Barker, Gabby Drage, Carly Geary, Kira Gibbons, Karley Hynes, Lily Mansfield, Taylah Moore, Gemma Roberts, Liz Watkins (Golden Square); Mackenzie Brouwer, Lauren Suleiman (Sandhurst); Teagan Ainslie, Jorja Bennett, Brooke Cowan (E), Demi Henderson (E), Aisha Mansfield (Wedge-Tailed Eagles); Sharni Barker, Sasha Pearce (White Hills).