Kuwarna will be hoping to record its first win of the AFLW season when it faces Waalitj Marawar (West Coast) at Unley Oval on Saturday afternoon.
Sporting a young team that has already unveiled four AFLW debutants, Kuwarna has shown promise across the first fortnight, but been unable to come away with four points.
Senior Coach Ryan Davis spoke to the media in the lead-up to the clash against the Eagles, and gave the following insight.
Developing a new gamestyle
Davis was optimistic about how his team was adopting a new style of game, despite not getting the result in its first two games
“It hasn’t been an ideal start to the season, but there have been positive signs with how we're moving the football, the players that we're playing in different positions, and certainly some of the performances by our younger players have been very encouraging,” Davis said.
“We certainly don’t want to go zero and three, that is (the focus) this weekend tomorrow against West Coast (to get our first win), and we're going full guns blazing to get our season on the right track.
“We've got nine new players, it's a new game style, it's a new program. So there is going to be some teething issues for sure. But what we've seen over the last fortnight is certainly encouraging us.”
India Rasheed’s return
Second-year forward India Rasheed will line up in her first match of the season, after completing a conditioning block due to an interrupted pre-season
Davis said the 19-year-old had done everything asked of her, and was ready to have an impact on Saturday afternoon.
”She’s (in a) good (place), she played last week, and she's in the side this week and is ready to rock and roll,” Davis said
“We wanted to make sure that she was ready to go from from the time that she was selected.
“She had a different pre-season block to some, but she came back and kicked seven last week in the scrimmage, so she's right to go.”
Taking part in scrimmages
As a non-Victorian team, Kuwarna is in a position where it has to send its non-selected players to scrimmage matches to give them sufficient game time.
Davis said despite its challenges, the Club was comfortable with the quality of the matches and how they helped develop young players.
“It is challenging (at times), and the non-Victorian states all have that same issue, but the standard with the players coming through the draftees, the standard at scrimmage is still good,” Davis said.
“The VFL teams do have the VFLW to play in, so, is there a benefit there? Maybe, but we're comfortable with the scrimmage level at the moment.”
Facing the Eagles
Both Kuwarna and Waalitj Marawar (West Coast) will be searching for their first wins of the AFLW season at Unley Oval on Saturday afternoon.
Davis said his group was excited by the challenge the Eagles would present, and honed in on what they needed to do to come away with four points.
“Well, in fairness, we've been focusing more on ourselves, but they bring up a hell of a lot of challenges,” Davis said.
“They're very good in the air, they're very good in the contest and they've got some great players. So we need to make sure that we put away some of their key players in the midfield, and make sure that they're not dominating the game.”
Kuwarna faces the Eagles at Unley Oval on Saturday afternoon, with the match to begin at 2.05pm (ACST).
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