By Josh Ward.
There’s plenty of buzz around the Vermont women’s side who continue to pass every challenge that comes before them in the second half of 2024.
Vermont kept their hopes of playing finals for the first time since 2022 alive after defeating the Whitehorse Pioneers by four goals at Vermont Recreation Reserve.
Senior women’s coach Chris Clark said that they were confident of knocking off Whitehorse having fallen 16 points short of them when they were undermanned midway through the season.
“We looked (at the) Whitehorse game and we thought ‘we reckon we’ve got this if we can do what we do well, we should be able to outdo them’,” Clark said.
“I think (last weekend) turned out to be a six-goal turnaround, it was so exciting.”
Last round’s victory made it four on the trot for Vermont, defeating The Basin at Batterham Reserve, Boronia and South Belgrave in a twilight fixture up the mountain during that run.
It comes after a slow burn to start the season for the Eagles who have debuted 17 new players in the purple and gold throughout 2024.
“We’d done so much work in the preseason about making this group a team. We’ve also been really well helped out by the senior men’s side of the club, we’ve had specialist coaches coming in (from that area).
“And then we’ve had Sophia (Ikosidekas), who’s a line coach out at Eastern Ranges, come down and run a couple of sessions.”
Clark says the coaches have helped the side identify areas that they can improve on whilst also giving the players an opportunity to learn a new trick.
“Areas where in the first half of the year we might drop our heads, the girls go ‘we’ve got the belief to know that if we’re in this position, we can keep going’.”
One player that’s continued to keep her strong form going for most of the season has been new captain Ciara Reid. The midfielder has been named in the best in nine of Vermont’s last 10 games and has also kicked four goals.
“In (slotting into the role) now she’s confident, doesn’t second guess herself and just goes out there and goes out there and goes about her footy”
There’s also been some who’ve flown under the radar too, including leading goalkicker Madison Buszano, vice captain Jess Elder in defence alongside Abbey Spencer and Charlotte jones.
“Brianna Kollosche as well, who plays down back. She had a brilliant game this past weekend on Abbey Tanner, she’s probably one of the tougher matchups (in the division)…
“Morgan Pay continues to get better and better each week and Holly Cullen who’s had a new lease on life as a small forward.”
This weekend will see the Eagles finals credentials and winning streak put to the test with a date against South Croydon, who come into this game off their first victory in the Premier Division against the Eastern Devils.
If Clark’s side were to win and South Belgrave lost later in the day, the Eagles would face the Pioneers for the second time in three weeks, this time in an elimination final at HE Parker Reserve.
A win for the Eagles this weekend would not only lock in a finals position for them but also see them knock off every side bare the Eastern Devils during the regular season.
“The first thing we focused on in the first game was ‘we fear no one’. As a group we don’t fear the opposition because together we’re something really special.
“We take that mentality into every single game and I think it’s held us in good stead.”
