Tara Murray
Caroline Springs is hoping an upset win against Spotswood will be the stepping stone to a finals spot in the Western Region Football League women’s division 1 competition.
The Lakers sit outside the top four on percentage with two rounds, but produced their best performance of the season against the previously undefeated Spotswood last weekend.
Lakers coach Dean Ellis said after coming back from the second mid-season break due to lockdown, they had aimed to keep it simple.
“During the week we made a ready conscious effort on the what we were focused on, as last time we played them they got away from us,” he said,
“The word during the week was effort. They [Spotswood] had a few key players not playing which helped, but you can only play who is in front of you.
“It was a really good win, hopefully in the lead up to finals.”
Ellis said this season had been a tricky one with the breaks due to lockdown on top of that. The first lockdown, they had more than a month off as they had a bye in the same period.
He is hoping to get a few weeks of consistent football that would help the playing group continue to improve.
“We have a lot of new players this year,” he said.
“The expectation was not really high. We wanted to improve and the other teams around us have also improved.”
Ellis said with the win against Spotswood showed them what they could do.
“We don’t want to just make up the numbers,” he said.
“What we can do is a stepping stone.”
While finals are now the aim this year, Ellis said the focus was long term.
Ellis said they had a number of young girls who had stepped up from the under-18s this season who had started to feel at home at this level.
He said there were players like ruck Molly Young, who had never played football before, that had really impressed him.
“It’s all started to come to the fore,” he said.
“It’s hard to pinpoint the standouts, but we’re not relying on the same old ones every week and we’re starting to spread the load.
“We’ve got more girls coming up next year to play senior football, we could possibly have two teams next year.”
For Ellis in his first season coaching the women’s side, it has been everything he thought it would be.
He said the female program was one of the best things the club had ever done.
“It has been a while since I coached and I’m an old fashioned coach and it’s about getting the culture right.
“Everyone is here for the right reasons. They’ve been brilliant this year and a bit of a stepping stone for the seasons ahead.”
The Lakers were set to play Werribee Centrals on Saturday, but that was put on hold with Victoria going into lockdown.
