Tara Murray
The hard work in the pre-season is paying off for Essendon in the Victorian Football League Women’s competition.
The Bombers have been the most impressive team in the first three weeks and sit atop the ladder with three wins and a big percentage.
Bombers coach Brendan Major was happy with how things were trackng so far.
“I would say overall it has been really good,” he said. “It’s been an opportunity to work on the things we worked on in the pre-season.
“To kick as many points [overall score] as we have has been a positive. That is the most pleasing thing, the scoreboard reflects the hard work that we’ve done.
“It reflects what we are trying to do.”
In the Bombers most recent match, they accounted for old rival Carlton.
The Bombers blew the game open in the first half with 13 scoring shots to two. They led by 65 points, before the Blues kicked some late goals.
The Bombers taking the win, 12.7 (79)-4.3 (27).
Major said they were good for three quarters of that game.
“It was another good solid performance,” he said.
“We got a bit tired in the end and it’s something we will talk about. We let the foot off the gas and got a bit fumbly.
“It’s something to work on.”
Federica Frew kicked six goals in the win, while Amelia Radford led the way with 25 possessions.
Major said they had been able to share the load around in the first three weeks.
“With a vision a lot easier to get, it’s easier to identify scoring options going forward,” he said.
“It’s been a pretty even contribution. Some of the girls haven’t played a lot of footy and are doing well.
“Our backline is going well. When Carlton kicked goals, they played some good football.
“We’re making teams play good football to score against us.”
While the Bombers are flying early days, Major said they still had plenty of work to do thorughout the season to continue to improve.
He said cleanness with the ball was one area they would look to improve.
“We’ve been able to identify what we need to do quite well,” he said. “The ability to execute for an extended period of time, isn’t something that will happen straight away.
“It’s something that we will need to build on throughout the whole season.”
The Bombers were due to face Wiliamstown on the Saturday at the Hangar, after deadline.
The Seagulls were 1-2 in their first three matches, including losing to Collingwood by 20 points in their last match.
Speaking before the match Major said they had no major injury concerns.
“Williamstown play a physical style of football,” he said.
“They will be a big challenge for us.”
Meanwhile the men’s VFL season will get underway on March 25.
The 21 teams will play 18 games each in a 22-round home-and-away season.
The Bombers will start their season on March 26 against Geelong.
