WAFL Women ready to play hard until the end

The WAFL Women’s team have secured their role in third position for now but aren’t stopping there.

Co-captains Demi Liddle and Eliza Gelmi know the team has more to give and are gearing up to push themselves and their team mates further in the lead up to finals.

The team are fired up after their leadership meeting this week where the overall sentiment was, they are doing great, but they haven’t reached their full potential just yet said Liddle and Gelmi.

Liddle returned to the game earlier this season after recovering from an ACL injury that saw her sidelined last season.

“I’m just so proud of the girls, it’s really cool to see how the young group are working so hard together and how passionate they are,” Liddle said

“It’s empowering and something that will really drive us moving forward.”

Gelmi echoes this sentiment and believes the team is on the same page, committing to reach their goal of winning the grand final.

“It sounds cheesy, but we have to believe we can get there,” Gelmi said.

“We haven’t given our best footy yet as a team and can still push ourselves further.”

Ahead of the WAFL Women teams long awaited bye this weekend, the leadership meeting held earlier in the week has been described as really positive by both team captains.

The meeting involved review of the team’s progress so far and how they can improve going forward into the second half of the season.

“The whole team goal needs to be redefined,” Gelmi said.

The teams’ goals are to play hard footy during the games and at training to improve said Liddle.

“Even if everyone plays just two percent better than they did before, everything counts,” Liddle said.

“The work ethic has always been there, now we have to focus on how to help each other be better.”

“The group is doing so well and I’m so proud of what we are building and what we are willing to put on the line to win.”

Liddle and Gelmi both love playing the game with their teammates and aspire to role model resilience to the team to help them reach their goal.

Gelmi said it’s so important for her to be aware of her body language and how she is talking with players on the fields.

“Players look to you when stuff hits the fan…if they’re looking to you and you’re not giving your best it can be contagious,” Gelmi said.

“I try perform at a high standard for the team, but if that doesn’t go my way I need to bounce back to still push for the best from everyone else.”

“I expect with everyone getting on the same page now, we will come out quite dominant on the field with more determination around the game.”

Liddle said the team comradery is really strong and everyone knows they can lean on each other when it gets hard.

“Third is good, but we know we can push through to finals.”

The team is united in their goal to win the grand final this year, and we can expect more power and dedication from the team moving forward Liddle and Gelmi said.

The team will kick start the end of the season playing against Claremont this Saturday afternoon.

By Ava Rawlings