Collingwood know better than anyone in the AFLW that a slow start is disastrous.
The Magpies have opened the first two seasons with three-straight losses, dooming them to mid-table finishes.
So winning early is a top priority as they head into the third season in February and a new conference system.
“We’ve struggled with that in the last two years,” assistant coach Lynden Dunn said on Wednesday.
“Without putting too much pressure on ourselves, we know you don’t get very long to make a mark in the competition.”
Dunn is on staff again this season and well as continuing his AFL playing career.
He is enthusiastic about the women’s chances, despite their modest results so far.
“I couldn’t be more excited for the group we have this year – we’re a lot younger, the girls are hungry,” he said.
Dunn, 31, plans to keep playing for several seasons but said coaching has opened his eyes.
“I love coaching and the women’s game, it’s very different … not a bad different,” he said
“It’s something I will pursue possibly when I finish playing but hopefully I don’t have to worry about that for a few more years yet.
The women trained with the Collingwood men’s team on Wednesday and captain Steph Chiocci said it was invaluable experience.
“Just to rub shoulders with the best of the best – they were runners-up, they have an elite standard and just running around with them, to see how they go about it,” she said.
“It’s the little things that they do well and the fundamentals.”
Former netball star Sharni Layton has joined the Magpies and Chiocci said she could play anywhere on the ground.
“You’ll hear her too, she’s quite boisterous,” Chiocci said.
“She’s really versatile … it will be very interesting to see.”
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So much of last year’s football palace intrigue centred on just how far the AFL would go to change the rules of the game in response to some meta-elements of the game it found unsatisfactory.
Gary Lyon has declared on SEN that Collingwood is the team to beat in 2019.
Collingwood are in the dark about when star forward Jordan De Goey will return to the AFL after he was injured at training.
Having been lucky to secure another a contract extension after a fourth-consecutive season in which the Magpies missed the finals, Nathan Buckley and his Collingwood outfit were feeling the pressure after a 0-2 start to their 2018 campaign.
One round of AFLW season 3 is done and dusted, and Round 2 is just around the corner.
On 21 September 2018, 94,959 people turned up to the Melbourne Cricket Ground, expecting to see a game of Australian Rules Football. What they got, instead, was a masterpiece of trolling, a piece of performance art for the ages.
