Tara Murray
Werribee Centrals will be aiming to bounce back after a disappointing first up finals performance in the Western Football League women’s competition on Saturday.
Having claimed the minor premiership, the Centurions faced Caroline Springs on Saturday in a qualifying final with a grand final spot on the line.
The Lakers put in a strong performance to come away with an 8.6 (54)-5.9 (39) win and secured a fifth straight grand final appearance.
Centurions playing coach Jade De La Rue said it wasn’t the performance they had been hoping for.
“It was disappointing,” she said. “We had worked so hard all year and especially the last two weeks.
“We didn’t play our brand of footy from the get go. When we did play our style, nine out of 10 times it was successful.
“We had the same amount of scoring shots but we didn’t optimise our chances.”
De La Rue said come finals there is a different type of pressure that the playing group has to adjust to.
She said the pressure takes the game up another level.
“In the first quarter there was a bit of an issue with that and we got in our heads,” she said.
“As the game wore on we started to settle. We know we’ve been here before and we showed that we were capable in the second half.”
Paige Cook kicked two goals for the Centurions with Brooke and Taylah Rose, and Georgia Paul named their best.
Having finished top the Centurions get a second chance this Saturday in the preliminary final against Parkside Spurs.
It’s a third straight preliminary final for the Centurions. Caroline Springs beat them the past two years.
De La Rue said they will take all the positives out of the loss and hope to bounce back this week and make their first grand final.
“It’s easier when you play the next week than if you have a week off,” she said. “We’ll use the loss as fire.
“Our structures and plans have not changed and we still want to win the flag at the end of it.
“The Spurs are a challenging side and we’re looking forward to fighting it out.”
The Spurs ended the Suns first season in the elimination final.
The game was all but over at half time, with the Spurs leading by 30 points.
That margin extended to 43 at the final break, before the Suns kicked three last quarter goals to bring it back and add some respectability to the score line.
Parkside ended up winning, 9.6 (60)-4.5 (29) to keep their season alive.
Captain Aleisha Casley kicked four goals for the Spurs, while Tara Morgan kicked two. Taquila Angel, Rita Ceravolo and Brooke Hards were named the Spurs best in the win.
Sharni Currie kicked two goals for the Suns and was named one of the best along with Akima Manoah and Emily Evans.
