STORMING into her seventh AFLW season, Elise O’Dea is more ready than ever for the season to get going.
In what is a shorter turnaround than usual, O’Dea is paying no mind to the colder weather or the less time to prepare, relishing the fact that she gets to play two seasons in one calendar year.
“It’s colder than usual, I think the last few years we’ve been used to training in October and November but now we’re in the depths of winter,” O’Dea said.
“It’s a bit darker but I much prefer it this way – it’s when football is meant to be played.
“In terms of my body, I’m one of the older ones. I want to keep ticking over and keep going because the longer you stay off training, the harder it is to get back going again.”
A senior member of the Blues and a co-vice captain, O’Dea has noticed a significant shift in the intensity when it comes to training.
Whether it can be attributed to Kade Simpson’s extra skill sessions or the professionalism of the players, O’Dea believes that nothing is being left on the track.
“We’re seeing good turnout and we’re seeing a lot of improvement from those sessions [with Simpson],” she said.
“Girls are going into it with real purpose and intent and it helps that now you’ve got a bit more time that’s freed up not having to work full-time hours: it’s going to change the way the season looks and extra training sessions looks and ultimately how the game looks.”
On the skills program implemented by the Head of AFLW Development, O’Dea notes how lucky she is to have a mentor like Simpson: with 342 AFL games under his belt, he provides a wealth of knowledge for the AFLW side.
“‘Simsy’ has been great for our program in terms of the extra sessions that he puts on and the time that he makes himself available,” she said.
“We’re so lucky and I’m so grateful to have a resource like him: he’s played over 300 games and still just wants to do skill work with us. I’m sure the number of footballs he’s kicked over his time is crazy, but he keeps wanting to get the best out of us.”
Referring to the slow start that the Blues had in season six earlier in the year, O’Dea said that any missteps early will leave the Blues playing catch-up for another season.
As a player and a leader, O’Dea learnt a lot from the previous season, and hopes that the side can become wiser from the challenges they faced in early 2022.
“I think I learnt a lot from last season, both in the leadership role and as a player in the team,” she said.
“We learnt that you don’t have time to have a slow start in a game, let alone in a season, because the season is just too short at the moment to lose games early. You find yourself chasing games towards the end.
“You’ve got to try and win games early in the season and you’ve got to try and win games early or not get blown out of the water, because quarters are shorter and anything can happen.”
With the intensity at an all-time high at IKON Park, and the side being buoyed by the performance of the men’s side, O’Dea is confident that there will be a shift in the performance of the group when Round 1 rolls around.
“We’re getting a real buzz off how the boys team is going as well, coming into finals and we’re starting to ramp up,” she said.
“I think the intensity that the group has been training at - consistency was an issue with us last year - and I think the way we’ve been training, you can’t fault the effort and the intensity of the girls. I think it will reflect on the field.”
