FIRST game down.

VFLW Senior Coach Tom Stafford was pleased with his team’s efforts in Round 1, securing a win against Port Melbourne. 

Stafford acknowledged the confidence that a Round 1 win can give to the remainder of the season, with the playing group able to transfer a lot of their pre-season learnings to the game. 

“Any time we get the four points in Round 1 is a great result and we can build a lot of confidence from that,” Stafford said.  

“To be able to [get the win] in Round 1 is a really good reward – it shows the things that we’ve done in training have been used on game day.” 

Stafford was particularly impressed with the pressure that the Blues showed on the weekend, out-tackling Port 59-51, despite leading from the four-minute mark of the first term. 

Alongside their transition work, Stafford noticed a few strategies put into place under game-day pressure. 

“I thought we had a really high tackle count on Saturday and that’s something that we want – to be a really high-pressure team,” he said. 

“We spent a lot of time talking about transitioning from offence to defence and I thought on the weekend we did that really well.”

Whilst the entire team put in a connected and cohesive performance, Stafford had a few key players that led the way when it came to the brand the team wanted to play. 

“I thought up forward, Esther Honybun was super: she’s very quick but it was her defensive pressure that was really pleasing – we got our first goal from one of her tackles,” he said. 

“In the middle, Madeleine Di Cosmo (18 disposals, eight tackles) and Millie Klingbeil (20 disposals, nine tackles) have really continued where they left off last season.” 

As for the skipper in Christina Bernardi (22 disposals, one goal), Stafford applauded her first outing as captain, noting her influence when the game was turning against them in the third term, when Port Melbourne kept Carlton scoreless. 

“As soon as she walked into our program, she lifted the professionalism: she’s a leader that leads by example on the field,” he said.

“She’s got some tricks, she’s really skilled, but what really impressed me on Saturday was her high tackle count – during that time in the third quarter when Port came [at us], I thought she really steadied us and showed great leadership.”

Looking ahead to Geelong in Round 2, Stafford was quick to acknowledge 59-point loss the Blues suffered at the hands of the Cats in Round 1 last year. 

With a sense of occasion, Stafford said his side are looking to ‘get even’ with the Cats, building on what they showed in their first official outing of 2023. 

“We’re really excited – they pumped us last year so we want to get back at them this year,” he said. 

“We kicked a lot of points on Saturday and I think we went a bit too wide, so maybe this week we’ll focus on getting some areas on the ground that are easier to score from. 

“We’ll chat about speeds of play – it doesn’t have to always be fast play in times where we’re outnumbered in the forward 50, so just to make sure we can slow it up and show some composure.”