WA Coach Commends Final Quarter Fightback

WA Coach Beau McDonald has demanded more consistency in performance from his side following a defeat to South Australia in the 2023 AFL National Championships – U18 Girls at Pentanet Stadium in Joondalup.

The 35-point loss followed a disappointing opening half when WA was held goalless in the opening quarter and booted just one major until the major break.

“We competed and never gave up against what was a very talented opposition. The most positive thing I feel from the match was our ability to turn things around after three-quarter time and play how we practised. We played in patches but not for long enough. We didn’t apply as much pressure to the opposition as we would have liked, and this put our backs under a lot of pressure, and I thought they stood up well. Our last quarter looked like how we want to play,” McDonald said.

WA kicked three goals to two in the final term but still fell short 8.12(60) to 4.1(25).

Georgie Cleaver collected a game-high 19 disposals for WA, while Zippy Fish and Mackenzie Webb earned praise from McDonald.

“ There’s always room for improvement from every player across all aspects of the game, especially with our fundamentals, but we’ll get there,” he said.

The players will now return to the WAFLW before the team is re-selected following the WAFLW season in preparation for the side’s next match against the Allies at Blacktown in August.