Cats can’t forget pain of defeat
GEELONG’S VFLW grand final defeat will spur the inaugural AFLW squad over summer, according to midfield star Richelle Cranston.
The former Melbourne Demons onballer crossed to the Cats after their entry into the competition, but has been a Cat at state level for the past two seasons and helped lead them into VFL finals this year.
Cranston said the loss to Hawthorn in the decider was still hurting and would “spur” her teammates in pre-season, which started last night.
“I think about that a lot and I think a lot of the girls do,” she said.
“It’s really good that we made it, but we wanted to go one better and I think the two-thirds of us that were in that grand final are really using it as fuel to make us better for AFL.”
Maddy McMahon arrived to the opening session in a moon boot with fears of a small fracture in her foot, which threatens to set back her return to training, but Renee Garing is back up and running after missing most of the VFL campaign with back injuries.
“She’s flying. She’s looking good; I’m super excited to see her in the midfield this year,” Cranston said.
“She’s fit — I’m a bit worried about the time trials against her, actually.”
There was little time between the end of VFL season and start of AFL pre-season for most players, but Cranston said she wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I don’t really like breaks. We had two weeks off right after the VFL grand final and that felt like forever, so I’m happy to get back into it,” she said last night.
“I definitely got a whiteboard and ruled it all up, so I’ve been crossing out the days and all the pre-preseason running.
“That’s been hard, so I’m a bit nervous to see what tonight’s going to be like, but I’m super excited.
“I definitely got excited putting my uniform on for the first time and had my backpack ready to go (so) first day of school feels.”