Falcons list reveals its true depth
NO surprise to see Darcy Moloney and Laura Gardiner listed in Geelong Falcons’ best players for their season-opener.
The highly-regarded pair are the NAB League club’s brightest draft prospects this year, and they started their season in style on Saturday in the 33-point win against Gippsland Power at RMIT University in Bundoora.
Gardiner had the most possessions in the competition’s history since records were kept at the start of last year.
She was credited with 38 disposals, laid 14 tackles, had five inside 50s and kicked one goal in the 5.10 (40) to 1.1 (7) victory.
Calder Cannons’ Georgie Prespakis held the record with a 32disposal effort in Round 7 last year.
“She’s athletic but she’s also very team-based and she’s very good at getting from contest area to contest area,” Geelong coach Brendan McCartney said of Gardiner.
“That enables her to consistently be in the game and she’s added a nice blend of defence to her game as well.
“We gave her a bit of an accountability role yesterday.
“One of their players was having a real influence and she actually found more of the ball when she played on her opponent, so it was good learning for all the girls.”
Moloney was also busy with 28 touches, but McCartney was quick to praise the efforts of the team.
“They both played well but a lot of the girls played really well,” he said.
“Some girls invariably find more of the ball than others because they’re a bit more advanced and mature but they all played really well.
“Quite a few of them actually had really good days.
“It was a really good performance and sometimes when your team is functional and working together, the more talented girls tend to have more influence because of that.”
Gippsland was kept scoreless for the first half as Geelong walked to a comfortable win.
“They applied enormous pressure to Gippsland and you could see them just really trying to work on what we’ve been training to develop,” McCartney said.
“It was good fun.”