Time to get this show on the road

TSLW players feared there would be no season this year because of the pandemic, but it is now all hands to the pump as Tasmania’s best female players prepare for battle. The State League competition for women is four weeks away and Clarence captain Grace Mitchell and Glenorchy full back Alice Raspin can hardly wait — Mitchell as skipper of the reigning champion and Raspin as a new recruit to the game.

REIGNING TSLW champion Clarence says the COVID-condensed season is about having fun when the women’s State League competition kicks off on July 18.

The Roos toppled raging premiership favourite Launceston in last year’s grand final, and Clarence captain Grace Mitchell kicked two goals in the three-point nailbiter.

Mitchell, and Glenorchy defender Alice Raspin, are pumped about AFL Tasmania’s decision to conduct a TSLW season.

“We’re definitely excited — it has given us something to look forward to and we can’t wait to get out there again,” Mitchell said.

“Under the current circumstances, the goal is just to have fun. We didn’t even think we’d have a season so we are just happy to be out there.”

Clarence maintained a strong list despite the coronavirus shutdown.

“We’ve only lost three or four players but we’ve got a couple of newbies as well,” Mitchell said

TSLW premiers in 2018, Glenorchy has been honing its craft for three weeks. “The team is coming together really well,” Raspin said. “We’ve got quite a young group because we lost some of our older girls this year.

“We are jelling really nicely and we’ve got some really athletic young girls coming up, so it should be a good season.”

Despite the longest pre-season in football history, Raspin said the Magpies were “really motivated”.

“We had hoped with the longer season we’d see how it goes for the first few rounds, but with the shortened season we’re excited to get out there and be competitive,” she said.

A former netballer, Raspin is brand new to footy.

“I’ve never played football before. I played at a competitive level in netball and then got picked up by Glenorchy to come and play footy,” she said.