NEW SUNS FIXTURE
THE Gold Coast Suns will remain in WA this week to prepare for a Round 5 clash with the West Coast Eagles after the AFLW fixture scribes released the latest draw update on Sunday.
Some Suns players were forced into last-minute calls to employers asking for time off, while others will work externally from Perth through the week, after the club chose to stay in WA rather than complete the round trip on a short turnaround.
Suns head of women’s football Fiona McLarty said the club learned from last season, when the team played West Coast in the final round
of the regular season and returned home only to find out it would play Fremantle in the first week of finals the following weekend.
“By the time we got back to the Gold Coast it was late Monday night and then in the middle of the week we found out we were coming back (to WA) to play Freo on Saturday, so it was a pretty quick turnaround last year,” she said.
“If we travel home it’s a bit harder to get your normal training sessions in because you want to allow time for the girls to recover from their travel.”
McLarty said the week-to-week fixture announcements, while necessary given the coronavirus climate, had been difficult to manage.
“Some (players) will have to take some time off,” she said. “It hasn’t been easy but the players have all worked really hard to … co-ordinate it.
“The majority of our playing group has been able to stay together which is fantastic, so a really big thank you to their employers for being so understanding.”
The club felt staying in WA would give the playing group the best opportunity to prepare for Sunday’s clash with West Coast at Mineral Resources Park, in the quest for a first win of season 2021.
Coach David Lake gave a scathing assessment of the Suns’ lacklustre workrate in their 49-point loss on the road against Fremantle.
Gold Coast slumped to the bottom of the ladder after failing to trouble the scorers from the fourth-minute mark at Fremantle Oval on Saturday as the Dockers piled on 20 unanswered scoring shots from quarter-time.
Lake was pleased by the Suns’ efforts in the first half – trailing by just five points at the long break – but accused his side of being “lazy” from there on.
“It’s really hard when you win the ball … and you look up and you’ve got a one-infive in front of you,” Lake said post-match.
“I felt we let ourselves down badly in that area in the second half.”
“They were lazy … you get back and you work and you go back the other way.
“It’s not local footy so if you’re not prepared at that level then you’re going to find it difficult to play.”
Fremantle won 7.13 (55) to 1.0 (6) after inspirational Dockers midfielder Kiara Bowers led the way in the coalface with 15 tackles and a game-high 17 disposals.
Leah Kaslar kicked the Suns’ only goal.