Collingwood fans got their first taste of what's in store this AFLW season as the team took on North Melbourne in a match simulation session at Arden St on Saturday.
The Magpies braved the heat over six quarters of match play and showed some promising signs, particularly from their youngsters.
It was the first opportunity for new coach Steve Symonds to see his team's pre-season work in action.
“We got what we wanted out of it,” Symonds told collingwoodfc.com.au post the session.
“We wanted to see what our younger players could offer in different roles and we saw some exciting things.”
Only Brianna Davey and Kristy Stratton missed the session (both were managed).
Lauren Bulter and Alana Porter were an electric duo in defence while Irish recruit Aishling Sheridan offered great speed in the forward line.
There were also some positive improvements from Sarah Rowe in front of goal as well as Sharni Layton in the ruck.
Ash Brazill was her usual self as a force down back but she also spent time up forward, managing to boot a major late in the final term.
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While there was no official scoreboard, the Kangaroos found the goals early and held the lead for the remainder of the game.
Having struggled at times to hold the front position of their opponents, the Pies managed to find their way and became more dominant in the final term.
“North’s is one of the teams who is expected to be up there this season, so it was a great opportunity for us to play against a really established group who’ve been consistently strong over the past 12 months,” Symonds said.
“But it was good to see some signs in terms of fitness and structure particularly in the last quarter from our group.
“We now know the areas we need to tighten up and we’ll focus on that over the next couple of weeks.”
Emma Grant took a knock to the head early in the match that saw her sit out the remainder of the game with concussion.
Ruby Schleicher will be sent for scans on Monday morning having sustained an injury to her left knee half way through the second term.
The team will host Melbourne at the Holden Centre for their first official practice match next Saturday 25, January with the first bounce scheduled for 10am.
