The long winter is over and footy is back for the summer. Hillhurst's Ciara "Lanners" Lanigan (left) and Kensington's Sam "Newman" Woodward train in the snow for the 2009 Premiership Season.The Kensington Kingfishers' captain, Kathryn "Gangles" Zakus, has declared that her side "will finish on top this year" as they prepare for for the opening matches of the 2009 Runge Alberta Footy Women's League this weekend in Calgary.
As Kensington's best-and-fairest player in 2008, Zakus led the club as they narrowly lost the Grand Final to their cross-town rivals Hillhurst Nighthawks. She believes that 2009 will see the Kingfishers dish out some payback. "We have a core group of girls returning from last year, including Roxanne Kelly, Erin "Sav" LeBlanc and Beck Jones, and a lot of new girls that have demonstrated potential during pre-season training," said Zakus. "I believe that we can improve on our goal-kicking accuracy, as we kicked a lot of behinds last year. The result would have been very different if we had converted."
Across town, Hillhurst captain Holly "Witchy" Greatwich disagrees. "Kensington are no doubt ready to avenge their wounds and damaged pride from last year's loss, but we will face them head on", said the Nighthawks' 2008 best-and-fairest player. "With a little more game understanding and confidence, coupled with an influx of promising new players, there is no reason that we won't take the flag home for a second consecutive year. Everyone should keep an eye on Lori "Boss" Bossert, Amanda "Plugger" O'Rae and Debbie "Muscles" Leung - they will really step up and surprise some people this year."
Both Kensington and Hillhurst go into the 2009 season having lost key players. Kensington half-back Kathryn "Mumf" Mumford returned to Melbourne earlier this year, leaving a hole in the 'Fishers' backline. "Mumf was able to shut down Witchy on a regular basis, and losing her is unfortunate", commented Zakus. Hillhurst lost Meg "Ginger" Goodfellow, who also relocated to Australia. "Ginger was undoubtedly one of our most explosive and passionate players last year, and she will be missed", remarked Greatwich.
Big shake-ups have also happened off-field during the long winter. Player numbers have grown considerably during the off-season, and 2009 will be the first year that a Reserves Division is fielded to allow new players to gradually develop their footy skills. Bigger still is the inclusion of a third club in the AFWL Elite Division this year - the Edmonton Emus are heading south to stake their claim to the premiership. Formed in late 2008 with help from the Calgary Kookaburras, the Emus bring footy back to Canada's 5th largest city and boast Kyla Fisher as captain. Kyla played footy in Australia with Canberra's ANU Griffins and has been imparting her skills on the Emu chicks all winter.
"Watch the Emus fly. The Calgary-based teams don't have a hope," stated Edmonton coach Tristan Waldock. "Our girls will terrorize their opposition. Alena Manera and Natalie Heazlewood are both growing into exciting centres and I believe we will be doing the Emu Victory Dance pretty soon, eh."
Each club will play two matches on Saturday, with Kensington and Edmonton kicking off the day at 12:00pm. Spectators are encouraged to come along a watch some terrific footy and to support the girls. Food and drink will be available to purchase, and admission is free. Later in the evening, the players and sponsors will celebrate the 2009 Season Launch & Jersey Presentation downtown at Bottlescrew Bill's Pub. For details on the location of matches, a full schedule and the evening's Season Launch & Jersey Presentation, please visit the Events Page.
