By Jonty Ralphsmith
Our Coates Talent League expert Jonty Ralphsmith takes a look at the Gippsland Power Girls program.
AMBER SHOOTS UPWARDS
Gippsland Power coach Nathan Boyd has praised the growth of national combine invitee Amber Schutte.
The club entered the season with no player clearly on the radar of AFLW clubs, but Amber Schutte’s strong national championships for Vic Country have positioned her well.
The defender was arguably the best in Vic Country’s backline in the first game and had a big finish against Western Australia.
Between that, she became a key figure for Gippsland, averaging 17 disposals and four rebound 50s, primarily stationed in defence.
Boyd was unsurprised to see her get those outcomes, having seen the work she has put in off the field.
“She’s very driven to be successful in whatever she does,” Boyd said.
“In a physical sense, she was one of the most diligent preparers, always hitting her markers in terms of preparation and off-field stuff.
“She dedicated time to developing her growth areas and we worked hard on her kicking, and she worked hard to polish that.
“We’ve started to see glimpses of her longer kicking being technically sound.
“She has a really natural contested ground ball drive out, clean over the ball ability.
“She continues to work on that and continued growing.”
YOUNGSTERS PROVIDE HOPE
While the Power yielded just three wins in 2023, it is a clear step forward for the club from previous years.
The progression is built on the foundations of the hard work of key figures at football clubs such as Warragul Industrials and Bass Coast, which has given Gippsland a greater talent pool to select from.
The results this season came with a percentage of 66, following a winless 2022 and percentage of just 28, when they were getting several players from the Dandenong Stingrays region to fill a team.
They also had just one win in 2021 and percentage of 15, following a winless 2020.
Even more promisingly, they were much more competitive when they were allowed to introduce their under-16s talent following the first community break.
The club played with a young list for most of the season and those given the responsibility justified their selections.
Boyd’s side challenged teams with a typical tough, country style of footy, led by midfielders Jas Sowden, Alisha Molesworth, India Makai and Shanae Hawker.
“A lot of sides are great on the outside and have speed and can transition, but we had a point-of-difference with our contested numbers,” he said.
“As a group, we love the physical stuff and that’s where we challenged the metro sides the most.
“In last quarters when it did start to run away from us was when they started to control the outside ball.
“For us, our best footy was about getting our nose in the trough and getting stuck in the contest to give ourselves territory.
“It was three wins on paper, but there were games where we put ourselves in positions we didn’t expect to be.”
Rebounding halfback Ella Stoddart leads a strong contingent of under-17 girls, which also includes Abbey Hobson, Addison Howe, Chelsea Sutton and Rebecca Fitzpatrick.
2008-born Grace Dillow also sneaked a late-season game.
In the third win of the season against Murray in the final round, Stoddart streaming out of the backline and finding Hobson, who had a breakout game with 4.3 and a slew of contested marks, was an exciting look into the future of Gippsland girls footy.
“Abbey is such a strong contested mark, Chelsea gives us so much danger on the ground and is a workhorse and Ella and Addi are creative, have high football IQ and have scope to grow with their athletic profiles and Bec’s contest work is phenomenal.
“We’re in for an exciting few years with those girls.”
VFLW OPPORTUNITIES COULD PRESENT
While Schutte appears to be the only draft hope for the Power in 2023, there are plenty of players who would prove handy additions to VFLW lists.
Twins Alisha and Elise Molesworth are already on Box Hill’s VFLW list, while India Makai was given some opportunities at Casey.
Boyd is also optimistic there could be opportunities for Ahlee Penry, Charlotte Waller and Tylah Burn at state league level.
Penry competed well in the ruck for a Gippsland side that lacked height, but opportunities in senior footy will likely come for her off halfback, where she played late in the season for the Power.
The competitive, athletic Burn averaged eight tackles in the midfield, Waller played as a lockdown defender and there is also upside about developing tall Emily McGovern.
CENTRA PROGRESS CONTINUES
The gun 2024 draft prospect has long had hype around her in the Gippsland region.
She delivered in 2023.
The bottom-ager looked a class above whatever level of footy she played in 2023, claiming the Vic Country MVP despite playing against girls a year older than her.
In her 11 games for Gippsland, she averaged 23 possessions, four rebound 50s and, given a minimum of two games, a competition high 5.7 marks.
While her silkiness and offensive firepower with ball in hand is clear for all to see, she played much of the season in defence for Gippsland.
It has rounded her out as a player.
“While she’s one of those talented players who was going to go well regardless, we feel we had a massive win by playing her as a defender and teaching her more about how to play the game properly,” Boyd said.
“At times before 2023 it looked like she wasn’t sure of what to do, where to lead, where to run.
“By taking her behind the ball and playing her on a Sophie Butterworth (Dandenong Stingrays first round prospect) or another key target, we knew she would be led to the footy which gave her so many opportunities to showcase her weapons.
“She’s a great mark, she’s so good on the ground and really clean once she gets the ball in her hand so we thought it would be great to expose her on a more experienced player and the evolution was clear.
“In the off-season, we’ll work really hard around leading patterns and forward craft because we’ll be able to deploy here anywhere next year.
“She’s an exciting prospect. You can’t see the ceiling.”
