ALYSSA Mifsud and Harriet Cordner are adamant the women’s team is ready for its first of back-to-back interstate trips, when it takes on GWS Giants in Blacktown and then Adelaide in at TIO Stadium in Darwin.
The duo spoke about the upcoming interstate matches, when they were visiting the Bentleigh West Primary School on Wednesday morning, as part of Melbourne’s ‘Heartland’ visit on the Australia Post AFL Community Camp.
Teammate Melissa Hickey, plus men’s players Nathan Jones, Angus Brayshaw, Jayden Hunt, Josh Wagner, Tim Smith and Mitch King were also part of the Bentleigh West visit.
Mifsud said the team had prepared strongly for the next two weeks, before returning for their final home and away game against Fremantle at Casey Fields.
“I think the girls we’ve got are a really tight-knit group and the way we travel – that will probably be even be better for us,” she said.
“We’ll love to be on the road together, as we love to hang out together, so a bit of extra time won’t hurt.
“The team has come together really well and it’s been great to have a bit of form over the last few weeks.”
Cordner said the players were in a “really good place at the moment” and were ready for their first interstate trip.
“We’ve got our first away trip this weekend, which will be a different experience, but we’re all ready to go and looking forward to it,” he said.
“The staff and the coaches that we’ve got behind us have prepared us well for this.
“We’re just trying to treat it like any other game, but enjoy the experience, because a lot of us haven’t done it before. It’s really exciting.”
Cordner said it was “pretty crazy” to think there were only three home and away games remaining – although that could extend to a fourth week, given Melbourne is third on the ladder.
“It’s all happened so fast and it’s all starting to come together now and we’re getting some results on the board, which is really exciting,” she said.
“We started off a little slow in round one, but we’re definitely on a roll at the moment and we’re just focusing on our own game and not worrying about the opposition too much.
“We’re trying to play our best footy and gradually build on that each week, which we’re doing really well.”
Mifsud agreed with Cordner that the first AFLW season “was flying”.
“It’s gone so quick – we were pinching ourselves last week, saying it’s almost half way through,” she said.
“Everything counts even more now and we want to have a good run to get to the finals, so it’s really important for us, because we want to finish in the top two and play off in the Grand Final.
“Hopefully we can get a big crowd out at Casey for our last game against Freo.”
