Michelle Cowan has had a busy week, helping welcome West Coast’s newest AFLW draftees and dropping in on Australian Diamonds training.
The Eagles assistant coach was excited to see the club finalise its inaugural list as they prepare to enter the competition in the upcoming 2020 season.
West Coast picked up six players in yesterday’s draft before Cowan went on 6PR’s Sportsday to chat all things AFLW.
Cowan said there was definitely enough talent to warrant the competition’s expansion to 14 teams.
“These girls coming through have played since they put on their boots to play Auskick as five-year-olds,” Cowan said. “They have naturally got that football ability, they have got some incredible skills.
“They are footballers, they are not netballers that are coming across to play AFLW or hockey players coming across to play. They’ve got so many years experience that they’ll bring into the competition and they’ll certainly hold their own at the highest level.
“It’s 100 per cent that it’s here to stay. I know people absolutely love the game.
“This time six years ago we had 30,000 girls and women playing AFL across the entire country and now we sit here with over half a million girls choosing to put on boots and play. The growth is there, the support is there and the sponsorship is certainly there and the game will just continue to grow.”
Cowan said she was pleased West Coast had improved its forward depth through the draft and they couldn’t wait to get started.
“At West Coast, we’re just so keen to hit the ground running and get started and prepare in what really is a short pre-season,” she said. “It is a short competition season as well. We need to get started as soon as we can.”
Cowan also watched Australia’s world No.1 netball team, the Australian Diamonds, train at the Gold Netball Center.
Australian coach Lisa Alexander invited Cowan to the session ahead of the Diamonds’ Constellation Cup match against trans-Tasman rivals, the New Zealand Silver Ferns, at RAC Arena on Sunday.
Fantastic to have @MishCowan at @AussieDiamonds training today! #worldclasscoach pic.twitter.com/8bIfxCyO5J
— Lisa Alexander (@CoachLisaA) October 22, 2019