The excitement is already high as the Wellington Warriors prepare to play Newtown in the preliminary finals this weekend.
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It’s the first time the women’s team has made it to the preliminary finals, but coming off a 10-nil game in the semi-finals, coach Kyle Nonnenmacher is confident they can make it all the way to the end.
“I’ve got a really good feeling and the girls are pumped up,” Nonnenmacher said.
“At the start of the year our goal was to make the finals and we’ve done that. If we gel as a team we’ve got a fair chance of winning the finals, and if we play like we did on the weekend I don’t think many teams will be able to compete with us.”
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The Warriors smashed SDW at the weekend 10-nil with striker Sara Darney scoring five of the goals. It’s the team’s biggest win of the season.
Last time the Warriors played Newtown, their opponents for the preliminary finals, they also won. This time, Nonnenmacher said he was counting on Darney, leading goal scorer Jacqui Ryan on the wing and defensive marshal Tarni Hawkins to lead the team to another victory.
“They’re our three. If they play well, the team generally plays well around them,” he said.
Goalkeeper Kayla Veech will also be critical.
“Obviously you need a strong player at the back to keep the goals away and in the second grade this year I think we’ve only eight goals in nine or 10 games,” Nonnenmacher said.
To secure the win the Warriors will have to ensure they don’t let their confidence or nerves get the better of them, the coach said.
“We’ve gone into a few games expecting to win easy and ended up struggling and other games we’ve thought we’d get a really hard game and we’ve played above expectations. So trying to keep the girls level-headed is the hardest thing,” Nonnenmacher said.
The Warriors have only been together for three years and before this year had never made it through to even the semi-finals. Now the grand final is in their sights.
The defending champions RSL 78s have already scored a position in the grand final.
“If we make it to the grand final, the team we’ll play (RSL 78s) we lost to 2-1 last time but we were missing Sara Darney who is our star striker,” Nonnenmacher said.
“She scored five goals on the weekend. Her presence makes a big difference in the team when she’s there, that focal point. She’s a very strong player.”
Nonnenmacher has encouraged the Wellington community to get behind the Warriors at this weekend’s match. The game will be at 11am in Dubbo.