Geelong’s defence has been rock solid in past AFLW seasons and after an improvement in scoring last campaign, attack is again on the minds of the Cats in pre-season.
The new pre-season officially kicked off on Monday and midfielder Becky Webster said the energy levels in Geelong’s playing group were “through the roof”.
The Cats have traditionally battled in scoring, having averaged just 21.2 points per game in seasons five and six.
Becky Webster celebrates a goal last year. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images
But that bumped up to 38.4 last season and with Geelong still ranking fourth for points against, Webster said the focus over the next three months at training will be on building the attack up.
“I think we have been really good defensively in the last few years and worked really hard on our game in the contest over the last few seasons so I think evolving our forward half movement and putting more scores on the board is something we will look to improve on as a main focus,” she said.
“I think being consistent in the contest and defensively plays a huge role in that and also building those layers of connection with the forward line, understanding movement patterns.
“In the past we have been focusing on being strong in defence and winning the ball in the contest and now we are returning that focus a little bit to what we do when we win the ball back and hit the scoreboard.”
The Cats rose to the top eight last season. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images
Webster said she was hoping to improve her explosiveness around the ball and getting forward to score herself.
All eyes are on Geelong as the AFLW world expects season seven’s improvement to carry on this year and the Cats know the expectations are mounting.
“There are always ups and downs of sport but I think we have those expectations on ourselves to continue to improve and we know if we follow the structure and do the hard work, that improvement will look after itself,” Webster said.
“It is exciting with the women’s program especially, so much growth can happen so quickly.”
The AFLW season begins in September.