West Coast focused on finals not records ahead of date with Collingwood

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West Coast focused on finals not records ahead of date with Collingwood

West Coast are on the brink of breaking two AFLW club records when they play Collingwood on Tuesday night.

Victory over the struggling Magpies will mark the Eagles most successful season as well as see them record consecutive wins for the first time in history.

But Eagles women’s footy boss Michelle Cowan says the records are merely a by-product of the ******* picture they are focused on.

Cowan said West Coast are driven to put together consistent performances and show progress as the team continues to build towards a maiden final series.

“It all helps with the goals that we have, and that’s play finals football, and we’ve got to get these wins under our belt and we’ve got to do them consecutively as well,” she said.

Both the West Coast and Fremantle have started 2-1 and Cowan said it was fantastic to see both teams doing well early in the season.

“It’s great for WA football but it’s great for us,” she said.

Camera IconMichelle Cowan wants the Eagles to consolidate their strong start. Credit: Daniel Carson/AFL Photos/via AFL Photos

“It’s the first time at this point in the season that we’re sitting inside the top eight, and gives ourselves a really good chance to start the season strong which is something that we really wanted to do as well.”

Cowan highlighted the importance winning as an indication of improvement under new coach Daisy Pearce.

“It’s really rewarding when the group — players and staff included — have put in so much time, effort and work in and then to get this reward is really pleasing, but certainly for us, we came over here knowing that we had these two games and we wanted to compete and we wanted to win,” she said.

“We want to win both games so are looking forward to the challenge ahead against Collingwood, and hopefully this trip away sees us return with those eight points and stay in the top eight as well.”

The Eagles survived a first quarter blitz from the win-less Bulldogs and Cowan said they expect a similar desperation from the Pies on Tuesday night.

“We knew that the Doggies would come out absolutely ******* for us and and they did, certainly in that first quarter,” she said.

“They threw absolutely everything at us and it was great to see the resilience of our group to just keep their heads up and stay to the cause of what we wanted to achieve and Collingwood are going to do the exact same.

“They’ll be really hungry for their first win of the season and we are really looking forward to that challenge.

“I feel our group’s really well prepared over this week away in Melbourne. It’s a condensed round but I still feel that we’ve prepared really well and keen for that challenge.”

data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==Camera IconSasha Goranova will miss the clash with a hamstring injury. Credit: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

West Coast will be without Sasha Goranova who injured her hamstring against the Bulldogs on Thursday night.

Scans have confirmed a hamstring strain and the 23-year-old midfielder will be sidelined for the next two to three weeks.

Abbygail Bushy has an adductor strain and will be unavailable for selection with Verity Simmons and Evie Gooch added to the side.

Collingwood will be without vice-captain Brittany Bonnici (injured) and Erica Fowler (omitted).

COLLINGWOOD

B: M Atkinson S Livingstone

HB: J Allen R Schleicher L Cronin

C: S Rowe M Cann C Blair

HF: G Campbell I Barnett A Porter

F: E Morris E James

FOLL: S Frederick B Davey C Remmos

I/C: S Sansonetti L Brazzale A Schutte C Taylor J Ivey

EMG: S Karlson E Fowler G Clark

INS: E Morris C Taylor

OUT: B Bonnici (injured) E Fowler (omitted)

WEST COAST

B: J Rentsch B Schilling

HB: E Swanson C Thomas Z Wakfer

C: V Simmons I Lewis J Britton

HF: L Wakfer K Gibson M Western

F: A Franklin J Hosking

FOLL: S Lakay E Roberts A Drennan

I/C: S Bakker B Smith E Gooch G Cleaver O Di Donato

EMG: M Webb J Harken T Lyons

INS: V Simmons E Gooch

OUT: S Goranova (injured) A Bushby (injured)

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