After a bumper off-season, superb recruitment and a number of trial wins, the spotlight’s on Confederates in Saturday’s women’s Premier League Hockey opener.
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They know it too, even if they don’t like it all that much.
“We tried to avoid it and tried to stay under the radar a bit,” Feds coach Fiona Reith laughed.
“We sort of knew a few things were happening and kept them under wraps a bit, but it’s all out there now.
“We’ve had a long pre-season and I think more than anything the girls just can’t wait to play some hockey. We’ve talked the talk so to speak, so now we need to walk the walk.”
Feds open their season against Bathurst Souths, a side the red and blues have developed somewhat of a rivalry with in recent seasons.
“More last season really, but we know they’ll be coming here with a point to prove. We beat them in the last round of 2016, which stopped them making the finals,” Reith said.
“So we know they’re coming over here to win.”
Feds will be slightly understrength too. Boom recruit Ellen Van Hoek is unavailable while NSW under 18s gun Eva Reith-Snare is at the national championships in Hobart.
“In the past that would really hurt, but we’ve got depth now,” Reith said.
“We’ve got some good young players coming in and our couple of West Australian recruits too, the provide a bit more experience.
“We’ll still be playing pretty no frills hockey, but we’re fit and we’re ready to go. Here’s hoping we can start the season well.”
Feds host Souths from 3.20pm.
Matt Findlay
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
