By Daniel Viles
Coorparoo begins the 2023 Bond University QAFLW season as the only club to have the same coach, same captain, and the majority of its playing group from 2022.
Coach Rebecca Randazzo made an enormous number of changes off the field in preparation for the 2022 season, bringing in specialists to help all parts of a footballer’s body and mind. This has been rewarded with a relatively calm entry into her second year.
A run of five consecutive wins through April and May saw the Kings lead the competition at the halfway point before injuries took their toll. Even then, it wasn’t until the final quarter of an enthralling arm-wrestle with Southport that Coorparoo was consigned to missing the finals for only the second time in its 10-year QAFLW history.
This gave Randazzo a clear indication of where further off-field improvements could be made.
“We don’t need to change too much because what we put in place last year was pretty solid. We definitely wanted to up our S&C and resource that appropriately, and we’ve done that. The girls have asked for more support around their nutrition, so we’ve done that.”
“We’ve onboarded a new Strength and Conditioning coach in Kurt Vogel (Athlete Revolution) who’s just elite. The way he designs his sessions is incredibly inclusive. The player feedback has been really, really positive and our data is through the roof.”
“We’ve also introduced a new nutrition partner, All Bodies. The girls have really got a lot out of that and getting on top of things like colds and flus and injury, but their energy levels are great. I think the addition of those two entities into our program has been a real positive.”
Several Kings benefited almost immediately from the additional off-field support given to them in 2022 and received appropriate recognition.
“Laura Blue is a classic case. Breakout season last year (named in the Bond University QAFLW Team of the Year) because we were able to give her the support she needs as a person. Hannah McLaughlin and Chelsea Winn came through Academy programs but got spat out; we’ve now provided a more holistic program and they’re playing incredible football. Rising Star nominees last year, another season of senior footy behind them, they’re thriving.”
While Coorparoo’s defence was miserly last year, their goalscoring relied largely on small forwards, most notably Chelsea Chesterfield with 13 goals, and advancing midfielders, such as Winn and Jenae Govan. Randazzo is comfortable seeing this apparent setback in the context of the larger plan.
“Being a new program, we started with defence. When you renovate a house, you start from the back, work your way to the front, so that’s the approach we took. We’ve made some tweaks around our forward fifty entry and we’ve got some development coming through from our youth program. You’re going to see Chloe Gaunt up there, a good six footer. We’ve got Coco Garton from Morningside, more height there. We’ve got more versatility this year in terms of profiles up the front.”
The most notable recruits with senior football experience are former Western Bulldogs winger Lucy Schneider and Curra Swans forward Bonnie Farrell.
“Bonnie Farrell is a super smart footy player. She’s come down from Townsville. She’s in the Defence Forces, got a silky left foot and can play both ends of the field. And she’s super down to earth; if we’re not talking about footy, we’re talking about selling cows.”
The culmination of everything being built at Giffin Park is a word too seldom used in connection with footballers – happiness.
Says Randazzo, “We just want to make happy people. That’s part of our role. People like Lucy, we’re now her family; same with Bonnie, because they’ve moved. That’s the role that we play with them, helping them find accommodation, helping them find jobs. If they’re happy people, then the footballer comes out of them.
Nickname: Kings
Coach: Rebecca Randazzo
Captain: Sally Young
Home Ground: Giffin Park
QAFLW Premierships: 2013; 2014; 2015; 2019
2022: 5th (8 wins, 6 losses; 61 goals scored, 56 goals conceded)
PLAYERS IN
Jacinta Baldwick (Sherwood juniors)
Bonnie Farrell (Curra Swans, Townsville)
Stacey Francis (netball]
Coco Garton (Morningside juniors)
Sophie Henwood (Alexandra Hills, QFAW)
Liz Hills (basketball, netball, rowing)
Binta Lamin (Morningside, QFAW)
Jess Roberts (Curra Swans, Townsville)
Grace Roberts White (Morningside juniors)
Lucy Schneider (Western Bulldogs, VFLW)
Giuliana Simionato (Morningside, QFAW)
Bridget Taylor (North Shore, NSW)
Jess Watts (Surfers Paradise, QFAW)
Bella Wright (football)
PLAYERS OUT
Megan Boscoe (Wilston Grange)
Abbey Brokken (Wilston Grange)
Ruby Dry (Mt Gravatt, QFAW)
Emma Gibson (Wilston Grange)
Alex Grace (Wilston Grange)
Ashley Moloney (Wilston Grange)
Caitlyn Rawding (Wilston Grange)
Kalista-Jayne Shiner (Wilston Grange)
Renee Teys (Maroochydore)
Jess Wuetschner (Essendon, VFLW/AFLW)
THREE PLAYERS YOU SHOULD WATCH
Ari Reilly
Ari Reilly was a teenager when she played in Coorparoo’s inaugural premiership in 2013. These days, she has more appearances in the Bond University QAFLW than any other current player. Reilly doesn’t do many spectacular things on the field because she doesn’t need to. Mostly, she organises the defence in front of her so that if the ball passes them, she has the best chance of cleaning up without raising a sweat. Reilly is already an accredited coach, but Kings fans hope her ambitions there can wait a few years.
Randazzo says: “Ari’s just a quality player, a quality person. Her decision-making when the ball is in her hand, and the calmness that she brings to that backline, it’s just amazing.”
Lucy Schneider
Schneider was an ‘over-age’ invitee to the 2022 AFLW Draft Combine after outstanding seasons in the VFLW with Darebin and Western Bulldogs. A few months later, she arrived in Brisbane to no fanfare whatsoever and quietly joined Coorparoo. It’s not known whether Bec Randazzo rubbed a lamp and wished for an experienced winger who is clean below the knees and can run all day, but Schneider is all those things and, after just one win in two frustrating seasons in Melbourne, is hungry to hear her own team song at the end of a match.
Randazzo says: “It’s so good to pick up a great winger with a bit of maturity. She’s so clean, she’s going to really cause a few opposition headaches.”
Jess Watts
Watts returns to the Bond University QAFLW after stints with Griffith Moorooka, Yeronga (including their 2017 premiership) and Bond University between 2014 and 2019. For the last three years, she has been the outstanding midfielder in Division 1 of the QFAW with Surfers Paradise, finally leading her side to a Grand Final victory last year after two near misses. As a taller inside midfielder, Watts can win contests both on the ground and in the air. Her presence could allow Jenae Govan to play further forward or, if the opposition tries to intimidate Coorparoo, they could join forces in a frightening combination.
Randazzo says: “Jess is all class. She’s going to make a great addition to the midfield and our game plan complements her style of footy.”
WHY YOU SHOULD GO SEE COORPAROO PLAY:
As the only side in the Bond University QAFLW with the same coach and most of the same players as in 2022, they have a 12-month head start with implementing with their game plan, so they may be the best team to watch in the early rounds. Additionally, the ball movement of the Kings in their pre-season matches was noticeably quicker than they produced in 2022. The most frustrating part of watching Coorparoo in 2022 was their inconsistency in finishing off great build-up work. Now there is genuine reason to be excited about their forward line, so that frustration may be gone, as may their absence from the finals.
