By Murray Silby
Alice Springs will host its first ever VFL W game on Saturday when NT Thunder welcomes the Casey Demons to TIO Traeger Park for Round 12.
Thunder is second on the ladder behind Collingwood and above Hawthorn, but all three have eight wins, one more than Geelong.
Casey is in eighth with just the four wins, but with the league only having a top four, and just the top two teams getting a double chance, Thunder can’t afford to drop its intensity.
A key to Thunder’s run of three successive victories has been its intensity around the ball, on both the opposition when they’ve been in possession, and on the loose ball.
It’s that kind of pressure that Thunder will have to maintain as it builds towards the end of the season if it’s to secure a double chance come finals time.
Speaking after last week’s 23-point win over the Tigers, Thunder coach Tim Weatherald said the Casey game is another vital match from a finals perspective, but the squad is also keen to help its Alice Springs players secure a win for their local fans.
“Two games (in a row) in Melbourne now we’ve come down and won and we now really look forward to playing our one and only game in Alice Springs this week and I’m actually really excited for the Alice girls who are involved there to play in front of their families,” Weatherald said.
“It’s all going really well and obviously we’re looking now to secure that top two spot.”
Utility Tahlia Holtze was introduced to footy while living in Alice Springs for more than a decade.
She was born in Darwin, but has also lived in Maningrida and Adelaide River as the family moved around the Territory for work reasons.
Alice holds a special place in her football-beating heart though.
“This is probably the one game I’m most nervous about because it’s like a home game for me,” Holtze said. “Playing in front of family and friends, it’s pretty exciting. I’m excited.
“I’ll have a few fans,” she laughed. “I’ve got a few people who are excited to come down and watch.
“There’ll be a few from my old team there supporting me, which will be really good. I’m looking forward to it.”
Holtze said it was a lack of soccer opportunities that led her into Australian rules football.
“I grew up playing soccer and because the competition wasn’t big there (Alice Springs) I thought I would try footy out and I didn’t know footy at all so it was a new sport for me so I thought I’d give it a go and ended up loving it,” she said.
“I was playing for Pioneer Eagles and just stayed with them for five years and joined the Pinktails program in Alice Springs and got a few opportunities like being able to fly to Adelaide with the Pinktails and then having Thunder opportunities.
“I thought the game was really confusing at first. Even now it feels like I’m learning something every game, every time I play. It’s a hard sport to learn, but once you get the idea of it, it makes a bit of sense.”
Holtze has mostly been playing in the backline for Thunder, but senses the coach may give her some opportunities in the forward line.
Wherever she lines up, there’s no escaping how seriously Thunder will be taking its first VFL W match in the Red Centre.
“It’s a very important game. We know that Casey hasn’t won as many games, but we know they’re very competitive. We’re ready to give our all and come home with the win,” Holtze said.
VFL W Round 12 – NT Thunder v Casey Demons, 11.30 am Saturday 28 of July, TIO Traeger Park, Alice Springs.