Two big name debutants have been added to the NT Thunder line up this weekend with AFL W premiership teammates Abbey Holmes and Ebony Marinoff named to take on the Darebin Falcons in Round 10 VFL W action.
The pair will be joined by Holmes’ NTFL premiership teammate Sue Nalder from Waratah who returns to the team along with Courtney Cramey, Marijana Rajcic and Justine Mules in six changes made to last week’s team who defeated the Geelong Cats by 65 points.
Going out of the team is Kristy Irvine, Eloise Jones, Jenna McCormick, Machaelia Roberts, Emma Swanson and Deni Varnhagen.
ThunderW Head Coach Tim Weatherald said the pair were welcome additions to the team.
“Anyone who can kick 100 goals in any competition and has played two seasons of AFL W is a quality player and we get Holmes for the remainder of this year and she can’t wait to represent Thunder.
“Marinoff is a proven AFLW player who won Rookie of the Year in her first season. She’s had an injured back but been training really hard and we just had to wait for the right time to get her in and it’s the perfect time this week with Irvine unavailable due to family commitments and she’s a perfect change” Weatherald said.
“She spent this week with Thunder W player Renee Forth as assistant coaches for the Central Allies team in the Under 18 AFL Women’s Championships on the Gold Coast which had 8 NT players in the team so they will travel to Melbourne together.
“We won’t change anything from last week, it’s the first time we’ve played a team for the second time this season (Darebin) and they’re still the measuring stick and will be throwing everything at us this week.
“They have three AFL W midfielders and three really good quality talls and they’re a much better side than the first time we met them and we’re preparing for a really tough challenge so we’ll be aiming for a high scoring team from our end,” Weatherald said.
VFL W Round 10
Darebin Falcons vs NT Thunder
12:00pm AEST
Saturday 21 July
Preston City Oval, Vic
B: Sharona Bishop*, Samantha Barnett, Lisa Roberts
HB: Sophie Armitstead, Tayla Thorn, Courtney Cramey
C: Katie Streader, Angela Foley, Georgia Bevan
HF: Sue Nalder, Marijana Rajcic, Jessica Sedunary
F: Ebony Marinoff, Abbey Holmes, Jordann Hickey
FOLL: Jasmyn Hewett, Sally Riley, Renee Forth
INT: Lateesha Jeffrey, Kylie Duggan, Lauren O’Shea, Gemma Cusack, Justine Mules
EMERGENCIES: Jasmine Anderson, Emma Swanson, Machaelia Roberts, Jemma Iacono
IN: Courtney Cramey, Abbey Holmes, Ebony Marinoff, Justine Mules, Sue Nalder, Marijana Rajcic
OUT: Kristy Irvine, Eloise Jones, Jenna McCormick, Machaelia Roberts, Emma Swanson and Deni Varnhagen
NEW: Abbey Holmes and Ebony Marinoff
* Indicates 23rd player