WKFLW: Broome Towns look to take premiership with improved line-up as Cable Beach look for revenge

With the WKFLW deep in preseason training, the Advertiser checked in with the top teams from 2022 to see their plans for the upcoming season.

Broome Towns

Reigning premiers Broome Towns hope to continue their domination in 2023 but with Cable Beach boasting a strong line-up and the Broome Bulls looking to make it to the grand final, another premiership for Broome Towns is far from certain.

But Broome Towns captain Monique Criddle said she was confident, saying the team was stronger than it was last year.

“We’re faster and more skilful than last year and we’ll continue to do the work and hopefully find ourselves in the finals again,” she said.

On whether the team will win the grand final again, Criddle said she had no doubt that the side had the makings of a two-time premiership team.

“We obviously hope to win it and I think it’s a realistic goal for us but Cable Beach will be looking to grab that trophy back off us,” she said.

The Broome Towns also claim six of the top 10 goal kickers in the league with No.1 goal kicker Sian Vinicombe also in their ranks.

Despite the improved line-up, Criddle said the side was struggling to find a head coach but club regulars were taking over in the interim and training harder than ever to make up for the lack of leadership.

“We’re not the underdogs anymore so we have to work harder than the other teams and push ourselves to be the best we can be,” she said.

Cable Beach Greenbacks

The 2022 runner-up premiers the Cable Beach Greenbacks will be looking for revenge in 2023 and to take back the premiership that they held in 2021.

And with the side retaining four of the top 10 best goal-kickers in the league, the Cable Beach Greenbacks are still formidable.

Head coach Mick Albert said the team would continue with the same game plan this year with aims to take down the Towns and chalk up another premiership win.

“We did well last year but just came short in the grand final match,” he said.

“We will be looking to change that this year in the finals and Towns still seems like the team to beat.”

And with the Greenbacks returning to the competition with a secure and familiar coaching team and no major shake-ups to their line-up the former premiership team has the advantage of being the most stable club in the league during preseason.

Broome Bulls

The Broome Bulls finished third on the ladder last year, just missing out on the grand final, a sore spot for the team that they will be looking to make good on in 2023.

“We want to get one better than we did last year. We want to get to the big dance,” Broome Bulls head coach Jake Coles said.

But the club has suffered a couple of key losses to their line-up including star Lexi Fox who will debut for the Claremont Tigers in the WAFL this year.

But with the Bulls boasting some impressive young players there’s no reason they can’t knock the Greenbacks and the Towns off their perch.

Young gun 13-year-old Shiahn Dwyer returns to the field this year after a spectacular 2022 season in which she won second place in the club’s best and fairest.

Another teen powerhouse, 15-year-old Miya Matsumoto, returns this year as well with big things expected from the wing player.

“She’s a key asset for us on the wing and can run all day and that has been superb for us so I’m hoping to see them do the same this year,” Coles said.

Derby Tigers

The Tigers are still building up numbers for preseason training with travel disruptions due to the floods and people still returning from holidays.

Eric Papertalk takes over head coaching duties this year and said the team should be ready to head out on to the field by the time the 2023 season starts.

“People are still turning to town so we expect to have the numbers up before the competition starts,” he said.

“We’ve been focussing a lot on running and fitness but now we’re starting to transition to focussing on our balls skills.”

Papertalk said the focus this year was to jump up from sixth place on the ladder last year to the top four this season and with only the Broome Saints and the Peninsula Bombers in their way, there’s no reason the Tigers can’t push them off the perch.