WAFLW Premiers Launch Pre-Season in the Top EndMonday, January 23, 2023 - 4:11 PM

Claremont Premiership coach Jack Schwarze has revealed the club’s trip to the Top End was more than just focussed on the team’s on field chemistry.

The Tigers were invited to play an NTFL women’s representative team in Darwin at the weekend, with the WAFLW side grinding out an impressive 11-point victory 5.3 (33) to 3.4 (22).

Midfielder Adele Arnup was named Best on Ground for her performance.

Schwarze was quick to accept the offer to take the team to Darwin.

“After playing teams from South Australia over the past two years and winning those games, the NTFL wanted to test themselves against the reigning WAFLW Premiers.

We were really keen to use it as an early gauge to see how our pre-season is tracking,” Schwarze said.

Having caused an upset to claim the WAFLW flag against East Fremantle last year, the Tigers are intent on ensuring they’re not one hit wonders.

“We knew we'd be coming up against an opposition full of talented players mid-way through their season.

In humid and slippery conditions, we started slowly but once we found our groove I was really pleased with our offense and defence.

There are things we know we need to tweak in the next month or so before our season starts, however we are tracking in the right direction,” he said.

The Tigers took a squad of 25 to Darwin, with the side missing 6 League players.

The pre-season outing was also used to educate the squad off the field.

“Our theme was about connection to land and country, connection to each other and connection to our system.

It was an incredibly valuable trip to be able to work on that,” according to the coach.