WANL 2022: Souwest Jets coach Karly Guadagnin hopeful squad will strive towards grand final target

As the new season of the WA Netball League draws closer, Souwest Jets head coach Karly Guadagnin is hopeful the squad will strive hard to meet their goal of making the WANL Grand Final following an eventful pre-season.

The Jets will be looking to go one better and make a WANL grand final appearance this year after last season in which they reached the finals for the first time since 1997.

It will follow a very eventful off-season for the Jets, which saw star defender Ruth Aryang join the West Coast Fever as a training partner, Brooke Gibson, Brooke Repacholi and Sophie Eastaugh train under the Fever Academy, and Ingrid Colyer and Brooke O’Connor both giving birth.

Speaking to the South Western Times, head coach Guadagnin said the pre-season had been long after starting sooner than they did last year after the club made the decision to base its Open squad in Perth but things had been tracking well so far.

“We made a real conscious effort to get a good pre-season in this year and we’ve managed to do that in the midst of a lot of happenings within the club,” she said.

“Even though we’ve started a bit earlier we’ve also had dropped a few players to the next level so our numbers haven’t been as big during training sessions but we’ve recruited well, we’ve got a few coming back from injury and we’ve also managed to keep the squad the same with plenty of girls returning this year.

“We’ve been working hard hitting all our training markers which has been great and we’ve had a couple of good pre-season games where we drew with the Western Roar and beat the Southside Demons.

“It has been very different and we’ve had to adapt but it will be a good feeling to have everyone on deck as we get closer to the new season.”

After extensive reviewing of their performance last year, Guadagnin said the new team goal would be to make the grand final this year.

“Whilst we’re really proud of what we put out last year, we have been pretty thorough in terms of where we want to get to next and that’s playing in the grand final,” she said.

“That’s our team goal.

“We want to go that one better and now that we’ve been able to progress from last year it will be making sure that we are consistent when we’re under pressure.”

Mid-courter Cassie Farquhar-Reid will be reprising her captain’s role this year while Brooke Gibson, Riley Culnane and Brooke O’Connor will all be vice-captains.

Guadagnin said it was a “really proud moment” seeing the squad vote for who they believed should lead the squad for 2022.

“The girls did a great job in reflecting on who’s really embodying our club values the most and who’s going to challenge us to be better,” she said.

The Jets will be hoping to give back to the region that has supported them over the years when they start their 2022 campaign at Eaton Recreation Centre on April 30.

“Our board and our committee have been working hard behind the scenes in the off-season to drum up support for the club so we’re really stoked to have people on board from the South West supporting us,” Guadagnin said.

“One of our key focuses as a league team is to get back to our roots so we can return to Eaton Recreation Centre with as much support as we can so we can give back to the region.”