Reserves cull angst

Several WAFLW clubs have voiced concerns about the WAFC’s plan to scrap the WAFLW reserves competition next season. This angst comes from an announcement on Thursday night that the women’s competition would likely be stripped back to two grades — league and the youth-based Rogers cup — after release of survey results completed earlier this year. The WAFC board will meet in coming weeks to vote on the decision, giving clubs hope they have time to convince commissioners, including chair Wayne Martin, who was forced to reassure clubs a final decision had not been made not to ratify the recommendation. One club opposed to the cut is East Fremantle, which has a marvellous track record of giving country women players a chance to gain WAFLW experience in the reserves competition. The Sharks are also holding a talent day in their Mid West recruiting zone later this year, in a bid to increase their number of regional players. A number of SWFL players, including Bunbury’s Doma Fedele and Larissa Versaci (Harvey Bulls), were given a chance to play for the Sharks at reserves level over the past few years. Versaci is now vice-captain of the league side, while Fedele has become a regular in the team after dominating in the reserves. Sharks club president Mark Stewart is set to meet Martin later this week to discuss “how we reached this point” and ascertain how the decision was reached. “We want our women and men to have the same opportunity to play football,” he said. “Putting my East Fremantle hat on, some of those girls will be too old for Rogers Cup and some won’t be ready-made league players so a reserves league is important.” The scrapping of the competition could also impact the ability of mature-aged country players in the South West to test themselves against the State’s best. If the decision is ratified, a number of stand-out players from the country week-winning SWFL women’s team — including Bethany Bond, Beth Beckett, Rennie Meadmore and Emma Borinelli — would find it tougher to enter the WAFLW system, as they would not be eligible to play in the Rogers Cup.