IT may have ended on a sour note, but the Greater Western Victoria Rebels girls can look back on season 2021 as the year the club came of age.
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Despite a 14-point preliminary final loss at the weekend tot he Geelong Falcons, the club has gone from strength-to-strength, making its first ever finals series in the girls competition, and scoring a huge one-point elimination final win over the top team.
Trailing by just five points at three quarter time, the Rebels were unable to recapture the previous week's magic on Saturday, going down 5.6 (36) to 3.4 (22), but coach David Loader had nothing but praise for his side.
"The girls were really good, they battled super hard but just lacked a touch of finishing power," he said.
"We had the first four or five shots of the last quarter, and we kicked three points and couple out on the full, we were really peppering them, there were plenty of opportunities."
Loader said considering the challenges faced by the squad being forced to travel huge distances, training together just one night a week, to make a preliminary final was an outstanding achievement.
"We were super impressed with our group and the challenges they overcame throughout the year," he said.
"We have such a smaller demographic to choose from than a lot of other sides, so to make a preliminary final was a great effort."
While he didn't want to individualise, he said he hoped that AFLW scouters would have taken note of a number of the Rebels girls.
"I don't want to say that these are the players that should be drafted, because who knows the way recruiters think," he said. "We have a number in the draft bracket that we have great hopes for, there's no reason why they can't make their way onto an AFLW list."
Also giving the club hope for the future is the raft of underage players including key forward Paige Scott and ruck Kalani Scoullar, who are already members of the Victorian Country squad and have another season of junior football ahead.
There's also scope that players who fall short of getting drafted to AFLW clubs will be able to return as 18-year-old's next season.
Loader confirmed that those still in action with the Vic Country squad, as well as VFL listed players would continue to train in coming weeks with the boys team in order to remain sharp for the final national carnival game next month.
Scoreboard: GWV Rebels 1.0, 1.1, 3.1, 3.4 (22) def by Geelong Falcons 1.1, 3.6, 3.6, 5.6 (36). Goal Kickers: Rebels: P. Scott 2, N. Dojiok. Best: Rebels: C. Leonard, K. Scoullar, T. Meier, P. Scott, L. Condon, N. Dojiok
