September’s AFLW State of Origin is the first time Brisbane Lions players will gather since March’s grand final. Seven Lions stars will play for the Allies side taking on Victoria.
Sabrina Frederick-Traub, Emily Bates, Emma Zielke, Jess Wuetschner, Kate McCarthy, Leah Kaslar and Sam Virgo will represent Queensland in the Allies team. Their teammate Kaitlyn Ashmore will suit up for Victoria.
Lions Captain Emma Zielke can hardly wait, “We all kind of want it to hurry up so we can start again,” she said.
The State of Origin is the first of its kind for the women’s competition and Zielke hopes the rivalry clash is here to stay. She’ll be coached by Adelaide Crows and inaugural AFLW premiership winning coach Bec Goddard.
They might have been sworn enemies in March’s AFLW Grand Final but Zielke is looking forward to gaining some inside knowledge from her Allies coach.
“I’m excited to get coached by Bec Goddard,” Zielke said.
“Because obviously she’s an awesome coach and she’s got a good track record so far. I’m keen to learn something new from her.”
The Allies, made up of all states and territories bar Victoria, will be united in wanting to make a statement.
“When we played national footy before, Victoria is the powerhouse and they’ve been really hard to beat in the last five or six years,” Zielke said.
“We got an email from Bec just yesterday and she sounds pretty serious about wanting to beat the Vics.”
The team will head down to Melbourne in late August to meet and plan their Victorina attack before September 2nd’s match.
“You want to win. You just want to win.”
Zielke has been keeping busy in the AFLW off-season, her Coorparoo side sit top of the table in the QWAFL competition, with finals just around the corner.
The Allies take on Victoria on Saturday 2nd September at 7:40pm at Etihad Stadium.
The game will be broadcast on Channel Seven and Fox Footy.
