Super W squad aim for quality over quantity as 2020 preseason begins

Melbourne Rebels Super W Head Coach Alana Thomas says her squad’s preparation for the 2020 season is well underway, with an upcoming trial match against South Australia looming as a key cornerstone of selecting the final squad.

The 2020 Super W season will be Thomas’ third Super W season as Head Coach, with the side looking to improve their competitiveness and notch an elusive first win.

Thomas, who is currently in Fiji, coaching with the Wallaroos A side, says the 2020 preseason has already begun, with a strong showing of numbers to training being the major highlight.

“We been together now for two weeks and we’ve had 25-30 girls at training,” Thomas said.

“It’s only in its early stages of finding out the players’ skills and where they’re at and building a good foundation for the 2020 season.

“On November 30 we’re looking to play a trial against South Australia to help finalise the 35-40 player squad for our Super W campaign.”

After a difficult 2019 season, Thomas says following a thorough review process, the Super W program has been adjusted to ensure players are hitting their straps at the right time of the preseason as they launch into competitive fixtures.

Thomas believes the key to seeing an improvement in the playing squad will come with the quality of detail at training, rather than the quantity of sessions.

“We’re going to try to select the squad nice and early and (we want to) be really organised in our planning,” Thomas said.

“We’re only training two times a week because we identified from last year that we probably trained a lot, but the quality wasn’t great.

“So, we’re trying to build into the season, rather than go hard from day one with four sessions a week, remembering that all of our players have day jobs and have to work.”

A fresh new face has also been added to the Super W side’s Coaching staff, with a current international Coach now calling Melbourne home to help develop the side.

“We’ve added a Coach in the name of Peter Breen, who’s the Wallaroos Assistant Coach,” Thomas said.

“He’s now the Backs Coach and Aaron Callister and Nick Piva-Giblett are still with us as well, so the majority of the staff have remained the same.”