PAUL Hood hasn’t put any expectations on his players other than an improvement as Geelong enters its second AFLW campaign.
The Cats coach is well aware that trying to set a benchmark in a competition where four teams have been added, and many of the existing clubs have seen overhauls of their lists is close to a waste of time.
“It’s really difficult to be able to project forward and see how the competition looks at this stage,” Hood said.
“Anything can happen but we just want to grow every week, we want to be a team that develops each week and gets a bit better in every position
“We have really good availability at the moment which means we hope to be able to develop our consistency throughout the season
“For us, it’s about putting our best foot forward each and every week and making sure we enjoy this adventure that AFLW is and we keep embracing it going forward each time we play.”
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Geelong starts its season with a tricky trip west to play Fremantle on Sunday afternoon at Fremantle Oval.
Hood watched the Dockers practice match against Adelaide closely on tape and was able to get a feel for how they want to play.
“Fremantle are a really impressive side when they get the ball on their terms,” he said.
“They managed to score a little bit against Adelaide, and they moved the ball quickly, so it’s our job to make it hard for them to do that.”
The two clubs met once in 2019, with Fremantle kicking 4.10 in the last quarter for a 36-point win at GMHBA Stadium in Round 6.
However, Hood says that result will have little bearing on Sunday’s contest.
“It’s a different squad, things have changed a lot,” he said. “They’ve got some new players in; we saw the way they moved the ball, and we got a good look at what Fremantle would like to do.
“We’ve worked really hard on restricting that. But, we really are focusing on the power within our squad at the moment, and the depth we’ve got, and making it difficult for Fremantle.”
Twitter: @tom_king79
