A candid Rebecca Beeson has labelled the GIANTS’ AFL Women’s practice match defeat to Brisbane "a wake-up call".
Speaking on the GIANTS’ official AFLW podcast A Club Like No Other, the forward admitted the occasion had got the better of the squad as they fell to a 16-point defeat.
It took until the last quarter for the GIANTS to get on the scoreboard but Beeson knows that the experience will only benefit the young playing squad.
“I think the girls were really overwhelmed, I know I felt overwhelmed on the weekend,” she said.
“It was definitely a wake-up call to where we need to be at in structures and how we need to think about the game beforehand.
“We needed to adapt to that game much better than we did, so it was a massive wake-up call and I think the girls are ready for the challenge and we’re ready for round one.”
Beeson said playing against a team boasting a host of tall and strong players has also provided the GIANTS with greater insight as to what is to come when the inaugural NAB AFL Women’s competition kicks off in eight days' time.
“We’re quite a small team, so I feel it was a good learning experience for us,” she said.
“We need to change our game style and structure to suit our physiques, they were a really well structured team and held those structures.
“They worked really hard in training to sort out how they were going to play the game and how they were going to be positioned around the field, which is something I feel we need to work on a bit more.”
The game wasn’t all doom and gloom with the match giving Beeson the chance to watch her teammates in full flight.
Young forward Kate Stanton drew headlines after she kicked two goals but according to Beeson it was Clare Lawton who was a real standout.
The key defender and member of the Australian Defence Force kept Lions tall forward Sabrina Frederick-Traub to just one goal.
“There was a lot of heat going to the backs with a lot of footy going into our defensive half, I thought they all did a tremendous job to keep the score to what it was,” Beeson said.
“Clare was an absolute stand out that’s for sure, her consistency in the back to just keep the ball out was impressive.
“She wore Frederick-Traub like a glove, making sure she had not much influence on the game and obviously there’s a lot of hype around her being a marquee.
“I’ve seen Sabrina in other games and she’s dominated in the forward line and I thought Clare was fantastic to keep her to one goal.”
The GIANTS play their first game in the inaugural NAB AFL Women’s competition against the Adelaide Crows in Adelaide on Saturday, February 4.
