Round 2 Match of the Round: Kingborough Lions v Riverside Olympic
Roos Heading into Unknown Against Aspirational Lions
Riverside Olympic are primed to make their Women’s Super League debut this weekend, but face a difficult first-up assignment as they head South to take on the Kingborough Lions who are aiming high in Season 2024.
Riverside coach Chris Rademacher remained tight-lipped at a Friday press conference, giving very little away as his side prepared for their WSL debut. He suggested there were plenty of unknowns heading into the club’s first-ever appearance in the top division, but said the mood in the camp was positive.
“The mood is good, it’s been great, the whole preseason has been great," Rademacher said.
“They are looking forward to it; it will be interesting to see how they travel.
"There is a whole learning experience with that side of it too.”
Rademacher refuted suggestions that not having played a game yet would be a disadvantage to his side's chances.
“It doesn’t matter for us (that we don’t have a game under our belts yet), but we will go in to work on what we’ve been doing at training this week, so we can achieve what we need to achieve on the day," he said.
“We don’t really know what sort of team they (the Lions) are, but that’s the same vice versa - they don’t know how we are going to come out of the blocks either."
Captain Meg Connolly said the playing group was excited for the upcoming challenge.
“We are all very excited, we will see what happens. It’s our first game together, so we will see what happens ... we are all looking forward to it," Connolly said.
"At the moment we are just aiming to be competitive in the league.
"It’s our first time in it, so we will see if we can get a couple of wins along the way, but no real expectations yet.”
It certainly won’t be an easy test for the competition newcomers, with the Lions showing why they had been widely tipped to be the competition’s big improvers in a credible 1-1 draw against the Champions South Hobart last week.
Highlighting those shifting expectations, Kingborough Lions star Danielle Kannegiesser said they wanted to push for silverware at the top of the table this season and that there was plenty of room for improvement on last week’s draw.
“Nobody plays to come second, everyone is hoping to take the league out and it's important to not put a ceiling on what we are striving for, but we are definitely aiming to be right up the top," Kannegiesser said.
“We had opportunities to take the game (last week), considering we scored their goal as well. We were probably on the front foot, but it just comes to taking our chances when we are in the front third.
“We’ve got a lot to work on from last week; it definitely wasn’t one of our best performances, but that creates a lot of opportunities for things for us to work on moving forward.”
Kannegiesser admitted that they didn’t know what to expect from the league newcomers.
"It’s pretty challenging to know what to expect because we haven’t played Riverside before and the Summer Cup wasn’t streamed (each round)," she said.
"So we are going in a little bit blind, but we are definitely focusing on us and our playing styles, what we have been working on in our preseason campaign."
Kannegiesser said she felt getting the Round 1 game under their belt whilst Riverside were on the bye first up might provide a slight edge for the Lions.
“Minutes matter, especially this early in the season when you are still refining and perfecting little things, so I hope it’s to our advantage," she said.
When asked about the red-hot form of Laura Davis, Kannegiesser praised the impact of the Lions striker and warned more defensive attention would not slow her down.
"Ten goals throughout the Summer Cup is outstanding in three games," she said.
"(Davis) is in fine form, but it does put a pretty heavy target on her back when it comes to defenders getting stuck into her.
"She loves that though and it fuels the fire even more, so hopefully they do, but that also creates opportunity around us which we’ve been working on.”
2023 Contenders Looking To Set Early Pace in 2024
In Round 2’s other fixtures, both Launceston United and the Devonport Strikers will be out to end the weekend in top spot as they clash at Birch Avenue. Having both won on opening day, they will be eager to make it two from two in a battle of the sides that finished second and third in the 2023 season. United were tested by the Glenorchy Knights before holding on to claim a 3-2 win, whilst the Strikers cruised at home against Taroona. Victory for either side here would see them ending Round 2 on top of the table.
On Sunday, South Hobart will look to kick start their title defence against Taroona at Darcy Street. South were the dominant force in the WSL in 2023, but some key departures and a season-ending injury to Lucy Roberts might have seen them drop back to the pack a little and they certainly won't want to drop points two games in a row out of the blocks.
Taroona defended stoutly for much of the first half against the Strikers last week, and when they didn’t, Izzy Ottavi was there to bail them out, but they struggled to create openings in the final third and will need to link up more effectively in attack if they are to trouble the defending champions here.
McDonald’s Women’s Super League
Round 2
Saturday 23 March
Kingborough Lions v Riverside Olympic, Lightwood Park, 12:00pm LIVE STREAM
Launceston United v Devonport Strikers, Birch Avenue, 4:30pm LIVE STREAM
Sunday 24 March
South Hobart v Taroona, Darcy Street, 2:00pm LIVE STREAM