Richmond AFLW coach Ryan Ferguson has hailed his side's determination to rebound from their opening round heartbreak in Sunday's Week 2 win over GWS.
A fast start was imperative for the Tigers as they fought for their opening win of the season, and they executed their game plan to great effect.
“From the time the siren went last week and obviously the disappointment of not being able to get that job done, it pretty quickly turned to preparation for the week and wanting to start fast,” Ferguson said following the 11-point victory at Tigerland.
“All our plans and training were to really come out and put an immense amount of pressure on and start with a real team energy that was going to hopefully give them trouble early, and then we just wanted to be able to sustain that for a whole four quarters.
“Obviously, they’re a really strong running team and if you give them a chance they run in waves, and they’re going to trouble a lot of teams this year.
"So, I felt like we really were able to take that away from them, particularly in the first half.”
Richmond had to hold off the fast-finishing Giants, who came back from 29 points down, with Ferguson confident the team will benefit from the experience.
“I felt like there’s so much to learn from that game that we’re going to be better for it, but there were still some hallmarks of our game that held up even when challenged,” Ferguson said.
“So, the ability to stay connected, the energy into our teammates and not ride the rollercoaster of 'what does this mean on the scoreboard?' or to go into personal stories. It was just 'alright, this is a challenge'.”
“There's a lot to take out of it.”
Returning leaders Tessa Lavey and Sarah Hosking lifted their teammates around the ground, as the side also looks towards hopefully regaining explosive midfielderr Eilish Sheerin for next Saturday's clash in Coffs Harbour.
“I thought both provided great leadership on field, competitive run,” Ferguson said.
“Just that never say die attitude of 'I’m going to invest in every contest that I’m even close to', and they both just gave us a huge impact and a big lift so really appreciative for that.
“They’ve been a long time not playing footy. Tessa’s missed the whole year last season and Sarah's challenges to get off minimal training to play the way that she did is a testament to her character.”
“And then our two youngsters Issy Bacon and Mackenzie Ford, were outstanding, they just gave us competitiveness and speed.”
"So, we had that balance of bringing in players that had a mature head on their shoulders, and also that excitement and unbridled enthusiasm that got a real lift out of our players.”
The Tigers won't be resting on their laurels as they prepare to head back on the road to face Sydney for Week 3 at C.ex Coffs International Stadium.
“The message is 'well done today, we had a plan and executed it',” Ferguson said.
“(We'll) enjoy these moments because they're special, but have one eye to next week.
“We'll mean business in six days time.
“We take the learnings from the game and we put that into action again. It's on with the show.”
