BATHURST Giants coach Liz Kennedy may not have been sure how Kate Johnston would handle hard ball contests ahead of her AFL Central West women's debut, but now she has zero doubts.
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Now she knows Johnston can win contested possessions for the Bathurst Giants, that she can tackle with ferocity and is not intimidated by physically larger rivals.
Johnston has now been dubbed 'mongrel' by her team-mates for her tenacious effort in the Giants' 5-2-32 to 2-1-13 win over the Orange Tigers on Saturday at Waratah Sports Club.
"She really surprised me," Kennedy said.
"She had been a bit timid at training and this was her first game of AFL - I don't know what happened. She just played really well.
"She just got in there, I told her to sit on the wing, go forward, go back and get a feel for the game. She just really got in there, got on her hands and knees to get the ball and was at the bottom of all the tackles - she was just great."
The Tigers started the stronger of the two sides in bitterly cold conditions, but by half-time the Giants led by two points.
The Bathurst outfit then restricted their rivals to just one behind across the second half while kicking another three majors.
"Orange are just such a physical, physical side and they always seem to lift when they play us. It was a bloody hard game but we came away with the win and that's pleasing," Kennedy said.
"Sleet, a gusty wind, four seasons in one but actually I don't think we got any summer. Neither team really took advantage of the wind, any strategy just went out the window. It was do what you have to do to get through.
"Zoe Peters, we took her off after five minutes, she rugged herself up and got warmed and when she went back out she absolutely blitzed it. She was in pretty fine form on the forward flank.
"Mikaela Kingham she played in the backs because Chelsea [Gibbs] was out. Mika stood up and she had probably had the best game I've seen her play in the last couple of years.
"Lacey Covington-Gorst, she is just so versatile. We had her down back, we had up up forward, we had her in the ruck - she played out of her skin."
Olivia Johnston, Kate's sister, booted two majors before being knocked-out late in the third quarter following a collision with a Tigers rival, while Peters and Covington-Gorst also got on the scoresheet.
BATHURST GIANTS 5-2-32 (Zoe Peters 2, Olivia Johnston 2, Laycee Covington-Gorst) defeated ORANGE TIGERS 2-1-13 (Emilie Lowe, Emma Clark)
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