GSFLW 2025: New coach and new leadership as Railways aim high in bid to return to women’s grand final stage

Railways will look to an exciting crop of youngsters to lead their improvement as they aim to return to the top of the Great Southern Football League women’s competition under new leadership. The Tigers will be without a stack of their more experienced senior players for large parts of 2025 and enter the season with a new coach in Taj Stubber. Last year’s captain Tiarna Delli-Benedetti and Meg Slattery will not play this season, Ksharna Coyne has moved to Perth and Kirsty Smith will play in the second half of the competition. The Tigers will also have to fill the big void left by star midfielder Kathryn Slattery who is sidelined with a broken collarbone and unlikely to feature until the last couple of games. However, that change has not stopped the Tigers from aiming high, as they set their sights on a return to the grand final stage and a second women’s premiership. “I think we will go pretty well, Stubber said. “We’ve lost a bit of experience and leadership so it will be a bit of a rebuilding year but we are looking to a core group of young girls to get some development and leadership out of. “We will be a young group but it should be an exciting season. “There is a pretty good feeling around the group at the moment, we have two or three young leaders really driving the standards. “We will be a bit of the unknown in the first few rounds and hope to be hitting our straps in that back half of the season. In 2024 the Tigers were knocked out in the preliminary final by eventual premiers Mt Barker and the club’s sole women’s title came back in 2022. The Tigers will regain key goal kicker Kanisha Bennell in a boost to their front half while they have also gained Albany trio Amarlie Weinert, Taiah Curtis and Zarli Curtis. Kathryn Slattery will be the captain with Chelsea Geddes and Maggie Smit vice-captains. Stubber said his players were looking forward to starting their campaign at home, in the newly named Keep The Sheep Stadium, against the Bulls on Saturday.