PWR Press Conference: Barney Maddison and Kate Zackary
Ahead of Round Nine in the PWR, Head Coach Barney Maddison and Trailfinders Women Club Captain Kate Zackary answered questions from the media.
Trailfinders Women welcome Harlequins Women in the return of the PWR. The Friday Night Lights will set the stage for the West London derby. Maddison and Zackary responded to questions from the press ahead of the Round Nine fixture.
After being asked about an injury update in the squad, Barney Maddison said:
“Lisa Thompson is coming back from a tear in her achilles. Julia Schell did her ACL so she’s out for the season. Francesca McGhie has had an operation on her shoulder but she’ll be back for the Six Nations I think.
“Meg Jones took a whack on her shoulder but she’s tracking really well so hopefully we’ll get her back in the next few weeks. The Black Fern Tanya Kalounivale hurt her ankle in her first game against Leicester Tigers but hopefully we’ll get her back within the next month or so.
“Emma Wassell is nearly there. She came back from the World Cup with a niggle. She’s in a really good place so hopefully we’ll see some rugby from her in the next week or two.”
When asked about how the team has tackled the month-long break and the recent international camps, Kate Zackary said:
“We’ve been in a couple weeks now, so we’ve had a couple good sessions. And within that you had the English, the Welsh, the Irish, the Scottish, all taking time to go away for some of their camps. So it’s been an interesting one. But this week is the first week that everyone’s back in fully.
“We obviously got to celebrate Burns Night. We’ve inherited a lot of Scottish this season, as you know. So we had a little celebration earlier this week with them.
“But for the rugby piece as well, it’s just the basics, doing the things that we’re really good at. The rest will take care of itself.
“You can’t control an opposition, you can’t control the weather, you can’t control a referee. But we can just work on ourselves and come in at set piece time, get our basic skills right and our kicking game.”
The highly anticipated Friday Night Lights are just around the corner. When asked about the excitement around the West London derby, Maddison said:
“It’s the fact that it’s a Friday night game which is really cool. I think the Club has sold a fair amount of tickets for this game, so everyone’s looking forward to it.
“We’ve obviously not played a game in six weeks as well. So again, the fact that we’ve not played in so long and it’s kind of our first game back. It’s a bit of a reset and a restart as such for a new year.”
Zackary added:
“I think recently there’s been a lot of social media about the original London derby with Saracens and Quins in a few weeks. And I can’t help but feel like maybe we’re not quite respected yet as that London club. So for me, it’s also that bit of passion to make a statement. You know, there are three London clubs. I think we’ve been back and forth with Quins. Unfortunately, Saracens have gotten the best of us a few times. So I think it also comes back to a statement piece that we’re a competitive London side as well and we’re here to compete and beat the best.”
On his ambitions for the squad’s performance in training and beyond, Maddison said:
“It’s about consistency. We want girls to push each other as hard as we can in training because again, if we can have competitive training sessions, it’s going to bring that kind of competitive edge out in games.
“I feel like we’re in a good place. And yes, we probably came away from that last game frustrated.
“But we want to be more consistent with our performances. We have been up and down but if we can be consistent across the board that will hopefully then bring positive results.”
