State footy is back again for 2024 as the Perth Football League and Victorian Amateur Football Association are set to go head-to-head this weekend at Bassendean Oval. 

Both the men’s and the women’s side are set to seek retribution over last year’s results in which both teams lost. 

In last year’s Men’s game, the PFL staged a 39-point comeback which resulted in a draw, only to be overrun by 19 points in extra time. 

Meanwhile, the women put up a good fight against Victoria early on but were comfortably beaten by 63 points. 

Speaking ahead of Sunday’s matches, PFL Chief Executive Andrew Dawe says both sides are ready to go and are keen to flip last year’s results. 

“It was a great event last year. It’s something that we’ve brought back. It hasn’t been around for quite a long time,” he said.

“We played the Victorians, the VAFA, probably early 2000s and got absolutely belted. We played them last year in the men’s and the women’s and they were great games. 

“Women probably didn’t do as well as they would have liked, but the men, they ended up tying after full-time and then unfortunately went down. 

“So the boys and the girls are completely excited and ready to go to try and get one over them again. 

Curtin Wesley A-Grade coach Craig White returns to coach the men’s side who are looking for redemption on their home turf. 

Meanwhile, Steph Walding, who coached East Fremantle’s  WAFLW side to a premiership last year will take the reigns for the women’s side.

Both sides commenced their preparation in late May and are up and going ahead of Sunday’s match. 

“It’s not a long program, we get them together in the middle of late May,” he said. 

“Craig in particular, doesn’t necessarily need a lot of time with the guys, he just likes to get in the changerooms, get the guys to know each other and get that team mentality. 

“The girls have gone a bit longer, they played a game against the country team a couple of weeks ago and did a great game in that respect and that one was a draw as well. 

Twenty-seven different clubs are represented across the two sides, with Kingsway being the most represented in the men’s team with seven players, while Melville has five players in the women’s. 

While the men’s team is primarily made up of A-Grade club players, the women’s side has representation across the grades, from A to C2.

Dawe says it’s a good sign of what the league has to offer and the talent within the league.

“If guys and girls don’t want to do the extra training or commit to three nights a week in training and then all the rest that goes with WAFL football, the Perth Football League do offer something different,” he said.

“It’s fantastic now to see what we’ve got, and that was shown with the talent we had last year in the men’s particularly that almost pushed the VAFA team all the way. It’s great for the league.” 

The day’s action commences with the women’s match at 12.15pm, with the men’s kicking off at 2.30pm.

IMAGE: Perth Football League