Shellharbour hungry to make early impression in 2024 Women's Premier League

Last year's grand final winners will take on emerging side Thirroul at Myimbarr Oval in the opening round of the competition.

After losing last Sunday's Julie Porter Cup final on penalties to 2023 league champions Woonona, Shellharbour is hungry to bounce back swiftly and start their campaign on the right foot.

The club has been active in the player market this off-season as they look to put together another strong season.

Coach Ron Fogarty has retained the core group of last year's squad while also adding some talent, headlined by snaring Maddi Costanzo from NPL NSW outfit Sydney Olympic.

While confident about their prospects for 2024, Fogarty said Shellharbour wouldn't underestimate Thirroul this weekend.

"I genuinely believe that any team in the Women's Premier League can defeat any other team on their given day, and we saw that last year," he said.

"We were able to hold out the top four teams, but it was the teams that didn't progress to finals that were able to beat us. All teams have got strong players and have a strong foundation base with the reserves and youth grade that they can draw upon, so I think every team will be competitive in every single game. We were to get a good win against them (Thirroul) in the Julie Porter Cup, but it means nothing when it comes to the season.

"We lost some of our defenders (in the off-season), but we were able to retain the core group and bring in some additional players - including Maddi Costanzo. But we've also added Tahlia Petrovski to the squad and we were able to retain good players like Katelyn Leadbeatter and Rilee Wagner.

"We're pretty happy with our squad."

Sunday, April 14:

Woonona v Albion Park at Ocean Park; University of Wollongong v Bulli at Kooloobong Oval; Shellharbour v Thirroul at Myimbarr Park.