Season Preview 2023: West Belconnen Warriors

The reigning 2022 Canberra Raiders Cup premiers will set their eyes on going back-to-back as the Warriors defend their title under co-coaches Tim Sloman and Ryan McQueen.

The West Belconnen club will also make history, fielding a women's tackle side for the first time in the Katrina Fanning Shield competition.

This moment in the women's game comes after the recent success of the Warriors' League Tag side, who finished runners-up to Woden last season.

First Grade captain-coach Ryan McQueen touched on the spectacular year they had in 2022 and how they prepare for season 2023.

"Yeah it was a pretty good year," Mcqueen laughed.

"A lot of people wrote us off, it was obviously very unexpected. Everyone played for each other. Week in and week out, blokes turned up for each other and that's all we could ask for."

"We've obviously lost a bit of key personnel but we have a lot of depth at the club. We'll be very confident with the team we put out week in and week out," McQueen said.

Warriors new recruit Caroline Tai touched on her transition from union to league and the awesome experience of the KFS preseason academy.

"I think it's going to be pretty tough. [I've been] doing the KFS Academy with Darrin [Borthwick]. That was a good experience to just get my foot in the door and play around with league," Tai said.

West Belconnen League Tag representative Sara Lang commented on their preseason and how the team shape up heading into the 2023 season.

"We've got a pretty young side, but the preseason has been good. We've had really good numbers at training so we've actually been able to work on a few things and get together as a team," Lang said.

Last year, we were so stoked to even make the Grand Final and the minor premiership. They were amazing achievements."

West Belconnen will have a round one bye before taking on the Gungahlin Bulls in round two of the Canberra Raiders Cup.