As we head towards the business end of an AFLW season that people will remember one way or another, there’s been one word in football that is starting to hover around like a bad storm cloud; expansion.
In 2023, Essendon, Hawthorn, Port Adelaide and Sydney will all come into the league, but before that happens, these four clubs have got to sort out the sort of playing list that they’ll head into this off-season with.
I was up in Bundoora on the weekend, calling the Darebin v Hawthorn VFLW game for WARF Radio and the discussion about what each of the four clubs should be targeting was one of a couple of big talking points during the pre-game show.
I’d be lying if I said that it was the first time I’ve thought about this kind of discussion with some depth. For that, we’d be going back towards July last year, when the AFLW Draft commenced. I had flirted with the idea of doing an extremely early potential best 21 for all the teams around September last year but ultimately spurned that because it was just that – too early.
But with the season unfolding as it is right now, the timing is right to start looking at what these four clubs should target for next year.
In the first of two parts – I look at who both Victorian clubs should target for their AFLW lists.
So far, I’ve had first-class views to watch both the Bombers and the Hawks in the VFLW this year, and whilst it’s currently a sample size, there’s no doubt that both teams are gearing up for the transition next year.
HAWTHORN
Looking at Hawthorn from this past weekend, they’ve got a plethora of ex-AFLW players that are busting their backsides trying to get back to the top league.
They put Darebin to the sword this past weekend. Darebin aren’t the benchmarks that they were five years ago, so it makes it a little tougher to gauge just how good this team can be against stiff competition.
Against Geelong, who were VFLW grand finalists last year, the previous weekend they were put through a stern examination of what it means to take one of the best that state league has to offer.
But basing it on this past weekend alone, I’ve looked at a player like Kristy Stratton over the past year – especially during her time at Collingwood – and I think that she’s too good for state footy. She kicked three first-half goals on the weekend and was the difference in a match that was practically decided in the first half.
Seeing Jessie Williams kick 4.3 in the same game for the Hawks makes me very optimistic about her chances of being in this AFLW team next year, she’s developed herself a goal sense that is capable of busting games open and is remarkably quick
You’re probably reading this, thinking about who she is and why I’m talking about her so much and why you should care.
Well, I’ll tell you. Williams was on North Melbourne’s AFLW list in their first season and failed to play a game. Since then, she’s been a mainstay at Hawthorn – 11 goals in 14 games last year and so far, she’s kicked 6.5 this year.
But the ex-AFLW talent doesn’t stop there. Tegan Cunningham, Nicole Garner, Emma Humphries, Jess Trend, Ainslie Kemp, Nadia Von Bertouch, Mietta Kendall and Tamara Luke are all ex-AFLW players on Hawthorn’s VFLW list this year as well.
Garner and Kemp were players I took notice of from the weekend, both situating themselves behind the ball and whilst Garner was the player that mopped up often as the loose player, whilst Kemp’s one-on-one work was very good to watch and whilst she has had injury history in the past, at 24, she’s a player that has still got that scope to be a very good player in the competition.
Of course, the Hawks have already signed one player in Bridget Deed, who is currently on the Eastern Ranges list in the NAB League. The Ranges have an affiliation to the Hawks in which some of their draft-eligible talents opt to play at the Hawks’ VFLW team.
Deed played four games last year at the Hawks on top of her games at the Ranges and whilst the stats don’t read much, the fact that the senior experience she gathered was valuable to her individual growth.
Look at her year this year playing as an over-ager. Deed’s averages have risen from 19.7 disposals and 5.4 tackles per game in 2021 to 31.5 disposals and 7.5 tackles per game in her first four games of 2022 – you look at those numbers and you think that there’s a young girl who’s ready to put in the hard yards over the next few years at Hawthorn.
The question that remains about the Hawks is are they going to build the list from the ground up? If so, then over-age players at the Ranges like Isabelle Khoury and Matilda Hardy, both of whom had prior experience playing at the Hawks’ VFLW side last year, could be announced sooner rather than later.
They could also do worse than look in their own backyard – players like Dom Carbone, Lauren Szigeti, Jenna Richardson and Grace McRae are all 22 or under and would fit in that mould of building from the ground up.
All but Richardson played on the weekend – McRae strong as an intercept marking defender, Szigeti was a wrecking ball in the clearances and has proven to hit the scoreboard as well this season, whilst Carbone is a lightning-quick player that is developing herself nicely as a midfield-forward hybrid.
There are also players such as Jaide Anthony and Abby Favell who I’ve had on past AFLW Draft Boards as talented youngsters that should be given a shot, however we haven’t seen much of them this year in the brown and gold.
However, a player like Montana Beruldsen, who I did see on the weekend, burst out of packs and use the ball well by foot could be a player that could take her game to the next level if she gets an AFLW contract.
When you look at who they might target from AFLW level, it’s hard because there aren’t many stars that are jumping out that come out of that Eastern Ranges zone. The connection that coach Bec Goddard has with players from her days at Adelaide might entice one or two players to come across the border if she’s lucky.
If the Crows win the flag this year, their third in six seasons, does that give the playing group, more specifically, players who have been at the Crows from the start – think Anne Hatchard, Ebony Marinoff, Chelsea Randall, Justine Mules and Stevie-Lee Thompson – the incentive to go elsewhere and look for a new challenge?
Could we see a Goddard/Perkins reunion at Hawthorn? There are flaws to her game, but overall, Perkins has been a very solid contributor for the Suns over the past couple of seasons and whilst standards have changed since the 2017 premiership triumph, the proof is in the pudding that Goddard certainly got the best out of Perkins during her stay at Adelaide.
If they are looking local, then I sense a young Pie by the name of Mikala Cann being one of the players at the top of the hit list. Her development so far has been a slow build, but the scope for her to be an elite inside midfielder is evidently there and we saw it firsthand against the Bulldogs when the Pies needed players to lift after Brittany Bonnici went down.
Cann rose to the occasion on the weekend with her work around the stoppages and across general play. Is she ready to assume the number one midfielder role? Perhaps not, but she is a player that can still make a massive jump in form and impact if she comes across.
They could turn to players who have played at Hawthorn in the past like Rosie Dillon and Jayde Van Dyk as well – players who have previously played at Hawthorn who are yet to reach the peak of their powers. A player like Phoebe McWilliams, who is on the wrong side of 35, but can still provide some kind of guidance to the younger players of the competition.
ESSENDON
As for the Bombers, I saw them first-hand a couple of weeks ago dismantle a severely understrength Bulldogs team, and judging from their first three games, there are a lot of players who are working for their spot on the AFLW list next year.
Whilst the Dons haven’t signed on their first player in the manner that the Hawks have done, one look at the VFLW list, and I think they can easily sign players both in the state league and from the AFLW and can assert themselves as at least a mid-tier side, working their way up the ladder.
It’s also worth mentioning here that as of the time of writing, Essendon have not appointed a head coach, which might make things a little harder.
It is confirmed that VFLW coach Brendan Major won’t take the role, instead featuring in a more minor role behind the scenes, but there are plenty of coaches you can look to from here – Jane Lange, Mel Hickey, Paddy Hill, Peta Searle are names that are the first that come to mind.
Anyway, back to the playing list, the first player I would have at the top of my list an ex-North player by the name of Georgia Nanscawen. You can’t miss her out there on the field with her red hair and long sleeves (yes, she is seriously out here in hot and humid conditions wearing long sleeves), but you also can’t miss the work rate she puts out every time she steps out onto the football field.
She won the league’s best and fairest last year on the back of an insatiable appetite for working contest to contest, averaging monster numbers of 23.5 disposals, 10.5 tackles, 6.2 clearances and 3.3 inside 50s per game. She excels around the contest and spreads well from stoppage following that.
But there are plenty of other Dons who are impressing – Federica Frew kicked six goals on Carlton this past Sunday and has always been a crafty player in front of goals. Eloise Ashley-Cooper won their club best and fairest last year and there are players currently in Renee Tierney, Nat MacDonald and Amelia Radford who I can see as players that can make the next jump to the elite level.
Just as well, there are ex-AFLW players fighting to be put back into the topflight. I expect former Carlton and Brisbane key position player Bella Ayre to be fighting for a spot in the side when she comes back from injury,
But right now, there are none more willing to fight for their place than the pair of Jordan Zanchetta and Danielle Marshall.
Zanchetta, who was taken by Brisbane as a first-round pick back in the 2017 AFLW Draft, played 13 games over the course of four seasons, she played 11 games across her first two years at the Lions before seemingly falling out of favour. There’s not much of her height-wise, but you see her speed and you see how she makes decisions with the ball in hand, there’s no doubt that she’s ready for another crack.
As a Dogs supporter, I thought the delisting of Marshall last year was extremely stiff, considering what she can do as a key forward. Consistency issues? Yes, there were plenty, but it’s easy to forget that she’s still trying to work her way into playing the game, coming over from America.
I’ve watched her across the defensive half so far this season, and it sort of reminds me of Aine Tighe currently at Fremantle, just toned down a level or two. She’s getting a better understanding of how to read the play and intercept and that only just enhances her credentials as a player. Athletically speaking, she’s mobile and agile and that holds her in good stead for the coming years.
Looking at who they may target from rival AFLW clubs, you need to look no further than those who have come through the AFLW from the Bombers’ feeder team in the NAB League, the Calder Cannons.
The Cannons have produced some bloody good players over the past five years – chief among these include both Maddy and Georgie Prespakis, Chloe Molloy, Georgia Patrikios and Monique Conti.
Out of those selected, perhaps the most gettable is Maddy Prespakis, given how turbulent the Blues have been this year. The Blues may not be in premiership contention mode for the next few years as they look to sort out the list and the direction they’re heading – you look at what the Bombers are creating at VFLW and it becomes an excitable prospect if they get some key names over the line.
It is also worth mentioning that Maddy was an Essendon supporter growing up, maybe the Dons getting her entices the younger Prespakis to come over as well, and if that does, just imagine how much havoc the pair of them can create in the midfield.
You can also raise the case given what’s happened this year, that if Georgia Patrikios returns to AFLW at all, she can be potentially seen as very gettable, but there are intangibles that makes for that play to be very risky, however as we’ve seen in her first two seasons, the upside is tremendous through her work rate and her ability to get to the right spots consistently.
They would love to get their hands on a ruck as well, given that their primary ruck option at the VFLW is on the wrong side of 30. Given the state of Carlton now, a player like Breann Moody would be brilliant for a team like the Bombers – an opportunity to palm down to Prespakis, Nanscawen, and possibly other talents would put bums on seats next year and beyond.
Lauren Ahrens from the Gold Coast is another player that the Dons would be eyeing off, considering that she has spent time with Essendon’s VFLW program over the last year or so. The Dons would love some depth in the key position slots and at least they can fill in a need in defence with Ahrens’ brilliant positional IQ and intercept abilities.
But what about their forward line? Between Frew, Tierney, MacDonald, Jessie Davies (who spent a year on the Bulldogs’ AFLW list) and some old heads in Mia-Rae Clifford and Cecilia McIntosh – this forward combination have so far combined for 32 of Essendon’s 39 goals this year.
Given that McIntosh is 42 and Clifford is 35 – is it possible that they go around for one more shot? We’ve seen Cora Staunton at her age continue to find ways to hit the scoreboard, so there’s nothing that suggests that neither player can give it a crack for at least one more year to help prepare the young kids that they draft at the end of this season.
Part two, featuring who Port Adelaide and Sydney should look to sign – coming soon!
