With most of the attention on the men’s form of the game, The Doc remains focused on AFLW. Here are his Likes and Dislikes from Round Four
LIKES
North Melbourne statement game
There’s no questioning just how far Port Adelaide has come this year, but all of that was whisked away when North Melbourne met them at the Whitten Oval on Friday night.
One could argue the result was beyond doubt by quarter time – North Melbourne had three goals and six scoring shots from 14 entries, whereas Port Adelaide only managed to go inside 50 just three times alone in that quarter.
Defensive pressure stifled Port’s ability to be clean in the wet and greasy conditions, with North’s pressure rating hitting an absurd 284 during the second term – the league average sits at 216 – and were +21 in the tackle count by halftime.
The tackle numbers were consistent throughout, which will please Darren Crocker – 29 in the first term, 31 in the second, 36 in the third and 33 in the final term. All that, while managing to be +44 in the contested ball and +64 in the uncontested ball.
The usuals were at their brilliant best, and it doesn’t need to be waxed lyrical week on week just how good Ash Riddell and Jasmine Garner are. Mia King (21 disposals, 17 tackles) is also starting to earn her share of plaudits.
Ruby Tripodi has been a player who has impressed and improved with each game she’s played this year. She kicked a goal during the first-half onslaught but displayed insane defensive pressure when she didn’t have the ball, recording 13 tackles for North.
Alice O’Loughlin kicking another two goals is just showing just how dangerous and reliable she’s proving to be in the forward line this year. Her personal best for goals was eight, which was kicked during season six in 2022 – she’s well on her way to eclipse that.
The Cats are purring again
Last week wasn’t overly pleasant viewing for Cats fans, being kept goalless by Carlton in the trying conditions at Ikon Park.
But sometimes, it’s about how you get yourself off the canvas when someone delivers a swift hit to your chin. The Cats wasted no time in disposing the Gold Coast Suns up on their home turf on Saturday, and once again delivered a timely reminder not to cross off the Cats.
They needed this, as being at 1-3 would’ve been hard to emerge from.
The keys were the forwards, who all failed to fire a shot last week. Aishling Moloney (4.1 and seven score involvements), Shelley Scott (three goals from five score involvements, and Jackie Parry (three goals from four score involvements) were all in fine touch.
I suppose the one that needed the performance was Scott. Lauded in years gone by for her ability to connect the forward line and be a stand-up sharpshooter, she had failed to hit the scoreboard in all three games this year before Saturday. Sometimes a game like this can kickstart a season.
But at 36 years of age, one has to wonder if Father Time has caught up with her.
Elsewhere, Nina Morrison (26 disposals, seven clearances and seven tackles) enjoyed a fine performance, while Mikayla Bowen (25 touches and 1.2) is piecing together a fine season at the wing spot.
Darcy Moloney lowered her colours last week, playing more midfield time, but responded this week (22 disposals, four clearances and 512 metres gained) in the absence of Georgie Prespakis, and Becky Webster is relishing her role as the defensive half-back creator.
Greta’s grand day out
The Hawks responded to their loss to Adelaide with a crushing win away from home against St Kilda.
There’s no doubt the big story out of this game is Greta Bodey’s bag of six – a career day for her, previously topping her personal best of four goals from last year.
In doing so, has recaptured the form that saw her revered as one of the most dangerous small forwards during her tenure at Brisbane.
She kicked three of her six in the last quarter when the result was already beyond doubt, but her first three showed exactly why the Hawks wanted her over so badly. She’s dangerous, and clever around goals and she knows how to get it done on any given day.
Last year, it was evident she was struggling, the Hawks had a slow style of play that hardly benefitted her, let alone anyone else in the forward line, but Daniel Webster’s rejuvenated style of taking the game on through the corridor and playing fast in transition has reinvigorated the side.
I said at the start of the year, if the Hawks can put together 30-40 inside 50 entries a game, there’s no denying the trouble that both Bodey and Aine McDonagh can get up to throughout the season.
And already, the two of them have combined for 15 goals – Bodey’s six for the match has taken her up to eight goals, whilst McDonagh has added another two goals, taking her up to seven for the year and well on the way to eclipsing her previous personal best for goals in a season – that was set last year when she kicked 10 goals.
The comeback queens
Last week they had it all to do late against Port Adelaide, but somehow Fremantle left it even later to sneak out with the premiership points at home against Melbourne.
Fremantle are fast becoming the great escape artists, they were as much as 23 points down against Melbourne, early in the second quarter. At three-quarter time, they were 18 points down and kicked the last four goals of the match, including a set shot after the siren from Aisling McCarthy to get them over the line.
McCarthy has been a sensational find for them already this year, and even more of a necessity this year, given there’s no Ange Stannett or Kiara Bowers to move them forward.
Yet somehow, they managed to lock the ball inside their attacking half for about 90 per cent of the final term, recording 16 inside 50s to Melbourne’s two.
Gabby O’Sullivan’s last two weeks have been extremely huge, coming through with another three goals for the Dockers this week, and having eight score involvements, which was double what the next-best player had.
Emma O’Driscoll and Gabby Newton combined for 20 intercept possessions in this game and without them, would’ve resulted in a Melbourne win.
The only downside is the suspected ACL injury to Aine Tighe, who went down during the first quarter. But the fact they managed to get a winning score without her speaks volumes of the Dockers’ character and determination to get it done with their backs against the wall.
Jess Allan
We’re four weeks into a 10-week, 11-game season and around this time, I like to keep tabs on who exactly is leading the way for the ruck spot in the All-Australian side.
Some will point towards Mim Strom, and while she’s having a really good season, I think at the moment, the flowers go towards Adelaide’s Jess Allan at this stage of the season.
On the Sunday at Thomas Farms Oval, Jess Allan took Steph Wales, who’s no slouch either by the way, to the cleaners in terms of ruck craft.
While Wales was busy in terms of stoppage work when the ball did hit the turf (five clearances and six tackles), it was Allan’s ruck craft that stood head and shoulders above.
Allan had 47 hitouts to Wales’ 23 – and one quick look at the ruck numbers over the season to date, suggests that Allan is one of the best tap rucks currently going around.
She is currently leading the competition on average for hitouts and hitouts to advantage, currently averaging 11.5 per game.
While Strom is averaging around seven ruck contests more than Allan, Allan’s got a better strike rate when it comes to winning the ruck contest. And that’s why she’s ahead at the moment.
The Bulldogs win a game
I, for one, certainly didn’t think the Dogs would come close to a win in 2024, given the results seen before us, but after the news broke of no Bri Davey (concussion), Brittany Bonnici (calf) and Mikala Cann (suspension), there never would be a better time for the Dogs to nab one win for this season than Sunday.
After a slow start that saw them give up two of the first three goals, the Bulldogs kept them goalless after quarter-time and kicked eight consecutive goals to record a seven-goal win.
With Ellie Blackburn out, the Dogs turned to their younger players in the midfield to put the game to sleep. Issy Pritchard (28 disposals, 14 contested possessions, 404 metres gained, six clearances and a goal assist) was a star in this game and you’d suspect will be leading the club’s best and fairest at this stage of the season.
The decision to move Jess Fitzgerald from defence into the midfield was a stroke of genius by coach Tamara Hyett. Fitzgerald’s time in defence hadn’t quite worked as she was still struggling to get her hands on the ball.
But playing more around the forward half, she looked far more comfortable being around the ball and making something click. She might not ever be the 25-30 possession per game player, but what she can still add and provide to the Dogs line-up is being able to provide an impact.
She finished with 15 disposals, two goals, six tackles and three clearances.
It was also pleasing to see Kristie-Lee Weston-Turner respond after a rough opening few weeks. She showed more confidence and composure in this game, and featured with her first two of hopefully many goals in the AFLW,
Another fantastic Sydney derby
Scott Gowans put a lot of sizzle on the game ahead of their match last year, and this year saw another thrilling instalment between the two sides on Sunday.
Both Sydney and GWS won their round one games, but have failed to win games since. The Giants blew one away last week conceding a goal after the siren to settle for a draw.
This was a brilliant back-and-forth contest – Sydney kicked three in a row in the opening term after conceding one to the Giants and kept them at arm’s length for most of the match.
In games of footy, usually, you get a read on one side in terms of where exactly they’re at in the grand scheme of things, but this was one of those games that told nothing, but in saying that, we got a lot of stars to emerge out of this.
Cynthia Hamilton (20 disposals, four clearances and five tackles) and her two goals in the final term were enormous, only to be rivalled by two goals from Zarlie Goldsworthy, showcasing her talent after a couple of lean weeks.
Sarah Grunden kicked her first two goals in league footy in as many minutes in the first term and showed exactly why she was touted as a first-round draft selection.
Rebecca Beeson (25 disposals and 10 clearances) turned in a sensational captain’s knock for the Giants, while Kaitlyn Srhoj (18 disposals and 312 metres gained) continues to impress week after week.
Amazing to think Sydney could very well be 3-2 by next weekend if they get past the Bulldogs at the Whitten Oval on Friday night when they looked about on the canvas for all money.
DISLIKES
Friday football
In the words of Mark LeCras, ‘Let me set the scene here’.
Friday football, North Melbourne has a home game, not at Arden Street, but at Footscray’s Whitten Oval. The first bounce is at 5:05 in the evening, most of us reading probably have a nine-to-five job or thereabouts, right?
On top of that, it was a miserable day in Melbourne, but that’s not in the league. It certainly draws people away.
Only 943 people turned up to watch this game. Not even one thousand people.
Fans know the figureheads aren’t treating this competition seriously, and whilst we understand that this part of the season is always difficult, given the finals are also happening, the league does itself no favours by making stupid decisions with scheduling, such as this.
North Melbourne coach Darren Crocker made no bones about it during the post-match press conference either.
“Could be our home game, sometimes scheduled over the weekend at Arden Street, potentially a time that’s more conducive to getting crowds there,” he said.
“We regularly pack out Arden Street given the right fixturing of times, so that’s an AFL question about fixturing us out at Whitten Oval at five o’clock on Friday night.”
Both North Melbourne and Port Adelaide will be featuring mid-week this coming week. But even still, what’s wrong with putting this game on even a couple of hours later and even at Ikon Park?
The Suns… again
We could forgive the round one loss to the Saints. As egregious as the difference was, maybe we could put it down to some factors, such as the improvement of the Saints, new faces at the Suns struggling to adapt, or even just a combination of the Saints getting it right, and the Suns having an off night.
There was no excuse for their performance on Saturday against Geelong. It was slow, pedestrian and the skills were abysmal.
Gold Coast gave up the first 62 points of this match and had to wait until the eighth minute of the third term to get their first goal of the match.
But by then, there was no salvaging that shipwreck.
The Suns gave up 96 points, which currently stands as the most points the club has conceded in their short history, but the damning stat for them is that 73 of those points were conceded by turnover.
Given Geelong kicked 15.6, it doesn’t take a maths genius to work out that 12 goals were given up by giving the ball up. The Suns were -44 ineffective kicks for the game,
Among some of the worst ball users, included Ella Maurer (eight touches at 25 per cent), Tara Bohanna (eight touches at 37 per cent), Jamie Stanton (10 touches and 30 per cent), and Claudia Whitfort (29 disposals and 38 per cent).
Too much was left to too few around the contest, and when they did get the ball moving forward of centre, it was given up way too easily.
It’s going to be a year where questions will be asked of the Suns’ meteoric downfall, from being finalists last year to sitting in the bottom two winless after four games of football.
The Saints
It’s not so much the loss, but it’s how they lost.
From 20 points down at three-quarter time to 57 at full time, the Saints didn’t lose, they rolled over against the presence of ‘Hok Ball’.
St Kilda were +5 in the tackle count, but it was quite clear the pressure applied by the Hawks forced a lot of basic errors, and the defensive structures of the Hawks denied St Kilda any real presence in the air.
The Saints were only allowed 20 marks and conceded 56 more to their opposition. 20 marks – it’s an unacceptable number, considering that it wasn’t quite as bad weather-wise as what we had on Friday in Victoria.
Out of the Saints’ 21, 12 players failed to register a mark. Among them are talls such as Maddie Boyd, Rene Caris and Simone Nalder. Grace Kelly is a winger, didn’t take a mark. Hannah Priest is the captain and didn’t take a mark. And key midfielders such as Jaimee Lambert and Tyanna Smith also failed to take a mark either.
Recognizing Hawthorn’s performance is important, but the Saints are not a 57-point worse-off team, especially after delivering solid performances up to this point.
The Dees could miss finals altogether
Melbourne now sits among the bottom five and would have to take some effort to even get into the top eight, let alone sit with the leading pack.
They still have to run through Adelaide and face stern tests against St Kilda, Richmond, and Hawthorn as part of their run home of the season.
They led Fremantle for over 71 minutes on Saturday and failed to secure the premiership points, and it’s left them with all sorts of questions about the state of the playing list.
Collingwood aside, the Dees have been the worst hit in terms of injury. They lost promising midfielder Grace Beasley due to a season-ending knee injury on the eve of the game, while Blaithin Mackin was taken out of the game early due to a calf injury.
It adds to an injury list that features Tayla Harris, Paxy Paxman, Lauren Pearce and Liv Purcell and it adds great disruption for the rest of the playing group.
On the field, they lacked leadership and several of their veteran names went missing in that last term. Among them include Lily Mithen (one disposal), Sarah Lampard (three disposals), and Alyssa Bannan (zero disposals).
Many expected the Dees to be a bit of a slider this year, but the way it’s looking, they could be heading for a massive slide down the ladder – currently sit in 14th and have a mediocre percentage of 62.3
Rock bottom for Collingwood
The heat turns from the Bulldogs to Collingwood now as they were comprehensively out-worked and out-played after quarter time on Sunday. It’s a problem that incoming coach Sam Wright has experienced all too much in just his first five games in the AFLW:
“Our first quarters and first halves have looked all right, but where we’re sitting now when we win, we’ll deserve to win. At the moment we can’t execute our game system for long enough, especially under pressure.” He said post-match.
They’ll get Mikala Cann back in the midfield for their next match, but they’ll have to do without both Brittany Bonnici and Bri Davey for a little while longer as they face calf and concussion issues respectively.
The recruits haven’t had the chance either to cement their spots either. Kalinda Howarth is still recovering from an ACL injury, whilst Mikayla Hyde (foot) and Annie Lee (knee) have also had rotten luck to start their journeys as Collingwood players.
The makeshift midfield unit of Sarah Rowe, Ruby Schleicher and Tarni White combined for 29 contested possessions and 12 clearances, and made a fist of things given the situation, but their ball movement stagnated significantly and allowed Dogs players out the back on far too many occasions.
Also, one big positive to take out of this season has been the year of Lucy Cronin. Who starred with 20 disposals, 546 metres gained and seven intercept possessions – she’s been a shining light in what has otherwise been a dark season for the black and white.
Horrid luck
You’ve got to feel for Sophie McDonald. Over the past few years she’s been battling away as the key defender and throughout the journey she’s done a fair job in intercepting and beating the best forwards without her, the Eagles would’ve lost games by more than what was handed to them.
She made her season debut on Sunday against Brisbane, after battling concussion and wrist issues throughout the pre-season and during the start of the year.
She didn’t last the first half when she was hit in the head and taken to the rooms for a Head Injury Assessment.
The Eagles’ defensive unit has been solid in her absence, with Beth Schilling in superb intercepting form in the opening month, averaging career-best numbers in intercept possessions (7.2 per game) and Zoe Wakfer showing significant growth in her game in comparison to last year.
And in terms of ball movement from the defensive half, the decision to move Emma Swanson out of the midfield and onto a half-back flank has been a welcome addition alongside Charlie Thomas this year.
Daisy would’ve loved to integrate arguably one of the Eagles’ better competitors in a defensive unit that shows a lot of promise. Unfortunately, it’s at least another week away, might be more for one reason or another.
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