With AFLW action idweek again, The Doc has a look at The Stars and The Finds of the Round… so far
THE STARS
KATIE BRENNAN
Over the years, Katie Brennan has been seen by some as maligned, for one reason or another. Injury has robbed her of being at her best, and then there are instances where she gets beat and gives away unnecessary free kicks.
After a dogged round one against the Eagles and being held goalless against GWS in round two, Brennan has now kicked eight goals from her last three matches. Including a bag of three on Tuesday night against Port Adelaide.
Last Thursday against Carlton, she endured a rough battle with Harriet Cordner, who made her earn everything that came in her direction but was still good enough to kick two goals and do her bit to put the Blues to the sword.
Against Port this week in trying conditions and a formidable rising star of a lockdown defender in Amelie Borg, Brennan again showed her wits on multiple occasions, being able to lose Borg after the initial contest and get some important looks.
Her third goal in the final quarter to put the result beyond doubt was smart in just holding position and allowing Port to take a rushed kick on the last line of their defence. Her first goal was set up on the back of elite reading of the ball in the air.
There were instances where Borg levelled the contest, but you reckon the points go to Brennan – three marks inside 50, four shots on goal for a return of 3.1 – it’s been a good few weeks for the Tiger captain, but a great challenge awaits on the weekend when they come against the best defensive unit in the game in North Melbourne.
ASH RIDDELL
Over the last few years, we’ve been revelling in the Jasmine Garner-led North Melbourne midfield. And whilst she’s proving to have another fine year, it’s just about safe to say that Ash Riddell is owning the Kangaroos midfield this year.
Garner’s strength has always been around her contested work and her ability to push forward and score, and Mia King is putting together a fine year as well as playing as an inside midfielder as well.
Still, Riddell has always been the dynamic link-up player, who tirelessly runs from end to end and is willing to do whatever she can to ensure North are on the end of a good scoring opportunity.
In 76 per cent of game time, Riddell racked up 36 disposals at 69 per cent efficiency, but also recorded 418 metres gained and was involved in six scores. The only players to have more score involvements were Mia King, Niamh Martin and Bella Eddey.
So far this year, Riddell is averaging well over 30 touches per game. She’s closer to averaging 32 touches per game than anything. But another thing that people might overlook is the fact she’s a great tackler in close when the ball is there to be won.
She laid another seven tackles against Carlton and currently averages a smudge under eight per game in 2024, ranking her in the top three at North Melbourne, behind Mia King and Ruby Tripodi. So if she’s not damaging you on the outside, she’s punishing you on the inside.
KEELEY SHERAR
She was in the All-Australian squad of 40 last year, and Keeley Sherar is on track to have another stellar year.
Carlton’s midfield is budding and there’s lots to like with the run of Abbie McKay and the guts of Maddy Guerin. But Keeley Sherar is emerging as a star in this side. The Blues matched North Melbourne for clearances at the end of this game, however, the contested possession numbers saw the Blues blown to smithereens.
But it was through no fault of Sherar, who was one of two Blues to record double figures in the contested possession count, the other being Mimi Hill, who had to go into the midfield following the injury to McKay during the second half.
For the record, North Melbourne had six players record 10 contested possessions or more.
The one positive for the Blues is that they comprehensively won the tackle count, which tells you that at least in close, they held themselves to a decent account, however, the gap between them and the better teams of the competition remains a way apart.
Sherar led the way for the Blues in tackles, picking up 10 for the match to lead all-comers, but she also managed to pick up 26 disposals (10 of which were contested possessions), four clearances and five marks in a great balanced performance – perhaps one of the rare positives for the Blues from this game.
ELIZA WEST
Social media went off before the match about how Eliza West caught a ferry towards GMHBA Stadium.
Well if catching a ferry allows you to have 16 contested possessions, seven clearances, and 16 tackles en route to a thrilling win, then maybe Hawthorn should let her take games by sea more often.
It’s no secret that West has been one of the best in terms of recruits around the competition, but she’s making her name known as one of the elite midfielders in the game. Anyone who can be able to win footy out of the source, and then apply the defensive pressure, are worth their weight in gold.
Keep in mind as well, being able to be clean when moving the ball forward helps as well. She only had nine of her 24 disposals being kicks, but I’d like to say at least half of them were clean and found teammates.
But regardless of that, her job first and foremost is to win the ball out of source, and the Hawks have made a really good habit of it with their midfield. West (five), Emily Bates (three) and Mattea Breed (four) combined for 12 centre clearances and completely smashed the Cats around the centre bounce.
Nina Morrison, Georgie Prespakis and Darcy Moloney combined for just four.
It’s only been five games in, but the former Dee is already making an everlasting impression, not just at the Hawks, but the rest of the competition has been put on notice.
NINA MORRISON
The Cats have been down so far this season, but this woman is one of a few Geelong players who consistently find a way to drag the team off the canvas and go again.
Nina Morrison will likely lead Geelong’s best and fairest at this stage of the season, and was easily one of their best again on Thursday night against Hawthorn, picking up 21 disposals, 11 tackles, five score involvements, and a goal.
Her story of overcoming several ACL injuries has been done to death, but it is a remarkable feat of how someone can fight through some of the worst obstacles and can come back and still football at an extremely high level.
While her running mates Georgie Prespakis and (now) Amy McDonald have suffered injuries that have compromised their years, Morrison has been the one constant that has kept the Cats midfield ticking, even when they haven’t exactly been able to fire.
Morrison’s consistency over the past year has been amazing to see, having gone under 20 disposals, just five times over the past two seasons, and has only gone under the 20 disposal mark just once from five matches this year.
Her last two weeks have been exceptional in terms of being able to win the footy from the source – 16 contested possessions last week in their thrashing of the Suns, backed up on Thursday night with 11 contested possessions against a Hawthorn side that had their measure in the contest.
THE FINDS
MOLLY BROOKSBY
Molly Brooksby was one of Port’s three pre-list signings ahead of the draft. The Power also picked up Lauren Young, who is inactive due to injury, and Shineah Goody, who has been in good nick so far in her career.
A lot of people talked them up during their draft year, and I’ve waxed lyrically that they are the clear top two talents in an open draft pool. However, we are quick to count out Brooksby, who many draft experts labelled as a sure-fire top-10 selection.
Playing across the defensive half in the early doors of her career, she showed a lot of poise and class with the ball in her hands.
She led all Power players on the ground for disposals on Tuesday night with 20 for the game, but also led the way in terms of rebound 50s, picking up eight for the game. She had 18 kicks for the match and her disposal efficiency was at 65 per cent.
Brooksby also recorded 525 metres gained, the most of any Port player. She’s someone who has always boasted great kicking skills and has looked a treat playing across half-back.
When we look at Port’s disposal winners, the top four consist of Abbey Dowrick, Maria Moloney, Molly Brooksby and Shineah Goody. I don’t know if that’s something to be proud of from a team point of view, considering it’s some of the younger players who are finding hands to the ball more than the veterans.
However, Port have identified they’re still a side growing and finding their way, they’ve got themselves a beauty of a pick-up here with Brooksby.
BELLA EDDEY
With the amount of star talent around at North Melbourne, it’s easy to overlook someone like Bella Eddey, who’s refined to a specific role in the forward line and credit the midfielders for the job they do.
North Melbourne’s forward line is easily one of the best in the competition so far, they average 61.6 points per game across their five matches, and when you look at the goalkickers, it’s not so heavily reliant on one person.
Kate Shierlaw leads the way, but then you’ve got Alice O’Loughlin and Bella Eddey trailing behind her. O’Loughlin deserves a lot of props for her start to the season, even should be in the consideration for All-Australian, given how dangerous she’s been both when she does and doesn’t have the ball.
But for mine, Eddey continually gets overlooked in this forward line. She kicked another two goals on Wednesday night against Carlton, both of them came on the back of brilliant positioning and great awareness for a small forward.
What might separate O’Loughlin from Eddey is that O’Loughlin is the pressure forward, and is averaging over two tackles inside 50 per game. Eddey hasn’t even cracked the one tackle inside 50 per 50-per-game average.
But, given how she also manages to excel around a forward 50 stoppage, (she had five clearances in this game), her strengths lie with the ball in her hands. She’s an elite runner, knows how to link up and in winning the ball at the source, she can hold her own.
LAURA STONE
Much like Molly Brooksby, a lot of recruiters and draft experts alike held Laura Stone in very high regard during her under-18s campaign last year. Some even suggested she was a top-three talent.
At the Ranges last year, she showed a lot of talent and was able to find roles in all three areas of the ground, and had very little trouble finding the football wherever she went.
And in her time in the under-18s championships, she proved that wherever she went, she could make an impact on the contest, winning Vic Metro’s best and fairest, and winning an All-Australian, playing only two games.
Against Geelong on Thursday night, Stone was only on the ground for just over 50 per cent of game time, and only had seven disposals, all seven of which were score involvements.
She was involved in four scores directly, kicking three and setting up one. Her ability to beat a tough player like Rachel Kearns in a one-on-one, go to ground, bounce up and then find the composure to hit a teammate is just the play to tell you that she will go extremely far in this league.
All three of her goals came in the second half, on the back of being able to position herself at the foot of the ball brilliantly, and then having the skill to finish it off, when some fail to find the composure in big games is still seen a rare commodity in the AFLW.
The Hawks have a plethora of young players that starred on this night, but remember the name of Laura Stone.
WHERE TO?
PORT ADELAIDE
Bad kicking from Richmond in the early doors of this game kept Port Adelaide in the game, conceding 13 inside 50 entries and six scoring shots for 1.5
Credit to Port, because after quarter time, the inside 50 count read 32-19 in favour of the Power, so they were able to generate inside 50 entries, but the connectivity between midfield and forward remains lacking.
Gemma Houghton managed 2.2 from the inside 50 entries, but she was made to earn them, given the diabolical manner in which the entries were delivered to her.
Port only took 19 marks on Tuesday night, and one of which was inside 50. Richmond doubled them in the marks count and managed seven marks inside 50 for their trouble.
The Power have made strides this year in terms of their competitiveness, but their composure with the ball in hand has plagued them time after time this year, and it’ll be something that’ll be bugging Lauren Arnell as we move through the 2024 season.
I have questions about the forward set-up. While Houghton was the most dangerous forward, and Julia Teakle has taken a massive step in development, how can Ash Saint still contribute to the scoreboard?
We know there’s a new role for her playing as the secondary ruck to Matilda Scholz, but she is still resting as a forward.
For all of that, she has gone goalless in the past four games and is on track for a career-worst year in terms of hitting the scoreboard. Last year it was 14.5, her two years in 2022 yielded a return of 35.16 and kicked 9.10 in her first year at Adelaide.
Her ruck numbers aren’t too impressive either, averaging 2.2 hitouts per game from just under nine contests per match. The upside is her disposal and tackle numbers are up from last year, but what good is that if the Power can’t kick a winning score?
Port sits in 13th after five games with just one win to their name. Whilst they’re not getting fully belted in games, the lack of scoring power is something of a concern going forward, but they’ll get a good opportunity against Carlton to put a good score on the board over the weekend.
NORTH MELBOURNE
Well having covered Carlton last week, and watching the effort on Wednesday night, you don’t need to tell me how inept the Blues were at defending the exits.
They were listless, thumped around the contest and slow on the transition. North flexed their muscle and did what they liked and had the Blues out the back on multiple occasions: +35 in the contest, +53 in the uncontested ball, and 40 inside 50s for a return of 19 scoring shots is a decent return.
North Melbourne recorded their highest-ever winning margin in the AFLW on Wednesday, and except for the Geelong game, have hardly put a foot wrong in this competition. They were on track for a smashing against Port Adelaide last Friday before the diabolical weather turned that game into an out-and-out war of attrition.
Along with Adelaide and perhaps Brisbane (never count them out), they are the teams to catch and we’re at that stage of the season where sides will fatigue and depth will be tested.
North opted to rest both Jenna Bruton and Kate Shierlaw for their game against Carlton, and those they brought in were fairly handy. Niamh Martin kicked 1.2 playing a high half-forward role, and Lulu Pullar looked as if she never left her post on the wing.
Sunday will be a big test, against a Richmond side that has not tasted defeat since the start of the season. Darren Crocker might be inclined to give a few other stars a rest. Their next few games are comfortable enough, they play the Bulldogs at Arden Street, Sydney at North Hobart Oval and Essendon at Windy Hill.
They should be able to win all three of these games and maintain a top-two position ahead of their massive showdown at Norwood Oval in week nine against Adelaide.
GEELONG
With one win and a draw to their name from five starts, the Cats’ dreams of making finals in 2024 are nearly in tatters.
Whilst the scoreboard suggests it was a great game, and the Cats gave a decent account of themselves, the one thing that killed them in this game was their stoppage work. Once again, the undersized rucks were handed a brutal lesson, as Lucy Wales not only controlled the ruck duel, but she was extremely influential around the ground.
Losing Amy McDonald early to a hamstring injury hurt them massively, and while Georgie Prespakis played well coming back from a quad injury, it’s clear the Cats are running a compromised midfield set up and it’s destined to see them miss finals when we get to the end of week 10.
Against Hawthorn, the Cats were -10 in clearances. On top of that, the Hawks made them pay through the stoppage work, with the Cats conceding 52 of Hawthorn’s 79 points from stoppage work.
In terms of their work in centre bounces, the Cats got hammered 5-16, and conceded 31 points from the centre bounce stoppages.
They were also -31 for the contested ball, which is alarming considering the quality of talent Geelong do run through the midfield.
It’s set to be made worse, the Cats now enter their short turnaround of games, starting with a Tuesday night showdown at GMHBA Stadium against Fremantle, and then having to back it up on Sunday with a trip to Henson Park to take on Sydney.
The Doc is the heart and soul of our AFLW coverage. He pours himself into it to provide the best in the business. If you come here for AFLW stuff and enjoy what he does, please consider buying him a coffee for the work he does by clicking the link below. I’m sure he’d greatly appreciate it.
