Callipygian
Team Player
- May 18, 2021
- 1,684
- 3,684
- AFL Club
- Sydney
Now that our inaugural season is over, it's time to turn our minds to the future.
It was fantastic this year, at last, to have our own AFLW team. It was also heartening to see the support that there is for our team, the improvement the team made over the season, and the good morale that the team maintained to the end.
Despite being one of four expansion teams, we were the only team to finish winless and with a dismal percentage of 35.9% at that (much worse than any other team). In the 6 other completed seasons of the AFLW only one other team has ever finished winless: Gold Coast in 2021. [Richmond also finished winless after 6 matches in 2020 before the season was interrupted by Covid.] We can make excuses (very limited time to prepare for the season that was brought forward to August, difficulties recruiting players and staff in the short timeframe etc) but clearly we need to improve a lot before we become a force in the competition.
So, the question becomes: how? Obviously the team having more time to gel playing together, getting more seasoned and used to playing at AFLW level etc etc, will all play a big role. But another, more immediate issue will be what happens to our list.
Currently we have 32 players on the list. Many of those players will now be delisted. Other players may choose to depart to play elsewhere or get traded. Overall, I would estimate we will have a turnover of at least 10 players (we need to have a significant turnover to maximise our improvement).
This season we had to pull together a list quickly and we were limited to recruiting players who were able to transfer their lives to Sydney for a part-time job at just a couple of weeks' notice. One good point about this is that we have been able to trial a bunch of unproven players (many of them had never played AFLW) over the course of a season and we will have been able to sort the chaff from the grain so to speak and decide which of these players we want to keep. I am confident we will strengthen the remainder of our list by trade and through the draft.
We will, once again, have "pick 1" in the next draft (I used inverted commas because with the State-based nominations, the draft is hugely compromised and pick 1 doesn't necessarily mean the best player). Possibly we'll also get a priority pick, but I won't hold my breath. Hopefully we will be able to replicate our successes of last season and be able to persuade other top talents to nominate to play in NSW from interstate, like we did with Ham and Hurley this season. This time we won't have the element of surprise in our favour, and you can bet the Victorian teams will work harder to keep their local talent. I am optimistic that Ham and Hurley will stay, for now at least. We don't know when the next draft will be, but it seems likely to be mid-2023.
I will now make some attempt to run my eyes over our list and venture some opinions about who might stay and go. I preface my remarks by confessing I am not an avid AFLW watcher - I haven't even watched all our games, and very few involving other teams. So I will be much more interested to see what others have to say here.
Our 'leadership group' comprised: our captains Brooke Lochland, Lauren Szigeti, Maddie Collier; and also Lisa Steane, Alana Woodward, and Bec Privitelli. With the possible exception of Woodward (who will be 32 years old next July) I would expect all of these players to be retained. In my opinion Lochland has been a cut above most of our players, Szigeti has been terrific and Privitelli also has that bit of seasoning and class.
Our draftees were: Montana Ham, Sophia Hurley, Cynthia Hamilton, Montana Beruldsen and Alice Mitchell. The first three are sure to be retained. Alice Mitchell sustained an ACL injury in pre-season that ruled her out for the season. She was placed on the 'inactive list' and replaced by Genevieve Lawson-Tavan. Beruldsen was also placed on the inactive list due to a recurring knee injury and she was replaced by NSW ruck Kate Reynolds. Mitchell looked promising while Beruldsen was a more speculative pick coming from an athletics background. Both are at some risk of not getting contracts again next year.
Apart from the 8-9 players I have already indicated I expect to be retained, the others I think that are good bets to be retained if they're happy to stay are:
Ruby Sergeant-Wilson (the first player we listed and still only a teenager)
Ally Morphett (also a teenager, she has played pretty much every game this season and shows great promise)
Bella Smith (played every game and was solid playing mostly back and occasionally forward)
Ella Heads (in my opinion has had an outstanding debut season being really energetic and hard in defence and has played every game)
Lexi Hamilton (relatively experienced, tall, versatile and has played every game)
Those who I think we will probably want to retain (subject to who else is available) are:
Aliesha Newman (our most experienced player, but not a great defender)
Brenna Tarrant
Bridie Kennedy
Paige Sheppard
Sarah Dargan
Molly Eastman
Sarah Skinner
Aimee Whelan
Sarah Dargan
Aimee Whelan
Kiara Beesley
This leaves the following players who, in my estimation, have less certain futures:
Sarah Ford
Zoe Hurrell
Eliza Vale
Genevieve Lawson-Tavan
Tiarne Cavanagh
Kate Reynolds
Jaide Anthony
Alice Mitchell
Montana Beruldsen
What do others think? Who do you think we should cut or keep?
It is quite beyond me to imagine which players we might be targeting for trade or draft but I will watch with interest.
I will add to this thread as more information comes to hand about delistings, re-signings, and trade/draft news.
It was fantastic this year, at last, to have our own AFLW team. It was also heartening to see the support that there is for our team, the improvement the team made over the season, and the good morale that the team maintained to the end.
Despite being one of four expansion teams, we were the only team to finish winless and with a dismal percentage of 35.9% at that (much worse than any other team). In the 6 other completed seasons of the AFLW only one other team has ever finished winless: Gold Coast in 2021. [Richmond also finished winless after 6 matches in 2020 before the season was interrupted by Covid.] We can make excuses (very limited time to prepare for the season that was brought forward to August, difficulties recruiting players and staff in the short timeframe etc) but clearly we need to improve a lot before we become a force in the competition.
So, the question becomes: how? Obviously the team having more time to gel playing together, getting more seasoned and used to playing at AFLW level etc etc, will all play a big role. But another, more immediate issue will be what happens to our list.
Currently we have 32 players on the list. Many of those players will now be delisted. Other players may choose to depart to play elsewhere or get traded. Overall, I would estimate we will have a turnover of at least 10 players (we need to have a significant turnover to maximise our improvement).
This season we had to pull together a list quickly and we were limited to recruiting players who were able to transfer their lives to Sydney for a part-time job at just a couple of weeks' notice. One good point about this is that we have been able to trial a bunch of unproven players (many of them had never played AFLW) over the course of a season and we will have been able to sort the chaff from the grain so to speak and decide which of these players we want to keep. I am confident we will strengthen the remainder of our list by trade and through the draft.
We will, once again, have "pick 1" in the next draft (I used inverted commas because with the State-based nominations, the draft is hugely compromised and pick 1 doesn't necessarily mean the best player). Possibly we'll also get a priority pick, but I won't hold my breath. Hopefully we will be able to replicate our successes of last season and be able to persuade other top talents to nominate to play in NSW from interstate, like we did with Ham and Hurley this season. This time we won't have the element of surprise in our favour, and you can bet the Victorian teams will work harder to keep their local talent. I am optimistic that Ham and Hurley will stay, for now at least. We don't know when the next draft will be, but it seems likely to be mid-2023.
I will now make some attempt to run my eyes over our list and venture some opinions about who might stay and go. I preface my remarks by confessing I am not an avid AFLW watcher - I haven't even watched all our games, and very few involving other teams. So I will be much more interested to see what others have to say here.
Our 'leadership group' comprised: our captains Brooke Lochland, Lauren Szigeti, Maddie Collier; and also Lisa Steane, Alana Woodward, and Bec Privitelli. With the possible exception of Woodward (who will be 32 years old next July) I would expect all of these players to be retained. In my opinion Lochland has been a cut above most of our players, Szigeti has been terrific and Privitelli also has that bit of seasoning and class.
Our draftees were: Montana Ham, Sophia Hurley, Cynthia Hamilton, Montana Beruldsen and Alice Mitchell. The first three are sure to be retained. Alice Mitchell sustained an ACL injury in pre-season that ruled her out for the season. She was placed on the 'inactive list' and replaced by Genevieve Lawson-Tavan. Beruldsen was also placed on the inactive list due to a recurring knee injury and she was replaced by NSW ruck Kate Reynolds. Mitchell looked promising while Beruldsen was a more speculative pick coming from an athletics background. Both are at some risk of not getting contracts again next year.
Apart from the 8-9 players I have already indicated I expect to be retained, the others I think that are good bets to be retained if they're happy to stay are:
Ruby Sergeant-Wilson (the first player we listed and still only a teenager)
Ally Morphett (also a teenager, she has played pretty much every game this season and shows great promise)
Bella Smith (played every game and was solid playing mostly back and occasionally forward)
Ella Heads (in my opinion has had an outstanding debut season being really energetic and hard in defence and has played every game)
Lexi Hamilton (relatively experienced, tall, versatile and has played every game)
Those who I think we will probably want to retain (subject to who else is available) are:
Aliesha Newman (our most experienced player, but not a great defender)
Brenna Tarrant
Bridie Kennedy
Paige Sheppard
Sarah Dargan
Molly Eastman
Sarah Skinner
Aimee Whelan
Sarah Dargan
Aimee Whelan
Kiara Beesley
This leaves the following players who, in my estimation, have less certain futures:
Sarah Ford
Zoe Hurrell
Eliza Vale
Genevieve Lawson-Tavan
Tiarne Cavanagh
Kate Reynolds
Jaide Anthony
Alice Mitchell
Montana Beruldsen
What do others think? Who do you think we should cut or keep?
It is quite beyond me to imagine which players we might be targeting for trade or draft but I will watch with interest.
I will add to this thread as more information comes to hand about delistings, re-signings, and trade/draft news.
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