Preview Round 8 v Fremantle at Fremantle Community Bank Oval (Fremantle Oval)

[Peter Doherty]

Good chance to finish top now. Beat Collingwood and we just need to beat St Kilda like everyone else has this year to secure it.

If we were to lose to Collingwood we'd want Melbourne to beat North and Freo to beat Melbourne. That would leave everyone with at least 2 losses the same as where we would be, then just hope our slight percentage advantage can hold.

 

[CrowinNT]

Good win against the next best team in the comp at their home ground whilst we were missing two of our best in Randall and Phillips. Also, horrid umpiring, free kick count was 11-3 their way at half time. Get those 2 back, and kick accurately and we should do well in finals.

I seen then FK not consistent for both sides
Hence my comment earlier

 

[Firewalker]

Freo rely so much on Bowers, their midfield has been weak as without her

 

[jenny61_99]

It’s really pleasing to see us win a really important game without Chelsea and Erin.

 

[boffo]

How can the AFL write up of the game not have Martin in our best players? Weren't they watching?

 

[spexau]

How can the AFL write up of the game not have Martin in our best players? Weren't they watching?

Her pressure and tackling is elite. So strong over the ball too. She doesn't get the big disposal numbers but she's so important to our team.

On Pixel 6 Pro using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Peter Doherty]

Melbourne beating North is handy. Freo beat Melbourne in Perth next week and we have that buffer.

 

[cmndstab]

We now own victories over every team in the top five. Chance to make it the top six next week against Collingwood.

That was a typical Crows game really. Mopped up well in defence, had quality forward pressure which allowed our strong-marking midfield to lock it in our half. So many players in our half means no clean possessions in our forward line which means very few clean shots on goal. I still think our inaccuracy is less about our actual goal kicking, and more to do with sheer weight of numbers in our forward line.

Winning over Freo in the west is huge! I think they've only lost a couple of games there in their history before. Hardest part of the fixture is now done, just need to get the job done next two weeks to lock in a home final and the opportunity to play for a home grand final.

 

[cmndstab]

Credit to Ponter today, with Woodland and Whiteley worn like a glove by their defenders, and Phillips not playing, somebody had to stand up in the forward line today. I reckon we lose that match without her.

 

[radiojake]

was out today and only just watched the afl.com highlights package

how . on . this . green . earth . was . sarah . allan . penalised . for . that . run . down . tackle ??

almost glad i didn't get to watch - that stuff would be the kind of thing to break my laptop while watching

 

[spenze]

I keep watching halves of our games ( would love to watch more but I keep finding jobs for myself) but what I would really like to see us work on next pre-season is our handballing, if we improved that by a large margin...and there is scope...there would be a massive gap between us and daylight, let alone who comes after daylight.

 

[cmndstab]

I keep watching halves of our games ( would love to watch more but I keep finding jobs for myself) but what I would really like to see us work on next pre-season is our handballing, if we improved that by a large margin...and there is scope...there would be a massive gap between us and daylight, let alone who comes after daylight.

To be honest, our handballing was poor today. Certainly below our usual standard which has been pretty good this year (and definitely one of the things that has set us apart from the other sides). Chalk it up to Freo's pressure which was top notch.

I felt sorry for poor Biddell today, she kept getting into the perfect position for a pressure-relieving handball, only to have it go to her feet.

 

[brucetiki]

Random thought.

Why doesn’t Fremantle Oval install a proper siren, instead of that thing that sounds like my cat when he’s hungry?

 

[Firewalker]

Random thought.

Why doesn’t Fremantle Oval install a proper siren, instead of that thing that sounds like my cat when he’s hungry?

Even the Eagles training facility has that siren installed, it’s some sort of WA thing

 

[brucetiki]

Even the Eagles training facility has that siren installed, it’s some sort of WA thing

Did the WAFL order sirens off Wish or something

 

[cmndstab]

I know there's still a couple of rounds left to go, but I'm starting to think that Hatchard is a shot for the AFLW MVP this year. She's equal second in the comp for disposals (behind only Riddell). She is still an absolute mile ahead on most marks (56 marks ahead of the next best, Phillips on 34). Equal best in the comp for score involvements (with Phillips). Second in the comp for inside 50s (behind Marinoff). And even has a couple of goals to go along with it. The only down game she has had was against West Coast, where she hurt her foot.

She's been in the coaches votes every single match so far except against West Coast, and presumably will be again in round 8.

 

[spenze]

Random thought.

Why doesn’t Fremantle Oval install a proper siren, instead of that thing that sounds like my cat when he’s hungry?

It was your cat

 

[spenze]

To be honest, our handballing was poor today. Certainly below our usual standard which has been pretty good this year (and definitely one of the things that has set us apart from the other sides). Chalk it up to Freo's pressure which was top notch.

I felt sorry for poor Biddell today, she kept getting into the perfect position for a pressure-relieving handball, only to have it go to her feet.

Nah, it has been really poor all season. In saying that though, it is one area that AFLW needs to improve in a somewhat simple skill. The short kicking over 20-30 metres is far better than the handpass over 3-5 metres.

But that is just my point of view, it isn't a dig, just a suggestion

 

[Mr MysteryGuest]

Saw a lot of neutrals complaining about umpiring late. Reminds of the Melbourne game last year. Get the rough end all game and people focus on the last couple of decisions.

 

[cmndstab]

Saw a lot of neutrals complaining about umpiring late. Reminds of the Melbourne game last year. Get the rough end all game and people focus on the last couple of decisions.

I felt we were very lucky not to get penalised a number of times in the second half. If I was an opposition supporter I would have put my TV remote through the screen after Woodland's goal. We definitely had the rub of the green in that second half. Meanwhile we were absolutely murdered in the first half.

The umpiring at AFLW level is simply not good enough, week in, week out.

 

[cmndstab]

Just watched the presser after the match... honestly, this simply isn't good enough. Surely they could have found a decent setup for Clarke to actually hear and answer questions? This is supposed to be an elite competition.

AFLW full post-match: Crows

Poor dude is trying to hear questions while trucks go past him, fences are disassembled right next to him, and then a third of the way through his audio starts echoing and isn't fixed for the rest of the presser.

Yet the Freo presser seems to be conducted just fine?

 

[ams4crows]

Jones looks to have a calf issue, not sure if it's a strain, bad cramp or a corkie

 

[cmndstab]

Jones looks to have a calf issue, not sure if it's a strain, bad cramp or a corkie

It happens with around 4:40 left on the clock in the fourth quarter. She manages to spoil a ball, but then pulls up very ginger. Fingers crossed it's nothing too serious, she's been excellent this season.

Edit: Around 1:01:45 in the replay AFLW Match Replay: Fremantle v Adelaide

 

[cmndstab]

Where is Hannah Button at in the context of this season? She's never been a very high-possession player, but the last four weeks have been 4, 6, 5 and 4 touches. She had been contributing with tackles (10 and 7 in the last two matches) but had 0 today. With only four touches (1K, 3H), no marks, no tackles, and 2 frees against...

You'd have to think Nikki Gore would be putting her hand up and saying "I can give you more than that."

 

[John Who]

It’s really pleasing to see us win a really important game without Chelsea and Erin.

Besides seeing a great contest, the most pleasing thing is that we’ve been able to get the job done without our 2 big guns. This was also the case when in the previous game, Erin was off with the knee strain and we were able to score well in the last quarter.
It shows the girls have genuine belief in themselves and don’t need a mother hen to nurse them through a game.

Really great effort all round yesterday. Loved the intensity and was thrilling to the end!