AFLW AFLW Season 2022

The Victorian

Norm Smith Medallist
Oct 23, 2018
7,088
6,402
Victoria
AFL Club
Gold Coast
Other Teams
Storm, Western Utd
The girls won’t be having a training session at the ground before the game. Will instead have their captains run at Metricon before flying up tomorrow. I think that is a big mistake especially with the humidity, and heat up here in Mackay.
 

Jirik13

Norm Smith Medallist
Jan 22, 2018
8,176
10,758
AFL Club
Gold Coast
The girls won’t be having a training session at the ground before the game. Will instead have their captains run at Metricon before flying up tomorrow. I think that is a big mistake especially with the humidity, and heat up here in Mackay.
We had plenty of heat and humidity on Coast too. No biggie IMO. Are you there already?
 

Jirik13

Norm Smith Medallist
Jan 22, 2018
8,176
10,758
AFL Club
Gold Coast
Rowbottom interview.

Evans Hotel in action again. Covid girls are back.

Weeks of border hopping to get to training and days spent in Covid isolation are finally behind Charlie Rowbottom.
She’s ready to do what she came to the Gold Coast for, and that’s help the Suns win games of footy.
Touted as one of the most ready-made players to come out of the AFLW draft, the 2021 No. 1 pick will make her debut in Mackay on Sunday when the Suns host GWS at Great Barrier Reef Arena.
“I don’t think the nerves will kick in until I’m out there. At the moment it’s just pure excitement,” Rowbottom told News Corp.

It’s felt a long time coming for the 178cm midfielder, who was taken first overall by the Suns last July in a move that sent shockwaves through the league.
The Victorian was expected to nominate to stay in her home state, instead she chose Queensland as her preferred destination and the Suns didn’t have to be told twice.
But the 18-year-old had to wait to meet her new teammates.

The hard Queensland border meant isolating in northern NSW for a month and using a work border pass to cross for training.

Once the border opened on December 13, Rowbottom moved in with Suns CEO Mark Evans’ family to help with her Queensland transition.

“Obviously my journey up here was a bit disrupted because of Covid at the start, but after landing on the Gold Coast it’s been so good,” said Rowbottom.
“It’s really exciting to be up here playing footy and surrounded by such amazing people and living such a great lifestyle.”
The big-bodied midfielder has already turned heads in her short time at the club, with her physicality at the contest and overhead marking a feature.
She looms as a key cog in first-year coach Cameron Joyce’s new-look midfield and a perfect proponent of his preferred high pressure game plan.

The finetuning of that game plan hit a snag last week, when five players tested positive to Covid-19 forcing the whole playing group into isolation.

But Rowbottom says it “barely disrupted” the Suns’ Round 1 preparations and all five players have since rejoined the main group ahead of Sunday’s opener in Mackay.

Rowbottom is expected to start in the middle on Sunday and push forward if required.
The former Oakleigh Chargers skipper kicked 10 goals from her 11 NAB League games last season, while averaging 20.5 disposals and 4.5 clearances for Vic Metro at the AFLW U19 Championships.

Her ability to hit the scoreboard going forward will be important for the Suns, who averaged less than 20 points per game in a winless 2021 campaign.
“For me, I just hope the team can bring out the best of our abilities and showcase all the hard work we’ve been putting in to be better than last season and win some games,” Rowbottom said.

Key forwards Tara Bohanna and Jacqueline Dupuy will also make their AFLW debuts on Sunday.

Bohanna finished third in the 2021 VFLW goalkicking with 19 goals in 16 games on her way to winning the Southern Saints’ best and fairest.
Maroochydore Roos recruit Dupuy, the QAFLW runner-up best and fairest, joined the Suns as a replacement player in place of the Levi sisters who departed for rugby in the off-season.

Both will start forward on Sunday, with Dupuy playing the backup ruck role vacated by the outgoing Maddison Levi.

 

The Victorian

Norm Smith Medallist
Oct 23, 2018
7,088
6,402
Victoria
AFL Club
Gold Coast
Other Teams
Storm, Western Utd
Time for some rain poncho :p Enjoy the game.
Didn’t
Players at Great Barrier Reef Arena today 2:30pm to 3:15pm for photo opportunities


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app
went today. Was awesome the girls were great with their time. Had a long chat to a few of them which was nice. We couldn’t get photos because of covid they needed to talk to us from a distance but they signed some posters for us and as I said before, had some nice chats to them.
 

GC2015

Norm Smith Medallist
May 27, 2013
6,521
8,036
AFL Club
Gold Coast
Great to see Ahrens and Hampson recovered and will run out in the red and gold tomorrow. I think Ahrens in particular is a big inclusion for us. She is our reigning Club Champion after all.

The talent in our midfield is striking when you really think about it. Charlie Rowbottom (Pick 1, 2021 U18 AA), Serene Watson (2018 & 2019 U18 AA), Lauren Bella (2017 & 2018 U18 AA) and Jamie Stanton (2020 Club Champion) all have a ton of talent and most of them proved it in their junior years. You could certainly argue age is still an issue with three of those four players under the age of 22 but the potential is undeniable. If these girls click in our midfield then we're going to win a lot of games.
 
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The Victorian

Norm Smith Medallist
Oct 23, 2018
7,088
6,402
Victoria
AFL Club
Gold Coast
Other Teams
Storm, Western Utd
Great to see Ahrens and Hampson recovered and will run out in the red and gold tomorrow. I think Ahrens in particular is a big inclusion for us. She is our reigning Club Champion after all.

The talent in our midfield is striking when you really think about it. Charlie Rowbottom (Pick 1, 2021 U18 AA), Serene Watson (2018 & 2019 U18 AA), Lauren Bella (2017 & 2018 U18 AA) and Jamie Stanton (2020 Club Champion) all have a ton of talent and most of them proved it in their junior years. You could certainly argue age is still an issue with three of those four players under the age of 22 but the potential is undeniable. If these girls click in our midfield then we're going to win a lot of games.
I second that, even if it’s not clicking straight away, playing games together at this age will do wonders and when they hit their prime or when it does click, it’ll really help. Also must be mentioned, we have a lot of players who have come through the suns academy or other Queensland underage programs. Again, this is really an advantage as they’ve already played with and known some of the other girls developing together in underage programs. I’m extremely positive!
 

GC2015

Norm Smith Medallist
May 27, 2013
6,521
8,036
AFL Club
Gold Coast
Fremantle smashed West Coast by 28 points tonight and kept them to 2 goals for the entire match. In fact, West Coast went goalless for three quarters. That's a good sign for us as we play the Eagles in Melbourne next week. Looking like another very winnable game for us.

I would rather see howarth playing forward than Perkins
I'm sure Joyce will play around with the positions if it's not working but Kindy has been playing in the backline for the entire preseason so she'll definitely start the season there.
 

Jirik13

Norm Smith Medallist
Jan 22, 2018
8,176
10,758
AFL Club
Gold Coast
Fremantle smashed West Coast by 28 points tonight and kept them to 2 goals for the entire match. In fact, West Coast went goalless for three quarters. That's a good sign for us as we play the Eagles in Melbourne next week. Looking like another very winnable game for us.
Eagles were competitive early but fell off badly at the end. Freo looked great as game progressed.
 

The Victorian

Norm Smith Medallist
Oct 23, 2018
7,088
6,402
Victoria
AFL Club
Gold Coast
Other Teams
Storm, Western Utd
Being realistic, our matches v GWS, St Kilda and West Coast I would say are our best chances for a win. We could even take it up to Geelong too?
 

robo_1

Premiership Player
Nov 11, 2017
3,648
4,346
Melbourne
AFL Club
Gold Coast
I'm sure Joyce will play around with the positions if it's not working but Kindy has been playing in the backline for the entire preseason so she'll definitely start the season there.

I may be wrong but with Perkins she was moved on by the crows and Melbourne 2 strong teams.. she seems to clog the forward line structure and apart from crashing opposition players and having a long kick doesn’t offer much more.. however howarth has more pace skill and agility and got a good leg on her but seemed to be hampered by Perkins presence in the forward half

Hopefully I am proved wrong
 

The Victorian

Norm Smith Medallist
Oct 23, 2018
7,088
6,402
Victoria
AFL Club
Gold Coast
Other Teams
Storm, Western Utd
I may be wrong but with Perkins she was moved on by the crows and Melbourne 2 strong teams.. she seems to clog the forward line structure and apart from crashing opposition players and having a long kick doesn’t offer much more.. however howarth has more pace skill and agility and got a good leg on her but seemed to be hampered by Perkins presence in the forward half

Hopefully I am proved wrong
I have to unfortunately agree. I think she is quite overrated tbh
 

GC2015

Norm Smith Medallist
May 27, 2013
6,521
8,036
AFL Club
Gold Coast
Being realistic, our matches v GWS, St Kilda and West Coast I would say are our best chances for a win. We could even take it up to Geelong too?
Expectations begin to change once you get rolling and the girls gain confidence in the game plan. So if we were to start the season 2-0 by beating GWS and St Kilda then suddenly our 2022 prospects change dramatically. Right now, everyone that's not associated with the club thinks we're the worst team in the league and that's fair enough considering we were the wooden spooners last year but opinions can change very quickly once actual games are played (especially if you win). I've mentioned this a few times now but I think 2021 was a really unfair way of judging our women's team considering they were on the road for five straight weeks between rounds 2-6.

I may be wrong but with Perkins she was moved on by the crows and Melbourne 2 strong teams.. she seems to clog the forward line structure and apart from crashing opposition players and having a long kick doesn’t offer much more.. however howarth has more pace skill and agility and got a good leg on her but seemed to be hampered by Perkins presence in the forward half

Hopefully I am proved wrong
I have to unfortunately agree. I think she is quite overrated tbh
I think Perko was more needed in 2021 than she will be in 2022 but that doesn't mean she can't contribute this season as well. In all honesty, I would also like to see Howarth play in the forward line but this is the move they've decided to go with this year so I'm reserving judgement until I see how it plays out in a proper AFLW match.
 
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