AFLW 2020 Pre-Season (practice match discussion, injury news, training reports etc.)

[Teen Wolf]

Injuries

• Chelsea Randall (Adel): knee (ACL) – season
• Erin Phillips (Adel): knee (meniscus, on top of ACL recovery) – round 1 availability tbd
• Deni Varnhagen (Adel): knee (cartilage damage) – 3-6 weeks (from ~Jan 28)
• Jess Wuetschner (Bris): lightning – tbd
• Ruby Schleicher (Coll): knee – aiming for round 1
• Ann McMahon (Frem): broken ribs, broken fibula (left leg), ruptured ACL (right leg), wrist and hand injuries, forehead laceration – season
• Matilda Sergeant (Frem): hip – round 1 unavailable
• Aine Tighe (Frem): knee (ACL) – season
• Meg McDonald (Geel): broken finger – 4 matches
• Ellie Hampson (GC): ankle – 4 weeks (from ~29 Jan)
• Emma Pittman (GC): knee (ACL recovery setback) – round 1 unavailable
• Kitara Whap-Farrar (GC): knee (athroscopic procedure) – round 1 unavailable
• Tegan Cunningham (Melb): quad – test
• Kate Hore (Melb): shoulder – test
• Ainslie Kemp (Melb): ankle – test
• Lily Mithen (Melb): ankle – 3-4 matches
• Lauren Pearce (Melb): knee (operation to remove cartilage) – 3-4 matches
• Shae Sloane (Melb): knee (ACL) – season
• Katherine Smith (Melb): knee (ACL) – season
• Jasmine Grierson (NM): knee (operation to remove cartilage) – was expected to be available for practice matches but didn't come up in time
• Alicia Janz (WC): knee (meniscus) – season
• Ashleigh Guest (WBD): knee and ankle – 4-6 weeks (from ~Jan 16)

Player unavailability

• Ruth Wallace (Adel): personal – season
• Amanda Farrugia (GWS): retired – indefinite
• Bianca Jakobsson (Melb): work commitments – season
• Jess Duffin (NM): maternity – season
• Monique Conti (Rich): basketball – initially slated to miss up to 3 games, has since pulled out of WNBL to prioritise AFLW
• Aisling Utri (WB): hockey – season

Club leaders

• Adelaide: Erin Phillips and Chlesea Randall (co-captains); Courtney Cramey, Sarah Allan, Marijana Rajcic, Jess Foley and Angela Foley (leadership group)
• Brisbane: Emma Zielke (captain); Sharni Webb (vice-captain); Breanna Koenen, Kate Lutkins and Emily Bates (leadership group)
• Carlton: Kerryn Harrington and Katie Loynes (co-captains); Alison Downie, Nicola Stevens and Sarah Hosking (leadership group)
• C’wood: Steph Chiocci (captain); Brianna Davey and Ash Brazill (vice-captains)
• Fremantle: Kara Antonio (captain); Ebony Antonio, Gabby O'Sullivan, Kiara Bowers and Hayley Miller (leadership group)
• Geelong: Melissa Hickey (captain); Meg McDonald (vice-captain); Aasta O'Connor, Renee Garing and Jordan Ivey (leadership group)
• Gold Coast: Sam Virgo and Leah Kaslar (co-captains); Tiarna Ernst, Jamie Stanton and Sally Riley (leadership group)
• GWS Giants: Alicia Eva (captain); Jess Dal Pos, Cora Staunton, Britt Tully and Pepa Randall (leadership group)
• Melbourne: Daisy Pearce (captain); Karen Paxman (vice-captain)
• Nth Melb: Emma Kearney (captain); Jasmine Garner (vice-captain); Emma King and Britt Gibson (leadership group); Ash Riddell and Tahlia Randall (emerging leaders)
• Richmond: Katie Brennan (captain); Christina Bernardi (vice-captain); Lauren Tesoriero and Phoebe Monahan (deputy vice-captains)
• St Kilda: Rhiannon Watt, Kate Shierlaw and Cat Phillips (co-captains); Jessica Sedunary, Kate McCarthy, Nat Exon, Tilly Lucas-Rodd and Ali Drennan (leadership group)
• West Coast: Emma Swanson (captain); Dana Hooker (vice-captain); Maddy Collier, Courtney Guard and Alicia Janz (leadership group)
• Western Bulldogs: Ellie Blackburn (captain); Brooke Lochland (vice-captain); Lauren Spark, Hannah Scott, Isabel Huntington and Kirsty Lamb (leadership group)

Practice Matches

• Collingwood 3.6.24 defeated by Melbourne 5.8.38
• Western Bulldogs 8.11.59 defeated Geelong 7.5.47
• Carlton 6.7.43 defeated by North Melbourne 8.3.51
• Gold Coast 3.6.24 defeated by St Kilda 6.10.46
• Fremantle 5.5.35 defeated by Adelaide 8.4.52
• GWS 5.7.37 defeated Brisbane 0.3.3
• Richmond 7.9.51 defeated West Coast 3.5.23

Miscellaneous
Fair few clubs (from memory Fremantle, Richmond, St Kilda, West Coast and Western Bulldogs) have had a mixed session with their respective men's team, a first in some instances. Seems to attract a bit of interest, the Tigers in particular generating a bit of buzz.

Some of the new Irish recruits making an early impression: Orla O'Dwyer, who set a new 2km time trial club record for Brisbane; Aine Tighe, who has been receiving ruck coaching from Aaron Sandilands; and what about the Bulldogs' Katy Herron, who hasn't just brought over her adaptable Gaelic talents to Australia but also her 7-year-old son!

Each club has provided the opportunity for some future draftees to join in for a six-week period, as part of the NAB AFLW Academy program. This included potential father-daughter picks Alice Burke at St Kilda and Tarni Brown at Collingwood. In other family-friendly developments, Georgie Prespakis was spotted having a run at Ikon Park, Sam Kerr was seen doing some fine-tuning at the Eagles' gym ahead of her stint with Chelsea FC, and the Dogs announced Isabella Grant will wear no.3 on her jumper.

 

[jatz14]

Alicia Jansz has a torn meniscus I believe, not an ACL.

Sent from my XT1068 using Tapatalk

 

[Teen Wolf]

Alicia Jansz has a torn meniscus I believe, not an ACL.

Oh yes, you're right, thanks for the correction. In fact, an ACL was just about the only ligament not listed in her hapless history of knee injuries:

...having had a PCL reconstruction on her left knee along with MCL and LCL strains...

 

[Teen Wolf]

Recapping some developments from over the break:

• Jess Duffin will miss the season, not due to cricket but pregnancy! North have applied for a special exemption thingymajig to replace her spot on the list.
• Very bad news out of the Demons camp with Shae Sloane and Katherine Smith to miss the season with knee injuries. Same ACL for Sloane that she did in Round 1 last year.
• The Suns and Lions will "get together in the new year to train or play a practice match" but Brisbane coach Craig Starcevich was "tight-lipped about the specifics"... ooh, so secretive.
• Tayla Harris jumped on board to support bushfire relief, auctioning off a pair of boots online with the money raised going to the Red Cross. Currently at $8,000 with a week and a bit left.

 

[Teen Wolf]

It sounds like 3 of the AFL-sanctioned practice matches, on the weekend of Jan 25, will be:
Bulldogs v Geelong
Carlton v St Kilda
West Coast v Richmond (the Eagles also have Fremantle on their pre-season calendar, but I think that will be the unofficial one played a week earlier... could be wrong, though)

Fremantle and Adelaide have always played theirs against each other in the past, likewise GWS and Brisbane. If that trend continues then it leaves Melbourne, North, Collingwood and Gold Coast. That might mean the Dees are playing the Roos in a praccy, just like 2019 except they're also facing off in Round 1 this time around.

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Adelaide have announced they'll be keeping Chelsea Randall and Erin Phillips on as co-captains, despite injury clouds and whatnot, with decisions surrounding the rest of the leadership group yet to be confirmed.

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Can't believe I forgot to mention earlier the most outrageous story from over the holiday period: namely the attempted murder of on-duty WA police officer and new Dockers recruit Ann McMahon, resulting in two broken ribs among other injuries. One of the articles about it said something like "it is unknown if this will affect her AFLW season"... I think it's safe to call it a setback.

 

[huddler]

It sounds like 3 of the AFL-sanctioned practice matches, on the weekend of Jan 25, will be:
Bulldogs v Geelong
Carlton v St Kilda
West Coast v Richmond (the Eagles also have Fremantle on their pre-season calendar, but I think that will be the unofficial one played a week earlier... could be wrong, though)

Fremantle and Adelaide have always played theirs against each other in the past, likewise GWS and Brisbane. If that trend continues then it leaves Melbourne, North, Collingwood and Gold Coast. That might mean the Dees are playing the Roos in a praccy, just like 2019 except they're also facing off in Round 1 this time around.

---

Adelaide have announced they'll be keeping Chelsea Randall and Erin Phillips on as co-captains, despite injury clouds and whatnot, with decisions surrounding the rest of the leadership group yet to be confirmed.

---

Can't believe I forgot to mention earlier the most outrageous story from over the holiday period: namely the attempted murder of on-duty WA police officer and new Dockers recruit Ann McMahon, resulting in two broken ribs among other injuries. One of the articles about it said something like "it is unknown if this will affect her AFLW season"... I think it's safe to call it a setback.

Hi mate, thanks for the fantastic info. Could I ask where you saw details of Carlton vs St Kilda practice game? I can't find anything anywhere. Will be keen to get along, so any links or guidance would be much appreciated. Ta.

 

[Teen Wolf]

Hi mate, thanks for the fantastic info. Could I ask where you saw details of Carlton vs St Kilda practice game? I can't find anything anywhere. Will be keen to get along, so any links or guidance would be much appreciated. Ta.

G'day huddler, Daniel Harford is quoted about it in the final paragraph of this article from December 21:

We’ve got a practice game two weeks before Round 1, a scratch match against the Saints.

So not a lot of details yet unfortunately. But I, and I'm sure a few others on here, will post anything more concrete when it surfaces. Conversely, let us know if you have any luck first!

 

[huddler]

G'day huddler, Daniel Harford is quoted about it in the final paragraph of this article from December 21:

So not a lot of details yet unfortunately. But I, and I'm sure a few others on here, will post anything more concrete when it surfaces. Conversely, let us know if you have any luck first!

Awesome, thank you!

 

[TheTassieHawk]

AFLW: Trial game v GWS Giants details

Fans are invited to watch the Crows take on GWS in an AFLW trial match

www.afc.com.au

Jan 18 - Crows vs GWS, Jan 25 - Crows vs Freo

 

[Teen Wolf]

Recalling the philosophies of Grant Thomas, St Kilda have named their three captains for 2020: Rhiannon Watt, Kate Shierlaw and Cat Phillips.

Geelong will be captained by Melissa Hickey again with Meg McDonald as vice-captain. Aasta O'Connor, Renee Garing and Jordan Ivey have been named in the leadership group.

Melbourne will be without Bianca Jakobsson this season due to work commitments, a blow to the Demons I suspect they probably anticipated. Their decision to recruit similar style defender Libby Birch, whose presence has increased in AFL marketing and promo material since switching from the Dogs, makes a bit more sense now. Fwiw, Jakobsson's main career path is with the police force. Speaking of which...

Can't believe I forgot to mention earlier the most outrageous story from over the holiday period: namely the attempted murder of on-duty WA police officer and new Dockers recruit Ann McMahon, resulting in two broken ribs among other injuries. One of the articles about it said something like "it is unknown if this will affect her AFLW season"... I think it's safe to call it a setback.

For those that didn't see the follow-up to this story, Ann also suffered a broken leg and a ruptured ACL. So yes, we can now finally confirm that being allegedly run over by a motorist's newly-acquired vehicle will delay her debut until 2021.

 

[TheTassieHawk]

Please note this instagram has missed the Freo vs Crows praccy on January 25.

 

[Teen Wolf]

Updated OP with info from this article:

AFLW Latest News - AFL.com.au/aflw

Latest breaking AFLW news from the official website of the Australian Football League.

womens.afl

Good pairings for the second week, though I still don't get why the Dogs game isn't being played in Ballarat this year.

 

[Teen Wolf]

AFLW: Squad named for GWS trial

A squad of 23 has been named for the trial match against GWS

www.afc.com.au

And just this history-repeating bomb casually thrown in there:

Forward Ruth Wallace will also miss the game after taking time away from football for personal reasons.

She will no longer take any part in the 2020 season.

So casual it might be a misprint, or would that kind of thinking be too wishful? EDIT: Yes, yes it would.

 

[Teen Wolf]

Injury news updated in OP including delays/setbacks for Ashleigh Guest (Bulldogs) and Emma Pittman (Suns).

A few more captaincy announcements have rolled in this week too.
GWS Giants: Alicia Eva (captain); Jess Dal Pos, Cora Staunton, Britt Tully and Pepa Randall (leadership group)
Richmond: Katie Brennan (captain); Christina Bernardi (vice-captain); Lauren Tesoriero and Phoebe Monahan (deputy vice-captains)
Think that just leaves Gold Coast, Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs to name their leaders unless I missed them.

 

[Teen Wolf]

Reports covering the action yesterday, some giving away more than others.

Adelaide v GWS:

AFLW: Young Crows impress in trial loss

Adelaide has gone down to GWS by 17 points in the trial match at Richmond Oval

www.afc.com.au

North v Coll:

AFLW: Training report

A brilliant last quarter chase and tackle from youngster Beth Lynch has capped off an impressive first-up display.

www.nmfc.com.au

Frem v WC:

Young Dockers shine in hitout

Fremantle’s preparations for the 2020 NAB AFL Women’s season appear on track, with a promising showing in a practice match against West Coast on Saturday at Victor George Kailis Oval.

www.fremantlefc.com.au

AFLW: Strong hitout leaves Cooper with selection headache

Trent Cooper expects to have to make some hard decisions come round one

www.fremantlefc.com.au

AFLW: Eagles impress in pre-season hitout

West Coast took it up to 2019 AFLW preliminary-finalists Fremantle in a scratch match on Saturday

www.westcoasteagles.com.au

Rich v WB:

First AFLW hit-out for 2020

Check out photos from the Bulldogs' AFLW match simulation against Richmond on Saturday afternoon.

www.westernbulldogs.com.au

 

[Lsta062]

Does anyone have any of the practice match scores from yesterday?

 

[jatz14]

Does anyone have any of the practice match scores from yesterday?

Bulldogs Richmond score is in the Bulldogs link, Dogs won.

Freo beat Eagles by about 6, but I haven't seen an actual score.

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[Lsta062]

Bulldogs Richmond score is in the Bulldogs link, Dogs won.

Freo beat Eagles by about 6, but I haven't seen an actual score.

Sent from my XT1068 using Tapatalk

Oh wow 57-19, that’s a beating. Thanks!

 

[jatz14]

Note that a lot of these games are not regulation in either time or structure. 6 quarter games, starting in 1 teams forward line rather than the centre, etc. Scores are not really meaningful.

 

[jatz14]

 

[Teen Wolf]

Full video of the 3rd quarter and short video of the 4th quarter from the same channel:






Some snippets of the Dockers-Eagles:






And a few more reports from the weekend:

Writing history: Wakefield’s first hit-out

As Richmond embarks on its inaugural AFLW season, the players will be taking Tiger fans on the journey with them as they share their experiences. Today, key forward Courtney Wakefield talks about the Tigers' first hit-out...

www.richmondfc.com.au

Burke: We ticked off every box we wanted to

AFLW coach Nathan Burke reviews the 38-point win over Richmond in Saturday's match simulation.

www.westernbulldogs.com.au

AFLW: Positive signs from match sim session

Collingwood fans got their first taste of what's in store this AFLW season as the team took on North Melbourne in a match simulation session at Arden St on Saturday.

www.collingwoodfc.com.au

 

[Teen Wolf]

Some details from the Saints' run at Ikon Park:

AFLW: Saints’ first hit-out shows promising signs

The red, white and black put together a solid performance against the Blues in the club's first practice match.

www.saints.com.au

In leadership news, Melbourne have appointed a new kid on the block, her name is Dazie Piers or sumfin, as their 2020 captain. Didn't play last weekend against Geelong, although she had full-minutes in an intra-club and will play in the upcoming practice match against Collingwood. Silent but deadly Karen Paxman named vice-captain.

Expecting more info about streams for some of this weekend's praccies will come to light soon. For a start, the Giants have confirmed they'll be using their Facebook page and Youtube channel to show the match against Brisbane.

Speaking of GWS, based on the vision I saw from the Crows game and the interview I heard with coach Alan McConnell, it seems like Cora Staunton (broken leg) is good to go so I've taken her off the injury list. Gold Coast's Kitara Whap-Farrar will probably miss the start of the season with a minor knee issue.

 

[TheTassieHawk]

Expecting more info about streams for some of this weekend's praccies will come to light soon. For a start, the Giants have confirmed they'll be using their Facebook page and Youtube channel to show the match against Brisbane.

Thanks TW, do you have a source about the above streaming reference?

 

[Teen Wolf]

Thanks TW, do you have a source about the above streaming reference?

No worries, mate. Second-last paragraph of this article:

AFLW Practice Match to be Live Streamed

Don't miss seeing the GIANTS' in action at Tom Wills Oval this Sunday

www.gwsgiants.com.au

The game will also be live streamed on the GIANTS' Facebook and YouTube channels from 9am.

I'll try to remember to post links in here to those (and any other) pages when they're live too.

 

[Teen Wolf]

Teams for Saturday's practice matches:

AFLW Latest News - AFL.com.au/aflw

Latest breaking AFLW news from the official website of the Australian Football League.

womens.afl

Fremantle have confirmed they will be live streaming their game vs the Crows:


West Coast have added Andrea Gilmore to their main squad as a replacement for Alicia Janz. This comes as part of a new rule which allows clubs to upgrade a train-on athlete in the event that a player is ruled out for the season prior to January 31.

Collingwood's Ruby Schleicher sustained a minor injury to her left-knee last Saturday, aiming to be fit in time for Round 1.

Jasmine Grierson (NM) and Teagan Cunningham (Melb) not named this weekend, so I'll keep them on the injury list for now.

And, widely reported over the last few days, Jess Wuetschner is physically ok after getting struck by lightning. The mob who gave us Richo Eating Chicken probably outdoing themselves here:



Working on the docks at 3am, oh the glamour! If this wasn't the time to post bikini pics of an AFLW player (and none of her actually playing football or un/loading ships), what is.