AFLW AFLW 2022 - general discussion

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Sandown tomorrow

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Oliver G

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May 14, 2009
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It's hard to judge because form can fluctuate so much week to week and across the season, especially with the younger girls.
I probably only watched 60-70% of our games so others will likely have a better idea than me - but i would break it down as follows:

Cannot Afford To Lose - Tier 1
Blackburn (committed to the club)
Lamb (committed to the club)

Let's face it - we are losing two important girls and will survive - but Blackburn and Lamb are the heart of this team.
Toogood (signed with Essendon)
Huntington (requested trade to GWS for work-related reasons)

Fitzgerald (Now probably our 3rd most important player going into next season)

Important - Tier 2
Morris-Dalton (Belongs in the lower category but moves into this category based on need and late season form)
Hartwig (Already a high level defender and could become elite)
Brown (Has developed into a solid key defensive option)
Lynch (As above)
Moody (Took her game to the next level and is entering her prime as a ruck)
Georgostathis (Has become a great ball winner but I would like to see her get a bit more dangerous with her use)
Newton (Hasn't had the start to her career that you might hope for as a number 1 pick but needs to step up now)
Pritchard (Finished the season well and I believe she will be a good player but I want to see more first)

Developing - Tier 3
Grant (Same as Pritchard)
Edmonds (Showed some great signs last season and will hopefully continue to develop)
Snell (Surprise packet from last years draft and has already cemented her spot in the team
Lagioia (Becoming a good solid player)
Gutknecht (Same as above)
Depth/Role players - Tier 3 (With 75% of our team 21 or under I think the value of these girls increases)
Berry (Good player and will be important with her leadership)
Ferres (Good reliable defender)
Hunt (Not sure why you had Hunt as a delisting candidate but she has some elite traits and provides some important maturity)

Depth/Role players - Tier 4
Cranston (I think will be an important forward option with 3 forwards leaving)
Bennetts (Was patchy last year but will probably hold a wing with Lochland going and Mcleod a ?)
Gamble (A handy depth player who may have to spend the preseason learning to be a forward)
Lochland (signed with Sydney)(I was hoping she would play forward more with Izzy and Bonnie leaving but I guess not)
Speculative - Tier 4
Woods (Showed some positive signs last year and attacks the ball in the air. Deserves a spot)
Ling (Solid U18 form so hopefully develops more next season)
Smith (Unlucky with her injury but again was a solid junior)
Strahan (Hard to say she should be delisted after 1 year - Only the coaches and staff who know her could say that)

Retire/Delist
Guest (retired)
Scott (retired)

McLeod (Really hoping she can get back out on the field)
With Other girls leaving and a compromised draft I don't think we need too many in this group.

Excellent summary. Moody and Edmonds pretty much split the ruck 50/50 last season but moving forward it's clear Moody needs to play more time as our #1 ruck, so I wouldn't mind us trying Edmonds up forward (maybe 70/30), she's played a few games as a forward in the VFLW and done reasonably well. Hopefully with both her shoulders done we can finally see Newton at 100%. As for Hunt that was an error on my end, she's firmly in my depth category.
 

TBOW

Premiership Player
Aug 9, 2012
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Excellent summary. Moody and Edmonds pretty much split the ruck 50/50 last season but moving forward it's clear Moody needs to play more time as our #1 ruck, so I wouldn't mind us trying Edmonds up forward (maybe 70/30), she's played a few games as a forward in the VFLW and done reasonably well. Hopefully with both her shoulders done we can finally see Newton at 100%. As for Hunt that was an error on my end, she's firmly in my depth category.
Yeah I was thinking along the same lines. It's definitely going to be a very different forward set up to any we've previously had.
I thought that might be the case with Hunt.
 

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Oliver G

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Yeah I was thinking along the same lines. It's definitely going to be a very different forward set up to any we've previously had.
I thought that might be the case with Hunt.

Going to be a very interesting couple of weeks. I hope we've had a word with Kate McCarthy, another experienced player will do us good especially with no Lochland.
 

Oliver G

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If losing a depth player like Gamble is the price to pay to keep the likes of Brown, Moody, Lynch, etc, it's worth paying.

So with the deadline reached we've lost to expansion Gamble, Lochland and Toogood. 2 out of a maximum of 4 best 21 players. A month ago it was looking like we'd lose 4.

We've come out of this reasonably well compared to some other clubs but of course it doesn't excuse the insanity of the expansion rules in the first place.

The revised draft order should be released in the next 24 hours which will show us what sort of compensation we get.
 
Oct 10, 2007
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If losing a depth player like Gamble is the price to pay to keep the likes of Brown, Moody, Lynch, etc, it's worth paying.

So with the deadline reached we've lost to expansion Gamble, Lochland and Toogood. 2 out of a maximum of 4 best 21 players. A month ago it was looking like we'd lose 4.

We've come out of this reasonably well compared to some other clubs but of course it doesn't excuse the insanity of the expansion rules in the first place.

The revised draft order should be released in the next 24 hours which will show us what sort of compensation we get.

There's the chance of some quick repair work that could be done from tomorrow in the trade and sign period.

The Tigers delisted Christina Bernardi and the Saints let go Kate McCarthy - could pick them up on one year deals as a temporary fix for the forward line, while working on your longer term strategy.
 

footscray1973

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If losing a depth player like Gamble is the price to pay to keep the likes of Brown, Moody, Lynch, etc, it's worth paying.

So with the deadline reached we've lost to expansion Gamble, Lochland and Toogood. 2 out of a maximum of 4 best 21 players. A month ago it was looking like we'd lose 4.

We've come out of this reasonably well compared to some other clubs but of course it doesn't excuse the insanity of the expansion rules in the first place.

The revised draft order should be released in the next 24 hours which will show us what sort of compensation we get.
How has the club come out of it well Oliver, losing an experienced key back, and the most consistent, and experienced key forward? Even if Huntington had stayed, she misses all of 2022, so Toogood is an even bigger loss in that context. They are both 24, with years ahead of them too.

And yes, I know, expansion is over. So now it will just be existing clubs raiding the Bulldogs list in future - remember Saints were the ones after Lamb.

Given the shambles that Livingstone has presided over with successive expansions, remembering that in 1925 expansion clubs actually LOST players who had failed to transfer to the VFA according to VFL rules, and in 1987, 1991, 1995, and 1997 there were more stringent limitations on the number of players expansion clubs could sign from each existing team, as there were with the 2 more recent franchises, the veritable open slather model on already small lists just shows how out of their depth the AFLW administration are, and how the parent AFL have failed to learn anything.

I'd be telling any young kids who follow AFLW teams to make sure the numbers of their favourite players are only attached with velcro, and don't bother buying player badges, etc. It always seemed the AFL was intent on tracking towards the US sports model of highly fluid player lists, but the AFLW have certainly trumped them there in terms of ratios of player movement between seasons, so well done to them for that, I suppose.

We've happily binned our Toogood merchandise at our place, and are directing the money we spent attending AFLW games into our local women's league. Also have a keen interest in the Shepparton Bears women's team too.

Anyway, apologies for the rant, sorry, it's not meant to be directed at you personally, I'm just p1ssed off that my footy-loving daughter can follow the men's team knowing that few key players actually swap clubs, while the women's team has seen a significant portion of the 2018 team we queued up in the rain to watch in the GF defect on a yearly basis, most of them still in their footy prime.
 
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Other than Carlton, we have again been the worst club (at least Victorian) at retaining players to expansion clubs. Including Huntington, we are again the worst overall in retaining players full stop.

Meanwhile, Melbourne who are stacked with high level talent lost only a fringe NSW player who couldn't get a game in their grand final team.

I can't say I'm too excited about the trade period; it's real Danny from Droop Street stuff I know but given our appalling track record at retaining players (and attracting ones from other clubs) it's hard not to be highly pessimistic.
 
Oct 10, 2007
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There's a key difference between the Bulldogs and the Demons.

YOU WON A FLAG. So, a player offered money to go elsewhere looks at the situation. Current Doggies team wasn't going to be in the Premiership window for at least a year or two more. They've already got a premiership in their career, so with that box ticked, they can think about financial security from this point forward and accept a bigger contract elsewhere.

The Demons have not won a flag. Always been thereabouts and finally made it to the GF a few months ago. Players there look at the money on offer from elsewhere, but realise those expansion teams will be a few years away from being in a premiership window. They are staying (on less money than they could be getting), because RIGHT NOW is their best shot at a flag. If they win it this coming season (or drop right off), then you'll start to see Melbourne players look around for moves to other clubs.
 
Apr 9, 2003
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There's a key difference between the Bulldogs and the Demons.

YOU WON A FLAG. So, a player offered money to go elsewhere looks at the situation. Current Doggies team wasn't going to be in the Premiership window for at least a year or two more. They've already got a premiership in their career, so with that box ticked, they can think about financial security from this point forward and accept a bigger contract elsewhere.

The Demons have not won a flag. Always been thereabouts and finally made it to the GF a few months ago. Players there look at the money on offer from elsewhere, but realise those expansion teams will be a few years away from being in a premiership window. They are staying (on less money than they could be getting), because RIGHT NOW is their best shot at a flag. If they win it this coming season (or drop right off), then you'll start to see Melbourne players look around for moves to other clubs.

That's part of the answer but I doubt that's the sole or even main reason. Players like Lambert, Brennan, Huntington, McCarthy, Bannister and Gamble have walked out on the club without premiership medals around their necks. I think the main reason is that we are complete amateurs in the off field financial stakes and have regularly brought a pea shooter to a gun fight.
 

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TBOW

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Without wanting to throw more fuel on the fire, we've probably lost a team (not all through expansion) that would currently beat our starting lineup.

B: Meg McDonald, Elise Gamble

HB: Belinda Smith, Izzy Huntington, Libby Birch,

C: Mon Conti, Jaimee Lambert, Daria Bannister

HF: Jenna Bruton, Katie Brennan, Brooke Lochland

F: Bonnie Toogood, Hannah Munyard

R: Kim Rennie, Emma Kearney, Aisling McCarthy

IC: Aasta O’Connor, Tiana Ernst, Kate Bartlett, Emma Mackie (pulling a few out of retirement to make the interchange).

Obviously a lot of these girls were drafted with picks that we got in exchange for others, but that is still a lot to give up in 5 years of a competition.
 
Oct 10, 2007
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So looks like our compensation for losing Toogood, Lochland and Gamble is that we don't lose the prestigious pick 24 and the best we can get from GWS for Huntington is pick 20. Great.
Picks 9 and 12 in the Victorian draft pool
 

Virgin Dog

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Oct 29, 2017
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So looks like our compensation for losing Toogood, Lochland and Gamble is that we don't lose the prestigious pick 24 and the best we can get from GWS for Huntington is pick 20. Great.
Pick 20 for Huntington is nearly as bad as when the Hawks got Pick 19 for losing Buddy
 

footscray1973

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May 17, 2004
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The revised draft order should be released in the next 24 hours which will show us what sort of compensation we get.
Or - don't get?


And this one's not aimed at you Oliver, just to generally highlight the fact if AFLW aims to somehow achieve the status of a professionally-run competition, they have a long way to go. A very long way.

I would suggest rules made by idiots, but surely not even idiots could come up with something so stupid:

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Unless you actually LOSE good players to expansion clubs - no first rounder for you.
 

TBOW

Premiership Player
Aug 9, 2012
3,191
3,860
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
Izzy gone for 29 & 37. Should have been 20 & 29 FFS. Very disappointing.
Also would have much rather grabbed Barber for a pick in the 30's from Geelong than Brown.

Western Bulldogs trade Isabel Huntington to GWS GIANTS for Pick 29 and Pick 37
Geelong Cats trade Millie Brown and Pick 21 to the Western Bulldogs for Pick 24 and Pick 56
 

gordo2016

Norm Smith Medallist
Aug 13, 2017
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What's Millie Brown like? Remember reading about her when she was picked as a father/daughter selection. She was their first pick in that draft so must have something going for her? Don't really pay much attention to players from other teams, so some one might know what her strengths are.
 

weltschmerz

Brownlow Medallist
May 23, 2019
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What's Millie Brown like? Remember reading about her when she was picked as a father/daughter selection. She was their first pick in that draft so must have something going for her? Don't really pay much attention to players from other teams, so some one might know what her strengths are.

Tall, strong kick, good mark, good composure.
 

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