Women's Footy AFLW 2022 - Alyce Parker named in AA Squad

Nov 23, 2015
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GWS
AFLW Squad Breakdown - Midfield (gwsgiants.com.au)

An in-depth analysis of the midfield ahead of the AFLW season.

Ins:

Ally Dallaway – A late in for the GIANTS, the 22-year-old replacement player from the East Coast Eagles has been quick to impress. A small, quick and dynamic player, Dallaway knows how to get the ball on the outside.

Chloe Dalton – The Olympic Gold medallist’s impact on the group has already been massive and the team is yet to run out for round one. The former Blue, who joined the GIANTS during the trade period, adds an outside layer to the midfield. Dalton brings pace, dynamic movement and is the ultimate professional.

Katie Loynes – One of the more experienced players in the group, Loynes brings natural leadership to this younger line group. Moving to the GIANTS following five years with Carlton, she is the ultimate competitor, and the 35-year-old sets the standards high.

Ally Morphett – Raw but with an abundance of potential, the progression of the recently turned 18-year-old and GIANTS number one pick has already been recognised since entering the environment. Learning a lot and competing hard, Morphett has some exciting and natural attributes to display, if and when she’s given an opportunity.

Outs:

Jess Allan – Following a trade to the GIANTS in 2019, Allan played the 2020 and 2021 seasons around her Australian Defence Force requirements. Allan has moved to the inactive list for the 2022 season while she commits the necessary time required for the AFDA program.

Jess Dal Pos – After five seasons with the GIANTS in NSW, Dal Pos made the decision to return home to Victoria and signed with Carlton. A hard-running midfield with an accurate left-foot, Dal Pos played 37 games with the club and was the inaugural winner of the Gabrielle Trainor Medal in 2017.

Britt Tully – Drafted from the Gungahlin Jets in the inaugural season, Tully played the first two seasons with the GIANTS before taking a year off in 2019. She returned in 2020 without missing a beat, cementing herself as a bullish midfielder and becoming part of the club’s leadership group. At the end of the 2021 season, Tully decided to retire from the game and return to Canberra.

Unchanged:

Rebecca Beeson – Noted as being a standout this pre-season, the inaugural GIANT is entering her sixth season with club. A consistent performer, Beeson has been working on adding layers to her game in a bid to be one of the premier mids in the competition this 2022 season.

Alicia Eva – A well regarded leader with a strong work ethic and footy brain. A dynamic player, Eva contributes a strong element of pace, is a dynamic runner and helps direct play all down the field.

Tarni Evans – Racing the rehab clock following a pre-season foot injury, Evans is the versatile utility the GIANTS are hoping gets back in time to play some footy. Her natural attributes from her athletic past, combined with her football skill, make her a player the GIANTS need back on the field sooner rather than later.

Erin McKinnon – With young Ally Morphett coming into the mix, the GIANTS’ go-to ruck - Erin McKinnon - has had some good competition this pre-season which has allowed her to take her game to the next level. Having scored her first AFLW goal in season 2021, McKinnon will no doubt be keen to add a few more to her career stats.

Alyce Parker – A key player in the midfield group, 21-year-old Parker continues to excel at the game she’s only been playing at the elite level for three years. Known for her being a contested ball-winning bull, Parker has been working during the off-season to add other elements to her game and improve her impact on the scoreboard this season.

Emily Pease – The uncapped GIANT has made some strong progress this season. Working across both the midfield and the wing, the 19-year-old has an elite endurance tank, is a smart runner and a great user of the football.

Lisa Steane – Still a relatively new player, having played just 10 games, Steane has made some gains in her game this pre-season. More composed with ball in hand and an improved decision making, the coaches are excited to see which role she will excel in this year.

more in the article
 
Nov 23, 2015
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GWS
MOCK TEAMS: Who's in your club's best 21 for round one? (womens.afl)

GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY

B:
Jasmine Grierson, Georgia Garnett
HB: Pepa Randall, Annalyse Lister, Louise Stephenson
C: Chloe Dalton, Lisa Steane, Alicia Eva
HF: Haneen Zreika, Jess Doyle, Tait Mackrill
F: Cora Staunton, Bec Privitelli
Foll: Erin McKinnon, Alyce Parker, Katie Loynes
I/C: Tanya Hetherington, Ally Morphett, Bec Beeson, Katherine Smith, Brodee Mowbray

Recruits Jasmine Grierson, Chloe Dalton and Katie Loynes should all be in the Giants' 21 for round one, with Jess Dal Pos, Elle Bennetts and Britt Tully having departed the club. Ally Morphett is a straight swap for inactive ruck Jess Allan. Draftee Jess Doyle should slot into the forward line, but the last position in the team is difficult to pick. Brodee Mowbray may get the nod as a midfielder, but Brid Stack, Ally Dallaway and Casidhe Simmons could also be in the mix. Tarni Evans (foot) and Nicola Barr (shoulder) are looking unlikely for round one.
 
Nov 7, 2017
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Other Teams
Manchester City, Collingwood AFLW
MOCK TEAMS: Who's in your club's best 21 for round one? (womens.afl)

GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY

B:
Jasmine Grierson, Georgia Garnett
HB: Pepa Randall, Annalyse Lister, Louise Stephenson
C: Chloe Dalton, Lisa Steane, Alicia Eva
HF: Haneen Zreika, Jess Doyle, Tait Mackrill
F: Cora Staunton, Bec Privitelli
Foll: Erin McKinnon, Alyce Parker, Katie Loynes
I/C: Tanya Hetherington, Ally Morphett, Bec Beeson, Katherine Smith, Brodee Mowbray

Recruits Jasmine Grierson, Chloe Dalton and Katie Loynes should all be in the Giants' 21 for round one, with Jess Dal Pos, Elle Bennetts and Britt Tully having departed the club. Ally Morphett is a straight swap for inactive ruck Jess Allan. Draftee Jess Doyle should slot into the forward line, but the last position in the team is difficult to pick. Brodee Mowbray may get the nod as a midfielder, but Brid Stack, Ally Dallaway and Casidhe Simmons could also be in the mix. Tarni Evans (foot) and Nicola Barr (shoulder) are looking unlikely for round one.
It's certainly not a bad team on paper, especially once Barr and Evans are back, but jeez we're pretty old all across the park, and with the inclusion of the Swans it'll probably be a harsh drop off if we can't get some solid trades over the next few off seasons. That's also a pretty short forward line, so I'm hoping we've been focusing on forward 50 entries, or just go with a heavy run and carry gameplan in the forward half
 
Nov 23, 2015
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GWS
AFLW Season Preview - Adelaide, GWS, and St Kilda - The Mongrel Punt

GWS Giants
2021 Record:
4 wins, 5 losses (9th)
2022 Season Prediction: 12th

Every time I think about this Giants team, I’m often left with bewildering thoughts and confused regarding how they apply themselves to the competition.

I guess there’s some leniency to give them in 2021 after COVID forced them out of Sydney and on the road during the pre-season, in comparison to other teams, being forced to train away from home doesn’t make the job of making finals and beating those you need to beat to get there any easier.

In 2020, the Giants threw away a golden opportunity to put away Melbourne in the dying minutes of their finals encounter after a relatively positive year. But last season showed just exactly how far behind the pack Alan McConnell and the Giants are compared to not just the benchmarks, but the teams around them.

And with the Sydney Swans coming into the team ahead of the 2023 season, the Giants risk a further downward spiral if their crosstown rivals are successful in raiding their players next off-season.

The Giants won four games in 2021, but all of them came against the bottom four sides of the competition. The even more frightening thing about this is that in two of those games, the Giants won the match two goals to one – one in appalling conditions in Blacktown and the other to Geelong in an arm wrestle.

Their biggest issue remains how they utilise the ball moving forward. They were 11th in the competition for goals kicked, having averaged 3.7 goals per game last season. Cora Staunton was by a country mile, the team’s best forward, despite an accuracy going at 50 percent – slotting 10.10 across all nine games.

For someone who will be 40 by the beginning of the 2022 season, it’s absurd to think that she can still put in solid numbers at this stage of her sporting career. Only Tait Mackrill (Three goals) and Rebecca Privitelli (five goals) kicked more than two goals last season. In short, they need more from their forwards.

Just as important, there is also a correlation to the inside 50s they generate in their games. Let’s compare the number of inside 50 entries the Giants have generated this season to the teams that finished around them.

The Giants averaged 24.5 inside 50s in 2021. Of those around them, Carlton averaged 30.8, the Western Bulldogs averaged 27.6, Richmond (who the Giants didn’t play in 2021), averaged 28.1 and St Kilda averaged 22.8 per game. Just for comparisons’ sake – Adelaide and Brisbane averaged 34.9 and 30.2 inside 50s per game respectively last season.

The disconnect between the midfield and the forward line is obvious if you watch the Giants and how they play. Historically, they’ve never been a clean ball-using side, they’re more of a toughened team that requires a lot of smoothing around the edges and until they get that polished aspect of the game battened down, the Giants will be stuck in the middle.

Their three big-name midfielders – Alyce Parker, Rebecca Beeson and Alicia Eva are all very good players. All of them know how to find the footy, win the footy in congestion, and extract the ball out of stoppages.

Yet the key weakness is their efficiency with the ball, all three of them went at under 60 percent disposal efficiency in 2021. With Parker and Beeson, it’s expected for their efficiency to be lower, because both are premier inside midfielders, however, with an experienced head such as Eva, you expect a little more.

Parker’s already one of the best inside midfielders of the game and elevated this to another level, averaging career-highs in disposals, clearances, marks, contested possessions and metres gained last season.

But she has got to find the next step that elite midfielders like Erin Phillips, Jasmine Garner and Ellie Blackburn possess and that’s to hit the scoreboard. Parker only kicked one goal in 2021 after failing to kick majors in her first two seasons. Even lifting the goal average from 0.1 to something over 0.5 goals per game will help the Giants make strides this season.

It’s also worth mentioning how much the recruits will help this team in 2022. Whilst losing both Elle Bennetts and Jess Dal Pos to Victorian clubs is a blow to the side, the trio of recruits brought in will help cover the losses and possibly enhance the side just that little bit more.

The player I’m most excited about is the return of Chloe Dalton, having missed the 2021 season at Carlton due to her commitments to the Rugby 7s in the Tokyo Olympics. She’ll add plenty to this Giants side, having showcased throughout her time at the Blues that she’s got a great running ability, but also can hit the scoreboard and a bit of class that the Giants have lacked over the past few years.

Don’t discount what Katie Loynes can still do at this level. At worst, she’ll provide an extra veteran head to help set the standards at training and add an extra layer of depth in the middle. But it might also play into the Giants’ advantage as her in the midfield can offset players like Beeson and Parker to play more in the forward line and help add some more goals to the season total.

Keep in mind, we saw Loynes play more as a half forward in her last season in the navy blue in 2021 and we’ve seen how Brisbane used Lauren Arnell as the high half forward option that it could pay off if the Giants get enough of it forward of centre. Loynes averaged nearly three score involvements for Carlton last season and that’s a fair scalp considering how much time they got forward of centre and the scores they put on the board.

Jasmine Grierson will be at her third club, having previously been at both Melbourne and North Melbourne. She’s a player I can see playing as the ideal third tall defender that floats in and impacts every contest she can get to. She’ll be a very important piece to their defensive half. She’d certainly ease some defensive pressure off the likes of Louise Stephenson and Pepa Randall – both of whom try their best every week with little fanfare.

On top of their senior recruits, the Giants will be hoping for a few of their draftees to help step in and play a role in their bid to surge up the ladder.

Jess Doyle is a player that is well revered in New South Wales and was arguably the best draftee to come out of the state in 2021, averaging strong numbers for the Allies in the under 19 championships in her draft year. She’s a player that fills exactly what the Giants need in terms of forward craft and poise forward of centre.

Much like how Ellie McKenzie helped fix that problem of disconnect in Richmond’s midfield to their forward line, Doyle’s potential to do that is enormous. But it’s also worth pointing out that Doyle was the captain of the Swans’ academy team, so there’s every chance that 2022 is seen as a rental year for the Giants before she returns to where it all began.

Jess Allan’s move to the inactive list opens a spot for their top draft pick in 2021, Ally Morphett to get games early. The Giants played both Allan and Erin McKinnon as their ruck pairing in 2021 and averaged plenty of hitouts and displayed brilliant tap work, but around the ground, they didn’t exactly bring much to the table.

Morphett isn’t overly mobile for her size but has the intelligence around the ground to place herself into positions where she can make an impact as well as her solid ruck craft. She averaged over 11 disposals and kicked three goals as well as averaging 18.6 hitouts in five matches for Murray in the NAB League in 2021.

I would also like to see their younger players have more of a say in games this season. Tarni Evans played seven of nine games last season and showed a lot of promising signs as a link-up wing option. Tait Mackrill also played a career-best seven games last season and showed great work rate as a lead-up half forward and Emily Pease is a player I saw a little of in the VFL Women’s and is a player that has good potential as a permanent feature in their best 21 with her competitive nature and elite running ability.

2022 is a big season for the Giants, having been a ‘middle of the road’ team over the past couple of years. There’s no doubt that they’ll be aiming for the stars, but they must fix their disposal when they move the ball forward.

Their defence is solid – ranked seventh in the competition – but if the Giants can’t get the points on the board, then they will be in for a very rough few years when the Swans enter the competition.

The Fixture

Round 1: vs Gold Coast (Away)
Round 2: vs Fremantle (Away)
Round 3: vs North Melbourne (Away)
Round 4: vs Western Bulldogs (Home)
Round 5: vs St Kilda (Home)
Round 6: vs Melbourne (Away)
Round 7: vs Adelaide (Home)
Round 8: vs Carlton (Home)
Round 9: vs Richmond (Home)
Round 10: vs Geelong (Away)
 
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