Universal Love AFLW GRAND FINAL v Melbourne - Adelaide Dynasty Confirmed

[GROTTO]

I really hope it isn't an August start

Do an October start. Week after the mens GF
Then run for 12 weeks till the weekend of the 17/18 of December
2 weeks off
Then run another 5 weeks till the first weekend of February
Then 4 weeks of finals (GF first weekend of March)

Would basically mean if you get behind womens footy. You only have about 4/5 weeks without footy in the year (2 week christmas break, pre-finals bye, then the week between the pre-season and rd 1)

If the womens AFL starts in August, any season launch will be completely lost and diluted, due to the mens Finals about to start and also the all important final H&A games to determine finals placings.

Starting in October gives the AFLW clear space to dominate the AFL world at a time where there is very little happening.

 

[John Who]

My gut feeling is that she will be at Port next year, by suggesting that she will return to the US, she would have increased her price if Port want her.

I think she will present a lot of value to them as a marquee player to attract supporters to their team, Port cannot afford not to.

I didn’t want to say this, but I felt this way early on during the season when there weren’t much reports of Erin linking with Port. The way it’s playing out this season, it feels kind of like Betts’ journey.

Betts played for Carlton in his early years (Phillips barracked for Port in her early years). Betts started to slow down in 2019, then came back to Carlton in his final playing years. Erin, with all her recurring leg injuries, is slowing down this year. So with her strong ties with Port, I genuinely think she will return to Port. However, I do think Erin is weighing up whether she still wants to be a player or not, because she hasn’t got that speed or agility as she once had.

 

[flashcrow]

My gut feeling is that she will be at Port next year, by suggesting that she will return to the US, she would have increased her price if Port want her.

I think she will present a lot of value to them as a marquee player to attract supporters to their team, Port cannot afford not to.

Erin is a real professional, I reckon she knows it is time to hang up the boots. If she goes to port, I doubt it would be as a player.

 

[GROTTO]

I didn’t want to say this, but I felt this way early on during the season when there weren’t much reports of Erin linking with Port. The way it’s playing out this season, it feels kind of like Betts’ journey.

Betts played for Carlton in his early years (Phillips barracked for Port in her early years). Betts started to slow down in 2019, then came back to Carlton in his final playing years. Erin, with all her recurring leg injuries, is slowing down this year. So with her strong ties with Port, I genuinely think she will return to Port. However, I do think Erin is weighing up whether she still wants to be a player or not, because she hasn’t got that speed or agility as she once had.

I admit I dont follow the AFLW as much nor as passionately as others on here, so my comments may not be correct, however, her body shape is amazing in terms of muscularity and definition compared to a lot of other AFLW players.

You can clearly see a person that has hit the gym hard for years and done all the right things to put on muscle and strength. She may have slowed down, but given her strength, she is clearly ahead of a lot of players. I think she could play still next year, because to stop her is a challenge for a lot of players. Maybe as a deep forward.

Again I think she provides Port with excellent marquee value and more than any other player possibly could and that alone is what Port should be paying her for, anything else is a bonus.

 

[cmndstab]

Also, in the first 3-4 years we were just too dominant because we clearly had the best 2 players in AFLW in Randall and Phillips; and 3 other elite players in Marinoff, Hatchard and Allan.

The funny thing is, this isn't really the case. Allan didn't get any good until 2018, and Hatchard didn't until 2019. It's easy to look at "five starts, four grand finals, three flags" and assume we just hit the ground running in 2017 and never looked back. But in reality, those three premiership sides were three very different teams with very different game styles.

In 2017 we were a team of five or six players. Phillips, Randall, Marinoff, Perkins, Cramey and arguably Foley. Beyond that, everyone else was a bit part player. And even Perkins only performed well half the time. What set us apart in 2017 was that we were just about the only team who played to our reality. Everyone else was trying to execute structures and strategies from the men's games, trying to execute kick-mark plays or zones that the women were not yet capable of. The Crows, by contrast, just tried to maul the ball forward rugby style, and then relied on the individual brilliance of Phillips and Perkins to score once we got it there. It put us ahead of the average sides, but we still weren't as good as Brisbane or Melbourne. Thankfully Melbourne kicked themselves out of the grand final with their inexplicable loss to GWS (1.9 to 3.2, how furious would you be?), and on the day of the grand final itself we only got over the line due to immense performances from three players. Randall completely stifling Tayla Harris, Cramey coming off an injury and moving to the midfield to have the best match of her career, and Phillips' 28 touches and 2 goals. Probably close to the best games any of those three have ever played.

By 2018 that game style was already obsolete as players were able to hit targets well enough that we couldn't just rely on all staying in the contest. We were rubbish in 2018. In 2019 we completely reinvented ourselves, essentially adopting the Crows 2017 men's strategy of slingshot football. Our midfield was strong enough (the emergence of Hatchard and Jess Foley really helped) that we could get the ball in space. Then Phillips and Scheer would lead to create space, and we'd just go over the top. SLT was our leading goalkicker that year, and yet she barely had a set shot. Just JTG goals over and over again, same with Ponter.

Then, with Scheer and Phillips injured, that game style completely fell apart in 2020 and we were hopeless again. We wouldn't have made the finals if that season had continued. So in 2021 we reinvented ourselves yet again, playing a new game style based on strong defence. Hard tackling and pressuring players through the midfield, a heavy zone, and of course our brilliant back line to mop up the pressured entries. And even then, we didn't have it right. Whiteley down back while Biddell played up forward comes to mind.

Our third flag in 2022 is not just a case of the team and game style from 2017/2019 continuing to hold up after six years. Each flag so far has been followed by a rubbish season. We've had to reinvent ourselves each time just to become competitive again, let alone premiers.

 

[cmndstab]

I admit I dont follow the AFLW as much nor as passionately as others on here, so my comments may not be correct, however, her body shape is amazing in terms of muscularity and definition compared to a lot of other AFLW players.

You can clearly see a person that has hit the gym hard for years and done all the right things to put on muscle and strength. She may have slowed down, but given her strength, she is clearly ahead of a lot of players. I think she could play still next year, because to stop her is a challenge for a lot of players. Maybe as a deep forward.

Again I think she provides Port with excellent marquee value and more than any other player possibly could and that alone is what Port should be paying her for, anything else is a bonus.

Playing basketball at that elite level puts her athletically above the rest of AFLW. Just look at Jess Foley, who started playing footy in her mid-30s, but immediately was the best ruck in the game, in large part because she just had that natural athleticism and fitness from playing top-shelf basketball.

 

[radiojake]

The funny thing is, this isn't really the case. Allan didn't get any good until 2018, and Hatchard didn't until 2019. It's easy to look at "five starts, four grand finals, three flags" and assume we just hit the ground running in 2017 and never looked back. But in reality, those three premiership sides were three very different teams with very different game styles.

In 2017 we were a team of five or six players. Phillips, Randall, Marinoff, Perkins, Cramey and arguably Foley. Beyond that, everyone else was a bit part player. What set us apart in 2017 was that we were just about the only team who played to our reality. Everyone else was trying to execute structures and strategies from the men's games, trying to execute kick-mark plays or zones that the women were not yet capable of. The Crows, by contrast, just tried to maul the ball forward rugby style, and then relied on the individual brilliance of Phillips and Perkins to score once we got it there. It put us ahead of the average sides, but we still weren't as good as Brisbane or Melbourne. Thankfully Melbourne kicked themselves out of the grand final with their inexplicable loss to GWS (1.9 to 3.2, how furious would you be?), and on the day of the grand final itself we only got over the line due to immense performances from three players. Randall completely stifling Tayla Harris, Cramey coming off an injury and moving to the midfield to have the best match of her career, and Phillips' 28 touches and 2 goals. Probably close to the best games any of those three have ever played.

By 2018 that game style was already obsolete as players were able to hit targets well enough that we couldn't just rely on all staying in the contest. We were rubbish in 2018. In 2019 we completely reinvented ourselves, essentially adopting the Crows 2017 men's strategy of slingshot football. Our midfield was strong enough (the emergence of Hatchard and Jess Foley really helped) that we could get the ball in space. Then Phillips and Scheer would lead to create space, and we'd just go over the top. SLT was our leading goalkicker that year, and yet she barely had a set shot. Just JTG goals over and over again, same with Ponter.

Then, with Scheer and Phillips injured, that game style completely fell apart in 2020 and we were hopeless again. We wouldn't have made the finals if that season had continued. So in 2021 we reinvented ourselves yet again, playing a new game style based on strong defence. Hard tackling and pressuring players through the midfield, a heavy zone, and of course our brilliant back line to mop up the pressured entries. And even then, we didn't have it right. Whiteley down back while Biddell played up forward comes to mind.

Our third flag in 2022 is not just a case of the team and game style from 2017/2019 continuing to hold up after six years. Each flag so far has been followed by a rubbish season. We've had to reinvent ourselves each time just to become competitive again, let alone premiers.

such a succinct summary - this should be quoted every time someone says 'Crows women gifted a state side'

 

[radiojake]

Actually my favourite quote from yesterday was a text from a Melbourne supporting mate who is equally invested in the women's comp

"Does Ricciuto have nothing to do with Adelaide's AFLW program? It's the only reason to explain it's great success while the rest of the club is a shambles"

 

[cmndstab]

Actually my favourite quote from yesterday was a text from a Melbourne supporting mate who is equally invested in the women's comp

"Does Ricciuto have nothing to do with Adelaide's AFLW program? It's the only reason to explain it's great success while the rest of the club is a shambles"

Hah! Actually, I was really pleased to see the tweet a few pages back about Phil Harper. As much as he has presided over a lot of s**t with our men's team, the way he took the bull by the horns and orchestrated our AFLW bid was nothing short of brilliant. We probably wouldn't have won a single flag if he hadn't done things the way he did. All credit to him.

 

[GROTTO]

Playing basketball at that elite level puts her athletically above the rest of AFLW. Just look at Jess Foley, who started playing footy in her mid-30s, but immediately was the best ruck in the game, in large part because she just had that natural athleticism and fitness from playing top-shelf basketball.

However, being in ruck and also with a "mature body" is completely different issue. A lot of ruckmen in the AFL in the mens have done well in their 30s.

 

[cmndstab]

such a succinct summary - this should be quoted every time someone says 'Crows women gifted a state side'

The 2017 flag is the best counterexample to that. I mentioned the six standout players from that season. We had Phillips coming from overseas (and looking at Collingwood first), Randall from WA, Foley from NT, Perkins from Victoria, and Cramey and Marinoff from SA. Take any one of those out and we probably don't even make the grand final, let alone win it. We had to search far and wide to put a team together that could compete for a flag. We didn't just hoover up all the best SA talent and call it a day.

Hell, the fact that a full third of our side that year came from NT, which has around one seventh the population of SA, tells you all you need to know about the level of talent going around in SA that year.

Also, if it's not fair for the Crows to have access to players from a state with a population of 1.7M, while the Victorian teams have to share a state with a population of 6.6M, maybe don't have ten teams from Victoria? Just a thought.

 

[brucetiki]

Wasn’t the AFL seriously considering not giving either SA side an AFLW licence initially (well…Port were never interested because China).

Our board at the time has to be commended for taking on that challenge and doing all it could to secure one of the original 8 AFLW licences.

 

[GROTTO]

Wasn’t the AFL seriously considering not giving either SA side an AFLW licence initially (well…Port were never interested because China).

Our board at the time has to be commended for taking on that challenge and doing all it could to secure one of the original 8 AFLW licences.

Port stupidly has paid a huge steep price in the way they analyzed the situation at hand at the time.

The blunder will be one of many reasons, that they will suffer in terms of being rated a clear distant 2nd team in the AFLW in SA.

 

[FR0GGY]

Wasn’t the AFL seriously considering not giving either SA side an AFLW licence initially (well…Port were never interested because China).

Our board at the time has to be commended for taking on that challenge and doing all it could to secure one of the original 8 AFLW licences.

There was something in that I think and what got us over the line was the NT partnership.

 

[cmndstab]

To be fair, Port wanted an initial AFLW team. They just didn't do the legwork we did to make it happen. Their attitude was "the talent base isn't really here yet, we want to focus on building the grassroots first" whereas our attitude was "the talent base isn't really here yet, so let's make an effort to widen the net we're allowed to cast." We were proactive, and once that happened Port knew they wouldn't get the license and pulled their bid.

I don't think there was ever a serious consideration to not giving an SA team a license, but the AFL basically told us, you guys are going to suck unless you do something more than just pick the best local girls, so go away and come back to us with a plan to not suck. That's to the AFL's credit, really. They (correctly) recognised that just taking an SA state team into AFLW was going to be a disaster. They gave us an opportunity to present them with a better plan, and we came up with one.

 

[texanmike]

I admit I dont follow the AFLW as much nor as passionately as others on here, so my comments may not be correct, however, her body shape is amazing in terms of muscularity and definition compared to a lot of other AFLW players.

You can clearly see a person that has hit the gym hard for years and done all the right things to put on muscle and strength. She may have slowed down, but given her strength, she is clearly ahead of a lot of players. I think she could play still next year, because to stop her is a challenge for a lot of players. Maybe as a deep forward.

Again I think she provides Port with excellent marquee value and more than any other player possibly could and that alone is what Port should be paying her for, anything else is a bonus.

Yes she is physically more developed than anyone in the league due to being an elite sportswoman her whole career but to be brutally honest she can’t run anymore, if you can’t run you will struggle to play AFL. I guess Port could play her full forward the whole game but if I was her it’s time to go out on a high.

 

[GreyCrow]

 

[John Who]

The funny thing is, this isn't really the case. Allan didn't get any good until 2018, and Hatchard didn't until 2019. It's easy to look at "five starts, four grand finals, three flags" and assume we just hit the ground running in 2017 and never looked back. But in reality, those three premiership sides were three very different teams with very different game styles.

In 2017 we were a team of five or six players. Phillips, Randall, Marinoff, Perkins, Cramey and arguably Foley. Beyond that, everyone else was a bit part player. And even Perkins only performed well half the time. What set us apart in 2017 was that we were just about the only team who played to our reality. Everyone else was trying to execute structures and strategies from the men's games, trying to execute kick-mark plays or zones that the women were not yet capable of. The Crows, by contrast, just tried to maul the ball forward rugby style, and then relied on the individual brilliance of Phillips and Perkins to score once we got it there. It put us ahead of the average sides, but we still weren't as good as Brisbane or Melbourne. Thankfully Melbourne kicked themselves out of the grand final with their inexplicable loss to GWS (1.9 to 3.2, how furious would you be?), and on the day of the grand final itself we only got over the line due to immense performances from three players. Randall completely stifling Tayla Harris, Cramey coming off an injury and moving to the midfield to have the best match of her career, and Phillips' 28 touches and 2 goals. Probably close to the best games any of those three have ever played.

By 2018 that game style was already obsolete as players were able to hit targets well enough that we couldn't just rely on all staying in the contest. We were rubbish in 2018. In 2019 we completely reinvented ourselves, essentially adopting the Crows 2017 men's strategy of slingshot football. Our midfield was strong enough (the emergence of Hatchard and Jess Foley really helped) that we could get the ball in space. Then Phillips and Scheer would lead to create space, and we'd just go over the top. SLT was our leading goalkicker that year, and yet she barely had a set shot. Just JTG goals over and over again, same with Ponter.

Then, with Scheer and Phillips injured, that game style completely fell apart in 2020 and we were hopeless again. We wouldn't have made the finals if that season had continued. So in 2021 we reinvented ourselves yet again, playing a new game style based on strong defence. Hard tackling and pressuring players through the midfield, a heavy zone, and of course our brilliant back line to mop up the pressured entries. And even then, we didn't have it right. Whiteley down back while Biddell played up forward comes to mind.

Our third flag in 2022 is not just a case of the team and game style from 2017/2019 continuing to hold up after six years. Each flag so far has been followed by a rubbish season. We've had to reinvent ourselves each time just to become competitive again, let alone premiers.

I didn’t mean to say it was simple for us to win the first 2 premierships, but more to mention that we had 2 elite players that were arguably 2 of the best in the league in 2017. Allan, Hatchard and Marinoff definitely are elite players and of course they needed 1-2 years to get there as they were just pups when they started out in 2017.

You can argue that we would have been a big chance again in 2018 if there weren’t some injuries to our core group (Erin and I think Cramey?). So no doubt our girls have improved collectively as a group over the years, but the point remains, we were blessed that we had a core of elite players (and elite potentials) right from the start.

 

[dplggr47]

Going to Port, will be a lovely way for her to enjoy her retirement and getting paid well too, she wont come cheap and rightfully will demand good dollars.

I don't think Port will waste their marquee dollars on Erin who is past her prime? Even if it gives her a fairytale retirement withe them.

 

[dplggr47]

Worth a read.
'This could be my last game': Adelaide legend Erin Phillips could say goodbye instead of making Port switch

Other than to put on the guernsey, I don't see why she'd want to put her body through another season of AFLW to not win a premiership.

 

[ams4crows]

Other than to put on the guernsey, I don't see why she'd want to put her body through another season of AFLW to not win a premiership.

Yep I think she's done too. A coach yeah maybe but playing she is definitely slowing down now, she still has skills but she's 37 her body has to be sore all the time now

 

[AFC3000]

Now we've got Caro on ABCs Offsiders convinced Erin is going to Port and taking someone like Ebony Marinoff with her (hours after an ABC article quoted her saying she wouldn't be playing for Port)

So who knows.

I don't know that anyone does.

Might depend on how soon the next season starts, does a quick season mean Erin chooses to go on, here or Port, a few more months is better than a whole extra year.

Or does the quick turn around mean she doesn't get to go back to the US for an extended period between seasons.

Could go either way.

I think with other players we'll have to wait and see how many players we can pay at the top tier, do the expansion teams get the same limitations?

You think we lose 2 or 3 sitting just below tier 1.

I'm hoping their is some thought to stick together and try and win won in the 18 team competition.

The first 3 have been great and just as valid as the next one, but all of this talk about falling off now we've got the expansion side down the road might be some extra motivation. We're still going to have a ton of experience and a quality program.

 

[cmndstab]

We can afford to lose a few middle-range players. Every year we seem to be able to find a few players who could easily offer just as much as some of our premiership players. Newman, Tonon, Ballard, hell, even Dayna Cox, there is plenty of talent left in the shed even if we were to lose a bunch of players from our latest premiership side.

The only thing we can't replace is those top-tier players. Hatchard, Marinoff, Allan, Randall, etc. That calibre of player doesn't grow on trees. Hatchard is the one I'm scared of losing, fingers crossed we can keep her. Do whatever it takes.

I guess the other concern is if they somehow split up our defence since they function so well as a unit. I can't imagine Randall leaving, which surely means Rajcic won't leave either. So Allan and Biddell are the two to be worried about.

 

[dplggr47]

Now we've got Caro on ABCs Offsiders convinced Erin is going to Port and taking someone like Ebony Marinoff with her (hours after an ABC article quoted her saying she wouldn't be playing for Port)

Don't need any sources to be a journalist. They can just say whatever and make it rumour.

We can afford to lose a few middle-range players. Every year we seem to be able to find a few players who could easily offer just as much as some of our premiership players. Newman, Tonon, Ballard, hell, even Dayna Cox, there is plenty of talent left in the shed even if we were to lose a bunch of players from our latest premiership side.

They can have triple premiership player Justine Mules.

 

[cmndstab]

I guess Ponter could be a concern. She can be so frustrating at times, but she consistently stands up in big games. Take her out of the side yesterday and things could have been very different.

She's unlikely to be one of our highest paid players, and as well as Port targeting her, she also has links to Essendon. Both could target her as their primary forward and pay her accordingly.