Game Day AFLW Round 2, 2025: West Coast vs Essendon

[Barrybran]

WOW really - she dominated in the ruck today had 31 hit outs the combined total of the Essendon rucks were 8 hit outs.

Her tap work is a good a service as our midfield has ever had.

Sure she is by no means a star, but she is a very serviceable blue collar worker, who wins in the contest, in the most physically combative position on the ground.

She also managed 14 disposals herself.

Barrybran I'm not sure what more you are expecting from her , but then again we all see things differently and thats ok .

I don't follow the women's game as closely as some but the skill level has come a LONG way in ten years. I guess I'm looking at McGrath and not seeing a long term player.

 

[Ilkka Sinisalo]

WOW really - she dominated in the ruck today had 31 hit outs the combined total of the Essendon rucks were 8 hit outs.

Her tap work is a good a service as our midfield has ever had.

Sure she is by no means a star, but she is a very serviceable blue collar worker, who wins in the contest, in the most physically combative position on the ground.

She also managed 14 disposals herself.

Barrybran I'm not sure what more you are expecting from her , but then again we all see things differently and thats ok .

Yeah she’s certainly not the best in the comp, but she easily won the ruck battle today and is a big upgrade over what we had last year, and she was acquired for next to nothing (trading down 12 spots late in the draft).

 

[UseR2006]

 

[AlphaSheep]

I think we proved that we're about a middle-ranked team, probably deserve to be somewhere between 9th and 11th right now. Our pressure is right up there, we run like hell, we're pretty well organised and nothing like the rabble we were a few years ago.

Also, our defence is very injured right now, we're sacrificing Rowley from the midfield to compensate, and not getting the drive we'd have from the backline if Johnson and Smith were fit, so we get stuck a lot in the back 50, which sucks. But, I think we may have found where Roxy belongs - she doesn't need to think about where to go in defense, she just follows her opponent or the ball, and she's suddenly getting a lot more of it. Plus, always an advantage to have someone in the backline who is a) tougher than most, b) takes a good grab and c) has a massive long kick.

Also, we're really missing Lewis - she's playing forward, obviously not up to the midfield following her ankle injury, and is having zero impact on the game. And of course, our only real forward threats are midfielders, save for Daggers and occassionally Gibbo. Riggs coming back will be interesting, but Daisy said she's been practising to play back, so not sure what kind of forward she'd make. She was possibly the best contested mark in the draft outside of McDonald, though...

We're seeing continued improvement, and we got closer to them than I thought we would. They REALLY didn't like our pressure, which for a team that scored 80 last week is great to see. Now we just need to learn to score goals as well as we can stop them. We're a low scoring team at the moment, and while that could conceivably squeak us into the finals, it won't help us win one.

 

[HoneyBadger35]

**** sake. How disappointing.

A really good game from the system in general, as we had no real standouts aside from one or two but he really kept the Bombers stuck in D50 and moved the footy well ourselves. Got very lucky with their conversion.

McGrath immense, I thought she gave us first use plenty of times when our midfield wasn’t really on today. Swanson turned back the clock. Western and Cleaver had flashes and Dalgleish looks a ripper. But beyond that, nobody had a game they’d be hanging their hat on any time soon, and some players (Lewis, Franklin) had seriously quiet efforts. Despite that the pressure and the structured movement held up.

Essendon’s inaccuracy probably means they deserved it, shitty way to lose though. Growth year on year is very evident. A stinger for sure.