LAST TIME THEY MET
The clubs have never met but North's extreme poaching in the off season means most of their players have played in games against Fremantle before. Most of those games we lost so I might just leave it there...
WHAT'S CHANGED?
North exists. Fremantle aren't s**t.
TEAMS
Fremantle (edited to reflect real positions)
B T.Bresland 5, P.Seth 18
HB A.Stannett 24, E.Antonio 12, E.Gooch 8
C H.Miller 19, K.Donnellan 15, S.Cain 20
HF A.Atkins K.Gibson 21, S.Duffy 6
F G.Houghton 27, A.Sharp 1
FOL P.Laurie 11, D.Hooker 17, K.Bowers 2
I/C A.Janz 30, L.Mascall 14, G.O'Sullivan 22, M.Caulfield 10, M.Sergeant 23
Emg L.Pugh 32, K.Grieve 13
In: K.Gibson
Out: A.Williams (injury)
North Melbourne
B: J.Grierson 19 D.Hardiman 31 J.Trend 21
HB: J.Duffin 27 T.Randall 16 B.Gibson 18
C: E.Kearney 9
HF: K.Gillespie-Jones 5 J.Garner 25 S.Abbatangelo 1
F: D.Bannister 2 M.Hope 23 K.Ashmore 10
Foll: E.King 60 J.Stanton 17 J.Bruton 35
I/C: T.Mesiti 3 E.King 4 A.Drennan 8 D.Bateman 11 N.Bresnehan 12
Emerg: E.Humphries 6 B.Lynch 20
In: N.Bresnehan
Out: B.Lynch
ANALYSIS AND PREDICTION
In case you haven't read one of the dozen articles out there getting way too overly excited about the final round deciding the fate for all 4 top teams in Conference A... If... Fremantle wins, we play finals. Fremantle loses, we don't play finals. North wins, they play finals. North loses, they don't play finals. If Melbourne beat Erin Phillips by a lot then they might squeeze into the top 2. They won't, Erin Phillips will finish top of the Conference A ladder. The winners will then each play a team from Conference B in the first final. Nobody cares who it is, both Conference A teams will beat them comfortably (like a training day before the big dance) and then play in the Grand Final the following week. So win this week and we'll likely be up against Erin Phillips in the Grand Final. Failing her getting injured, Erin Phillips is almost a shoo-in for the premiership. Hence this round is really a playoff for whoever becomes her bitch in a couple of weeks time. I'd still like it to be us.
North have star players spread across the field, from King in the ruck who can push forward and kick goals, to Kearney and Bruton in the middle and Duffin down back. Like Fremantle, they have the players to win the ball at the source and turn it into scores quickly. Starting the season very strongly, North have been in a bit of a downward trajectory of late but that means nothing come Saturday.
Fremantle on the other hand, started cautiously, built into a steam train for a couple of weeks, lulled a bit, and have been on an upward trajectory the past couple of weeks. Bowers has been incredible - leading the competition for ranking points, tackles, pressure points, as well as being top five for kicks (4th), score assists (4th) and metres gained (5th). Hooker has been equally impressive topping the competition for clearances and groundball gets, as well as being top five for ranking points (3rd), contested possessions (2nd), tackles (3rd) and pressure points (3rd). Donnellan looked more comfortable last week directing from behind the ball, whilst Miller has started to build into the form we know she is capable of (she is 4th for inside 50s).
Last week we saw Antonio head into defence when Alex Williams went down injured and given we've only brought Gibson in I think it's likely we'll see Antonio back starting at her preferred CHB position on the weekend. The question will be whether the forward line can function without her? Her move forward to start the season was a genius one but the forward line is now full of confidence and we saw last week could still score well without either her or Gibson there. The key may be Houghton showing some of the incredible skill and speed she showed last week but for a full game. If the midfield can bring the pressure, and work the ball to the outside for plenty of i50s, Houghton and her fleet of smalls should be capable of putting on plenty of scoreboard pressure. They'll want to make sure they bring their accurate goal kicking boots that they clearly left at home last week.
The risk here, like all our games really, is if we can't control North's midfield led by an extremely dominant ruck in King (Laurie and Janz will have their work cut out for them) then even with the bolstering by Antonio the dam wall will likely break and North will be all over us at the other end. If King is on fire and we can't contain her, this game could be a rough ride.
Backing the girls in as per usual, especially at home... Fremantle by 2 goals.
The clubs have never met but North's extreme poaching in the off season means most of their players have played in games against Fremantle before. Most of those games we lost so I might just leave it there...
WHAT'S CHANGED?
North exists. Fremantle aren't s**t.
TEAMS
Fremantle (edited to reflect real positions)
B T.Bresland 5, P.Seth 18
HB A.Stannett 24, E.Antonio 12, E.Gooch 8
C H.Miller 19, K.Donnellan 15, S.Cain 20
HF A.Atkins K.Gibson 21, S.Duffy 6
F G.Houghton 27, A.Sharp 1
FOL P.Laurie 11, D.Hooker 17, K.Bowers 2
I/C A.Janz 30, L.Mascall 14, G.O'Sullivan 22, M.Caulfield 10, M.Sergeant 23
Emg L.Pugh 32, K.Grieve 13
In: K.Gibson
Out: A.Williams (injury)
North Melbourne
B: J.Grierson 19 D.Hardiman 31 J.Trend 21
HB: J.Duffin 27 T.Randall 16 B.Gibson 18
C: E.Kearney 9
HF: K.Gillespie-Jones 5 J.Garner 25 S.Abbatangelo 1
F: D.Bannister 2 M.Hope 23 K.Ashmore 10
Foll: E.King 60 J.Stanton 17 J.Bruton 35
I/C: T.Mesiti 3 E.King 4 A.Drennan 8 D.Bateman 11 N.Bresnehan 12
Emerg: E.Humphries 6 B.Lynch 20
In: N.Bresnehan
Out: B.Lynch
ANALYSIS AND PREDICTION
In case you haven't read one of the dozen articles out there getting way too overly excited about the final round deciding the fate for all 4 top teams in Conference A... If... Fremantle wins, we play finals. Fremantle loses, we don't play finals. North wins, they play finals. North loses, they don't play finals. If Melbourne beat Erin Phillips by a lot then they might squeeze into the top 2. They won't, Erin Phillips will finish top of the Conference A ladder. The winners will then each play a team from Conference B in the first final. Nobody cares who it is, both Conference A teams will beat them comfortably (like a training day before the big dance) and then play in the Grand Final the following week. So win this week and we'll likely be up against Erin Phillips in the Grand Final. Failing her getting injured, Erin Phillips is almost a shoo-in for the premiership. Hence this round is really a playoff for whoever becomes her bitch in a couple of weeks time. I'd still like it to be us.
North have star players spread across the field, from King in the ruck who can push forward and kick goals, to Kearney and Bruton in the middle and Duffin down back. Like Fremantle, they have the players to win the ball at the source and turn it into scores quickly. Starting the season very strongly, North have been in a bit of a downward trajectory of late but that means nothing come Saturday.
Fremantle on the other hand, started cautiously, built into a steam train for a couple of weeks, lulled a bit, and have been on an upward trajectory the past couple of weeks. Bowers has been incredible - leading the competition for ranking points, tackles, pressure points, as well as being top five for kicks (4th), score assists (4th) and metres gained (5th). Hooker has been equally impressive topping the competition for clearances and groundball gets, as well as being top five for ranking points (3rd), contested possessions (2nd), tackles (3rd) and pressure points (3rd). Donnellan looked more comfortable last week directing from behind the ball, whilst Miller has started to build into the form we know she is capable of (she is 4th for inside 50s).
Last week we saw Antonio head into defence when Alex Williams went down injured and given we've only brought Gibson in I think it's likely we'll see Antonio back starting at her preferred CHB position on the weekend. The question will be whether the forward line can function without her? Her move forward to start the season was a genius one but the forward line is now full of confidence and we saw last week could still score well without either her or Gibson there. The key may be Houghton showing some of the incredible skill and speed she showed last week but for a full game. If the midfield can bring the pressure, and work the ball to the outside for plenty of i50s, Houghton and her fleet of smalls should be capable of putting on plenty of scoreboard pressure. They'll want to make sure they bring their accurate goal kicking boots that they clearly left at home last week.
The risk here, like all our games really, is if we can't control North's midfield led by an extremely dominant ruck in King (Laurie and Janz will have their work cut out for them) then even with the bolstering by Antonio the dam wall will likely break and North will be all over us at the other end. If King is on fire and we can't contain her, this game could be a rough ride.
Backing the girls in as per usual, especially at home... Fremantle by 2 goals.
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