News NMFC AFLW 2019

[RobZombie]

I'm amazed you guys aren't the outright favourites. Barring a choke your team will dominate the comp with the team assembled.

I'm spewing my mob didn't win it when we had our chances

You never know how a group is going to come together, and the training squads are going to be split between Melbourne and Tassie for a lot of the time. Cohesion and execution of the game plan could be an issue. Dogs are more of a known quantity. Makes sense.

 

[____]

You never know how a group is going to come together, and the training squads are going to be split between Melbourne and Tassie for a lot of the time. Cohesion and execution of the game plan could be an issue. Dogs are more of a known quantity. Makes sense.

Adelaide's squad was split between Adelaide and the NT and they won the comp in the first year

 

[Kimbo]

AFLW: New Roos hop into their first training session
Sarah Black
Nov 18, 2018 3:17PM

AS NORTH Melbourne's first ever Melbourne-based AFLW training session got underway, Emma Kearney's path to the Arden Street oval was blocked by a gaggle of enthusiastic kids.

Kearney, the captain of the fledgling team and the 2018 competition best and fairest, crossed to the Kangaroos in the off-season after two years at the Western Bulldogs.

A teacher by trade, she is now working full-time with the club's community branch, the Huddle. On Thursday night, Kearney was swamped by the kids she works with, who were playing at the adjacent basketball court, and she had to tell them it was her turn to play footy.

Their excitement was infectious. Led by Kearney, star players including Kaitlyn Ashmore, Jess Duffin, Emma King, Moana Hope, Jasmine Garner, Jamie Stanton and Danielle Hardiman had chosen to move to North Melbourne to play for its inaugural team and this would be the first time they would take to the track.

Staff members watched on, including the club's football operations manager Laura Kane, who had spearheaded the bid for a licence and set up the program. Ben Brown, gun forward of the club's AFL side and a development coach of the AFLW team, worked on the sidelines with Hope.

"The focus is to enjoy the moment. We spoke about time and how really there's only about 48 to 50 hours on the track before round one, so it's really short time frame," coach Scott Gowans said.

"You can't really develop a lot of the kick, mark, handball in that space of time, but what you can do is bond together and play as a unit."

North Melbourne's bid for an AFLW licence included an alliance with Tasmania and a commitment to developing female talent in the state.

The seven-strong Tasmanian contingent of the team – Daria Bannister, Nicole Bresnehan, twins Chloe and Libby Haines, Emma Humphries, Maddison Smith, and rookie Jessie Williams – had their first training session on Wednesday night in their home state.

The Roos' leadership group: Emma King, Jess Duffin, Emma Kearney, Brittany Gibson and Kaitlyn Ashmore

It's been a significant logistical challenge for Kane and AFLW operations manager Matt Bolitho to arrange. The Tasmanian girls will have two skills sessions a week in their home "half" of the state, either in Hobart or Launceston, with one additional session all together, alternating between the cities.

The first training night in Tassie saw beautiful 19-degree conditions for the Launceston players, while the Hobart group shivered through a wet, windy session.

Trent Bartlett is the assistant coach in charge, having been involved in women's footy in the state since 2011, including coaching the under-18 side in recent years.

High performance coach Jacqui Liffiton is also on hand, and training numbers will be supplemented by local players.

One member of the five-player leadership group – Kearney, Ashmore, King, Duffin and Brittany Gibson – will take turns spending a week at a time training in the southern state, with Gowans also making regular trips to run sessions.

The players will at times train in Melbourne, while North Melbourne's first game will be against Carlton at North Hobart Oval on Sunday, February 3.

The Melbourne-based players will travel south to reunite with their teammates for a training camp in mid-December.

"It's a challenge to make sure you get [the set-up in Tasmania] right. It's also a challenge from the perspective of distance and catching an airplane, going down there, the girls doing the same coming up here, but what an opportunity," Gowans said.

"The talent that's down there is amazing. There's a lot underneath that people don't see because they don't go down there and actually have a look. There's probably another 10 to 15 girls now who would make the end of [an AFLW] list somewhere, [they would] definitely play VFLW, but through location can't at the moment.

"We can only fit so many on the list, but I think over the next two or three years we'll easily start to head towards getting half the list there."

Not one to shy away from a challenge, Gowans has a special aim in mind for his new squad, with Kearney at the helm.

"The main focus for us is how well we jell and play as a team," he said.

"There's an interesting fact I was told: no expansion team has ever come into a competition in any sport and won it [in their first year]. So it's a great opportunity to try and do that and just see how we go."

 

[Kimbo]

AFLW: Electric feel
Morgan Randolph
Nov 16, 2018 5:00PM

The excitement was palpable ahead of the North Melbourne Tasmanian Kangaroos' first training session at Arden Street on Thursday.

“It’s an electric feeling as we’re about to get started,” Alison Drennan told North Media.

“It was great to hear the investment of everyone at the club and that there is so much heart going into this team. It’s clear that this isn’t just about footy, but about women and achieving whatever you want to.

“And now we’re excited to just dig into it.”

Before the girls ran out onto the ground, former club executive and lifelong North supporter Sonja Hood, spoke to the group with the Tasmanian-based members tuning in online.

“You are playing for a club that has been at the forefront of innovation and knows being better means being smarter and working harder,” Hood said.

“You are playing for a club that has never been the darling of the AFL, but one that demands and earns respect.

“You might be pioneers in terms of women’s football, but as of tonight, you are now part of 150 years of a strong and proud tradition that is the North Melbourne Football Club.”

It has been a long journey since North obtained a license for the AFLW, and the Tasmanian-based players kicked off the pre-season on Wednesday night.

North AFLW coach Scott Gowans made the trip to Hobart while high-performance manager Alex Veitch flew to Launceston to lead the girls.

“The weather certainly wasn’t ideal in Hobart, but everyone still got out there and the excitement to be together and moving forward definitely helped,” Gowans told North Media.

“After all this planning it felt good to be together and see the girls out practicing in the royal blue and white.”

 

[Kimbo]

Sophie Abbatangelo (I think).

 

[Kimbo]

Scott Gowans

 

[Kimbo]

Emma Kearney and Daisy Bateman

 

[Kimbo]

Kaitlyn Ashmore

 

[Kimbo]

Daisy Bateman

 

[King Corey]

Kimbo moving in on giantroo turf?

 

[Kimbo]

Jess Duffin and Brittany Gibson

 

[Kimbo]

Kate Gillespie-Jones

 

[Kimbo]

Emma King, Georgia Nanscawen, Ash Riddell and Elisha King

 

[Kimbo]

Moana Hope

 

[Kimbo]

Kaitlyn Ashmore

 

[Kimbo]

Some dude.

 

[Kimbo]

Laura Kane and more dudes.

 

[Kimbo]

Dennis Armfield. A creepy looking dude.

 

[Firestarter]

Some dude.

We've got Simply Red down here?

 

[Arden]

****ing lol.

 

[Kimbo]

Kimbo moving in on giantroo turf?

There's turf? I didn't think gr was interested in posting pics of the AFLW; making up for it.

Mods, is a single thread going to be sufficient, going forwards? Just wondering if we have a new sub-board? Or will it be like the VFL; not enough news or interest to warrant it? I note there are no individual player threads, for example. I guess with the season being so short, maybe not? Just 'blue sky-ing'.

 

[Kimbo]

We've got Simply Red down here?

FFS Firestarter. It's Ben Brown! If you don't know him by now... sheesh.

 

[King Corey]

******* lol.

View attachment 586064

Amazing.

 

[Teen Wolf]

Mods, is a single thread going to be sufficient, going forwards? Just wondering if we have a new sub-board? Or will it be like the VFL; not enough news or interest to warrant it? I note there are no individual player threads, for example. I guess with the season being so short, maybe not? Just 'blue sky-ing'.

My two cents, admittedly not as a mod but someone familiar with what's worked on other boards, a single thread at a time would be best assuming it's kept free from distractions about things like political correctness and the viability of Tasmania (there are more suitable places on here for those discussions imo).

When the season is underway, it may be worth starting a new (and locking the old) thread each week depending on the amount of traffic, but I think splitting it up anymore than that will probably be a hindrance.

 

[The Y Factor]

There's turf? I didn't think gr was interested in posting pics of the AFLW; making up for it.

Mods, is a single thread going to be sufficient, going forwards? Just wondering if we have a new sub-board? Or will it be like the VFL; not enough news or interest to warrant it? I note there are no individual player threads, for example. I guess with the season being so short, maybe not? Just 'blue sky-ing'.

Fair point - I think there will need to be some structure to enable and encourage some descent discussion.

It is early days and time will tell how much interferes there is but seeing the same thread each time doesn’t inspire and interest.

Perhaps;
-Game day(could have “game””- pre, during and analysis ?
-Player updates/ profiles - one for all?
- Team announcements
- media

Even the team doesn’t seem to be keeping a membership count from what I’ve seen.

I for one are looking forward to seeing out the season goes and if so can really get into the women’s game - I couldn’t without a Roos team.

That’s my two bob