AFLW Opposition Observation AFLW

[TigermanM2]

Sabrina back in the forward line and kicks the first goal of 2025.

 

[TigermanM2]

Not sure who the brainiac was to showcase AFLW on the first night in 2025 featuring last years 14th and 18th sides but here we are.

 

[TigermanM2]

First night of AFLW 2025 out of the way.

West Coast have improved although just how much was hard to tell given they were playing Gold Coast.

Collingwood were absolutely terrible.
Carlton weren't a heap better and were lucky they were playing Collingwood.
Gold Coast was typical Gold Coast.

Bottom rungs of the ladder for these three for mine.

 

[toenail63]

Poor scheduling by the AFLW, how about a Lions v Kangaroos GF replay game, that would have been the go.

Gold Coast system at times was working but more often not, but new coach and game plan they mostly looked lost and suggests this year is a work in progress. Based on their young talent on display in Havana Harris, Milne and Salisbury, being on the park, for supporters, will make watching them more bearable.

Collingwood without Davies in their midfield and a backline without Schleicher exposes glaring holes, and Bonnici is carrying their midfield like Mon does for us. Forwards were bossed by a first gamer in Scholz which sums up where they’re at.

Richo in the commentary box for the West Coast game made this a better watch, as on field both teams had only a few memorable moments worth watching, both teams should make progress this year but a long way off it with their lists and game plans still in development.

Carlton, who cares really, will boss a few bottom teams, but with the old enemy I’m hoping to see them lose often this season and very happy that we got one over them in our preseason game, will make it a bit easier watching our home games at Ikon with that awful logo behind the Royal Parade end every time we score a goal. Surely we can drape a giant Tigers banner over that eyesore for our home matches this season.

 

[TigermanM2]

Matilda Scholz moves unbelievably well for a 190cm player.

Have to put a tall on her if she sits in the forward line but out sprints pretty much any defender and a fair few mids if she gets space.

I reckon we are a chance to beat GWS and Gold Coast and that’s about it.

 

[TigermanM2]

With all the media focus on Garner, Ash Riddell has quietly gone about her business.

Not sure there has been a better first 6 rounds of the season to be honest.

158cm Overlooked in her first two drafts. Absolute jet.

R1
28 Disposals
3 Marks
4 Tackles
7 Clearances
309 Meters gained.

R2
43 Disposals
7 Marks
5 Tackles
7 Clearances
735 Meters gained.

R3
40 Disposals
2 Marks
8 Tackles
3 Clearances
488 Meters gained.

R4
36 Disposals
1 Marks
7 Tackles
8 Clearances
420 Meters gained.

R5
34 Disposals
1 Marks
5 Tackles
4 Clearances
472 Meters gained.

R6
44 Disposals
1 Marks
2 Tackles
7 Clearances
495 Meters gained.

 

[TigermanM2]

Horrible horrible umpire blunder. Categorically cost them the game.

Port responds after AFL concedes umpiring error in Port-Cats clash​

The free kick paid against the Power's Amelie Borg was an error, the League has said, after Geelong's victory on Saturday
By Sophie Welsh
Sep 22, 2025, 5:25 pm

THE AFL has conceded a free kick paid against Port Adelaide's Amelie Borg during the final quarter of Saturday's clash against Geelong was paid in error.

With seven minutes left on the clock, Borg scrambled to chase a tumbling footy across the goal line with an umpire deeming her to have deliberately rushed a behind without the required pressure from an opposition player.

Geelong was subsequently awarded a free kick from the goal square which Mikayla Bowen converted to put the Cats five points in front, and they held on to win by the same margin.

A free kick was awarded against Port Adelaide's Amelie Borg for deliberately rushing a behind, with Geelong's Mikayla Bowen making the most of the opportunity

The League confirmed to AFL.com.au on Monday afternoon that the Power had sought clarification from the competition's umpiring department.

Upon review, the League conceded that while Borg was not under pressure from an opponent, she was not intentionally trying to push the ball across the goal line therefore the free kick was paid in error. The behind should have been registered as a score to Geelong instead.

"While we appreciate the League's acknowledgment of this error, it's important to emphasise that this decision did not cost us the game," Port Adelaide said in a statement on Monday evening.

"However, in close contests like Saturday's match, every decision carries additional weight and significance. That's why it was crucial for the club to seek clarification through the proper channels with the AFL's umpire department.

"This process provides valuable clarity for our coaching staff and players, ensuring we can provide accurate guidance should similar situations arise in future matches."

 

[Phar Ace]

I thought the Port statement was generous. It was the perfect example of umpiring without any nuance whatsoever. Sadly, the rules being created in recent years are better applied with sufficient nuance, but either they can't or they won't. It's a harder job now, umpiring, but there are plenty not suited to it either.

 

[TigermanM2]

I thought the Port statement was generous. It was the perfect example of umpiring without any nuance whatsoever. Sadly, the rules being created in recent years are better applied with sufficient nuance, but either they can't or they won't. It's a harder job now, umpiring, but there are plenty not suited to it either.

Spot on.

 

[toenail63]

How all-conquering Roos built their list as dynasty looms​

Sarah Black takes a closer look at how the all-conquering Kangaroos built their list



HOW DO you build the foundations of a potentially dynastic list?

For North Melbourne – which has now won 21 consecutive games – the first blocks were laid with a gameplan, formulated way back in 2018.

The Roos were keen to hit the ground running with their first AFLW team in 2019, and wanted to recruit players who would be able to execute a clean kicking, outside game, rather than the stodgy, contested style that dominated the early years of AFLW.

Gameplan first, players second.

It was a plan hatched by then-senior coach Scott Gowans (appointed in October 2017, giving him a year of planning before pre-season began), list manager Rhys Harwood (now senior assistant coach) and head of footy operations Laura Kane; with support from recruiter Josh Hare (now at Adelaide) and academy manager Lou Caluzzi (now football projects manager at the AFL).

Just seven of those players remain from the 2019 squad of 30: club recruits Jenna Bruton, Jasmine Garner, Emma Kearney, Emma King and Tahlia Randall; state-league recruit Ash Riddell and draftee Nicole Bresnehan.

The Kearney signing was a direct result of North Melbourne's pre-AFLW relationship with her VWFL club Melbourne Uni, with Kane having been president prior to her role at North Melbourne.

Bruton and Garner, long-term partners, were somewhat of a package deal, attracted by North's proven track record of supporting women's football, as well as the opportunity to play together.

Bresnehan was drafted through North Melbourne's alliance with Tasmania, a move that helped the club secure a licence.

The Tasmanian connection has actually been more miss than hit for the Roos, with Mia King comfortably the most important selection made through its exclusive draft pool, with Daria Bannister and Brooke Brown having since departed for Essendon.

There's no doubt that North Melbourne was given a considerable helping hand by the sheer lack of restrictions around signing players from other clubs back in 2018, but it's also true that its previous work helped convince players that it would be entering in an environment fully supportive of the women's game, especially if said players were disillusioned with their clubs.

The Roos missed out on finals in their first year due to the now-abandoned conference system, but won the third-most games for the season, and they only dropped one match in 2020 before the season was abandoned due to COVID-19.

The standard had been set, and word began to spread among the players – North Melbourne was a good place to play football, and a club that heavily invested in the program, far more than some others.

Success can attract more success, particularly if players are willing to accept a lower tier of payment in order to play for a great club.

Of its current squad of 30, six players – Libby Birch, Ari Hetherington, Kim Rennie, Eliza Shannon, Eilish Sheerin and Kate Shierlaw – were acquired through trades, although in Rennie's case, the trade fell through and given the circumstances, other clubs were happy for her to cross to North Melbourne through the draft.

Sheerin and Birch in particular were attracted to success, as was Shierlaw, who had the added bonus of joining partner Kearney in the stripes.

Shannon was secured for a song with pick 33 from the supplemental draft and most importantly, fit in with North Melbourne's style of play – once again, the Roos were recruiting for their gameplan, rather than retrospectively trying to fit a gameplan to a wide array of players.

It's a move far more often seen in the men's game, and North Melbourne was ahead of the curve in the women's space when it came to forward planning.

While not the first, the Roos have also been early adopters when it comes to Irish players, and are one of the most active in the space.

In part an additional luxury granted by strong depth in the squad, North Melbourne sees Irish players as a "free hit", and as evidenced by Blaithin Bogue, currently coming third in the goalkicking charts, is able to tuck away a player for a year of development before playing them.

Vikki Wall and Erika O'Shea have become key contributors at either end of the field, and while the latter is a different style of player to now-Hawk Aileen Gilroy, North Melbourne has been able to replace her with ease.

The drafting has been canny.

Given a constant presence at the pointy end of the season, North Melbourne's highest ever draft selection is pick 13, with both Tess Craven and Bella Eddey landing at Arden Street via that selection.

Craven was a top-ranked junior in a shallow 2021 draft, a hard contested ball-winner with problematic feet that scared most teams off. North picked her up and had the squad depth to just field her once in her debut season, giving her plenty of time to heal and rework her role.

She's now one of the best-kicking wingers in the league.

Eddey was more speculative, a basketballer in the 2020 draft pool that saw very little on-field action that year. Again, her kicking skills were the selling point, as well as her natural footy smarts. Couple her with Alice O'Loughlin (pick 22), a rower with a bit of a dodgy back who hadn't fully devoted herself to a complete football season but had plenty of skill, and the Roos had somehow created their next layer of talent from a group that played four weeks of football, at most, in their final year of juniors.

Key back Jas Ferguson was toiling away in Collingwood's VFLW side, and was snared with pick No.51. Partner-in-crime Sarah Wright came from Carlton's VFLW team, and was acquired with pick No.32.

Winger Amy Smith was a father-daughter pick, a basketballer who was snared with pick No.55. Midfielder Ruby Tripodi was pick No.23 from Williamstown in the mature-age supplemental draft ahead of the 2023 season. Ten of the 22 players taken before her are no longer on an AFLW list.

Both Smith and Tripodi were selected in part due to their character. There was potential there, but there was also a willingness to simply work their backsides off to improve, year after year.

It's an atmosphere fostered by Riddell, who was famously overlooked in both the 2017 and 2018 drafts, when she was an undersized, good-ordinary midfielder.

She had a relationship with Gowans from their time at Diamond Creek, and he gave her a chance as an open-age signing in the Roos' initial list.

Riddell loves to run and train and run and train again, all while still keeping her hand in as a primary school teacher.

North Melbourne provided her the opportunity and the nurturing to become the best accumulator in the game.

Even superstar Garner wasn't the player at Collingwood she is now. She's continued to work on her fitness, year after year, and has developed from a solid key forward with excellent marking skills to the best midfielder in the game.

The pair – captain and vice-captain – are now doing the same for the Tripodis and Smiths of the team.

Success begets success, and a dynasty is shaped.

 

[Phar Ace]

How all-conquering Roos built their list as dynasty looms​

Sarah Black takes a closer look at how the all-conquering Kangaroos built their list

View attachment 2456023

HOW DO you build the foundations of a potentially dynastic list?

For North Melbourne – which has now won 21 consecutive games – the first blocks were laid with a gameplan, formulated way back in 2018.

The Roos were keen to hit the ground running with their first AFLW team in 2019, and wanted to recruit players who would be able to execute a clean kicking, outside game, rather than the stodgy, contested style that dominated the early years of AFLW.

Gameplan first, players second.

It was a plan hatched by then-senior coach Scott Gowans (appointed in October 2017, giving him a year of planning before pre-season began), list manager Rhys Harwood (now senior assistant coach) and head of footy operations Laura Kane; with support from recruiter Josh Hare (now at Adelaide) and academy manager Lou Caluzzi (now football projects manager at the AFL).

Just seven of those players remain from the 2019 squad of 30: club recruits Jenna Bruton, Jasmine Garner, Emma Kearney, Emma King and Tahlia Randall; state-league recruit Ash Riddell and draftee Nicole Bresnehan.

The Kearney signing was a direct result of North Melbourne's pre-AFLW relationship with her VWFL club Melbourne Uni, with Kane having been president prior to her role at North Melbourne.

Bruton and Garner, long-term partners, were somewhat of a package deal, attracted by North's proven track record of supporting women's football, as well as the opportunity to play together.

Bresnehan was drafted through North Melbourne's alliance with Tasmania, a move that helped the club secure a licence.

The Tasmanian connection has actually been more miss than hit for the Roos, with Mia King comfortably the most important selection made through its exclusive draft pool, with Daria Bannister and Brooke Brown having since departed for Essendon.

There's no doubt that North Melbourne was given a considerable helping hand by the sheer lack of restrictions around signing players from other clubs back in 2018, but it's also true that its previous work helped convince players that it would be entering in an environment fully supportive of the women's game, especially if said players were disillusioned with their clubs.

The Roos missed out on finals in their first year due to the now-abandoned conference system, but won the third-most games for the season, and they only dropped one match in 2020 before the season was abandoned due to COVID-19.

The standard had been set, and word began to spread among the players – North Melbourne was a good place to play football, and a club that heavily invested in the program, far more than some others.

Success can attract more success, particularly if players are willing to accept a lower tier of payment in order to play for a great club.

Of its current squad of 30, six players – Libby Birch, Ari Hetherington, Kim Rennie, Eliza Shannon, Eilish Sheerin and Kate Shierlaw – were acquired through trades, although in Rennie's case, the trade fell through and given the circumstances, other clubs were happy for her to cross to North Melbourne through the draft.

Sheerin and Birch in particular were attracted to success, as was Shierlaw, who had the added bonus of joining partner Kearney in the stripes.

Shannon was secured for a song with pick 33 from the supplemental draft and most importantly, fit in with North Melbourne's style of play – once again, the Roos were recruiting for their gameplan, rather than retrospectively trying to fit a gameplan to a wide array of players.

It's a move far more often seen in the men's game, and North Melbourne was ahead of the curve in the women's space when it came to forward planning.

While not the first, the Roos have also been early adopters when it comes to Irish players, and are one of the most active in the space.

In part an additional luxury granted by strong depth in the squad, North Melbourne sees Irish players as a "free hit", and as evidenced by Blaithin Bogue, currently coming third in the goalkicking charts, is able to tuck away a player for a year of development before playing them.

Vikki Wall and Erika O'Shea have become key contributors at either end of the field, and while the latter is a different style of player to now-Hawk Aileen Gilroy, North Melbourne has been able to replace her with ease.

The drafting has been canny.

Given a constant presence at the pointy end of the season, North Melbourne's highest ever draft selection is pick 13, with both Tess Craven and Bella Eddey landing at Arden Street via that selection.

Craven was a top-ranked junior in a shallow 2021 draft, a hard contested ball-winner with problematic feet that scared most teams off. North picked her up and had the squad depth to just field her once in her debut season, giving her plenty of time to heal and rework her role.

She's now one of the best-kicking wingers in the league.

Eddey was more speculative, a basketballer in the 2020 draft pool that saw very little on-field action that year. Again, her kicking skills were the selling point, as well as her natural footy smarts. Couple her with Alice O'Loughlin (pick 22), a rower with a bit of a dodgy back who hadn't fully devoted herself to a complete football season but had plenty of skill, and the Roos had somehow created their next layer of talent from a group that played four weeks of football, at most, in their final year of juniors.

Key back Jas Ferguson was toiling away in Collingwood's VFLW side, and was snared with pick No.51. Partner-in-crime Sarah Wright came from Carlton's VFLW team, and was acquired with pick No.32.

Winger Amy Smith was a father-daughter pick, a basketballer who was snared with pick No.55. Midfielder Ruby Tripodi was pick No.23 from Williamstown in the mature-age supplemental draft ahead of the 2023 season. Ten of the 22 players taken before her are no longer on an AFLW list.

Both Smith and Tripodi were selected in part due to their character. There was potential there, but there was also a willingness to simply work their backsides off to improve, year after year.

It's an atmosphere fostered by Riddell, who was famously overlooked in both the 2017 and 2018 drafts, when she was an undersized, good-ordinary midfielder.

She had a relationship with Gowans from their time at Diamond Creek, and he gave her a chance as an open-age signing in the Roos' initial list.

Riddell loves to run and train and run and train again, all while still keeping her hand in as a primary school teacher.

North Melbourne provided her the opportunity and the nurturing to become the best accumulator in the game.

Even superstar Garner wasn't the player at Collingwood she is now. She's continued to work on her fitness, year after year, and has developed from a solid key forward with excellent marking skills to the best midfielder in the game.

The pair – captain and vice-captain – are now doing the same for the Tripodis and Smiths of the team.

Success begets success, and a dynasty is shaped.

Think there is a message in that for all of us!

 

[toenail63]

Think there is a message in that for all of us!

The lack of successful forward planning since day one the biggest lessons. I believe we were all in on the culture and in being a good place for the women footballers to play footy, and why not as success had followed our culturally strong club in the mens, but also with our success we had some great footy minds across the footy departments. Balmy overseeing this whole is greater than sum of its parts approach, and creating belief and strong leadership where everyone bought in.

Our club culture would have been very attractive to Mon Conti, Katie Brennan and others on our initial list build, and still is genuinely to this day a great club to be playing footy at and we look after our players in regards to all of this, very much feels like a family for them with the level of care and inclusiveness.

North and some other clubs also do this very well and have been around longer so have this advantage, and also more on field success, which absolutely matters when players are looking at options in moving to another club. You can't blame a player like Eilish Sheerin in leaving to go to a club also with a great off field culture, with a successful on field football program and team, especially considering the limited amount of time she has left in the game.

Is our current position through a lack of gameplan?, personnel?, lack of attracting enough quality players when options are better elsewhere? not investing enough in the program, financially or resources?, circumstances or something else?

 

[Phar Ace]

The lack of successful forward planning since day one the biggest lessons. I believe we were all in on the culture and in being a good place for the women footballers to play footy, and why not as success had followed our culturally strong club in the mens, but also with our success we had some great footy minds across the footy departments. Balmy overseeing this whole is greater than sum of its parts approach, and creating belief and strong leadership where everyone bought in.

Our club culture would have been very attractive to Mon Conti, Katie Brennan and others on our initial list build, and still is genuinely to this day a great club to be playing footy at and we look after our players in regards to all of this, very much feels like a family for them with the level of care and inclusiveness.

North and some other clubs also do this very well and have been around longer so have this advantage, and also more on field success, which absolutely matters when players are looking at options in moving to another club. You can't blame a player like Eilish Sheerin in leaving to go to a club also with a great off field culture, with a successful on field football program and team, especially considering the limited amount of time she has left in the game.

Is our current position through a lack of gameplay?, personnel?, lack of attracting enough quality players when options are better elsewhere? not investing enough in the program, financially or resources?, circumstances or something else?

It wouldn't just be one thing. Every Club and every element of it (AFL, AFLW, VFL etc) has a culture of sorts - they express and buy into it to varying degrees. I tend to think of it like flavours, with varying degrees of intensity. They all have a different flavour, and intensity varies widely, or so I've heard. I know the AFLW part of the Richmond was a very exciting place to be three years ago, I'm sure it was before as well, and may still be now - but the flavour and intensity changes as people come and go.

Have a family member who moved from the VFL Hawks (Box Hill) to Casey (Melb) and it was thought to be so much more professional, yet Box Hill appear to have been more successful (excl 2022).

I, and others, have banged on about Kate Sheahan. I will be shocked if after she finally moves on we don't become a better Club at that level. No VFLW side is probably a misjudgement - understood the rationale at the time, the difficulties, but is having nothing at all, worse than having less control? Looks like it.

I'm sure all the players brought to the Club had the right expectations placed on them and of themselves. Judgement can fall like an axe at times. I think that relationships are forged stronger, or certainly differently at AFLW. I'm sure that has an impact in a management sense.

 

[Bojangles17]

The lack of successful forward planning since day one the biggest lessons. I believe we were all in on the culture and in being a good place for the women footballers to play footy, and why not as success had followed our culturally strong club in the mens, but also with our success we had some great footy minds across the footy departments. Balmy overseeing this whole is greater than sum of its parts approach, and creating belief and strong leadership where everyone bought in.

Our club culture would have been very attractive to Mon Conti, Katie Brennan and others on our initial list build, and still is genuinely to this day a great club to be playing footy at and we look after our players in regards to all of this, very much feels like a family for them with the level of care and inclusiveness.

North and some other clubs also do this very well and have been around longer so have this advantage, and also more on field success, which absolutely matters when players are looking at options in moving to another club. You can't blame a player like Eilish Sheerin in leaving to go to a club also with a great off field culture, with a successful on field football program and team, especially considering the limited amount of time she has left in the game.

Is our current position through a lack of gameplan?, personnel?, lack of attracting enough quality players when options are better elsewhere? not investing enough in the program, financially or resources?, circumstances or something else?

I’ve oft left ferg off the hook blaming an ordinary list build however when we see the improved form of the blues under new command , it suggests to me that we prob would make some improvements.

 

[TigermanM2]

I’ve oft left ferg off the hook blaming an ordinary list build however when we see the improved form of the blues under new command , it suggests to me that we prob would make some improvements.

Can't let him off the hook. Been there 5 years. It's as much his list as anyone's.

 

[TigermanM2]

I’ve oft left ferg off the hook blaming an ordinary list build however when we see the improved form of the blues under new command , it suggests to me that we prob would make some improvements.

It's clicked pretty well for the Blues on the back of two outstanding Irish players who have really come on this year in Fitzpatrick and Finn, Cordner is playing arguably the best footy of her career at 33, two great recruits in Sophie McKay and Poppy Scholz and trading in a handy key forward who straightens them up in Bohanna.

Breann Harrington is having a good year on the back of a really lousy one last year. Even Ciara Fitzgerald who we drafted at 87 in our first ever draft is doing well.

It can change pretty quickly.

 

[toenail63]

It's clicked pretty well for the Blues on the back of two outstanding Irish players who have really come on this year in Fitzpatrick and Finn, Cordner is playing arguably the best footy of her career at 33, two great recruits in Sophie McKay and Poppy Scholz and trading in a handy key forward who straightens them up in Bohanna.

Breann Harrington is having a good year on the back of a really lousy one last year. Even Ciara Fitzgerald who we drafted at 87 in our first ever draft is doing well.

It can change pretty quickly.

Also credit to their coaching department with the improvement that they've shown this year in their ball movement, they showed signs of how they wanted to play this season to us in their pre-season praccy with their spread, and now that they've had time to nail the structures in games, the ones I've watched anyway, they've had an outlet option there to transition through spread or a switch. Good runners and quality kicking and now looking like a finals team.

 

[Phar Ace]

It's clicked pretty well for the Blues on the back of two outstanding Irish players who have really come on this year in Fitzpatrick and Finn, Cordner is playing arguably the best footy of her career at 33, two great recruits in Sophie McKay and Poppy Scholz and trading in a handy key forward who straightens them up in Bohanna.

Breann Harrington is having a good year on the back of a really lousy one last year. Even Ciara Fitzgerald who we drafted at 87 in our first ever draft is doing well.

It can change pretty quickly.

And arguably, they seem to know how to develop a new mid each year. Richmond on the other hand.......