AFLW Autopsy R3: Outclassed by the Crows

[Lore]

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ROUND 3: ADELAIDE VS ESSENDON​

Wigan Oval, Unley SA​

Saturday September 16 @ 3.05pm AEST​

ESSENDON has marked its historic first AFLW fixture at Windy Hill with a 12-point win over St Kilda, continuing its unbeaten start to the season.



It was Essendon's first game at its spiritual home in a national competition – either men's or women's – since August 1991.



Essendon was dominant early and grabbed the ascendancy with three straight goals in the opening 10 minutes.

Prolific midfielder Maddy Prespakis starred again with a game-high 29 disposals in the Bombers' 6.4 (40) to 4.4 (28) victory on Sunday, with 15 contested possessions and five clearances.

The other half of 'Velcro', Georgia Gee, celebrated her 50th AFLW game in style, with 19 touches and a goal.



The Saints gradually dragged their way back into the contest, kicking four of the next five majors to level the scores midway through the third quarter.

But the Bombers steadied late in the third term and turned for home 12 points in front with co-captain Bonnie Toogood (17d, 1g), Sophie 'Magic' Alexander (19d) and newcomer Brooke Walker (15d, 6clr) contributing strongly.



Neither side managed to score in a hard-fought final period, including a spectacular smother by Daria Bannister, and ending in a win to kick off the Bombers’ 2023 campaign 2-0.



The Bombers' win came at a cost, with co-captain Steph Cain undergoing a concussion test during the final quarter after her head met the turf in a dump tackle from Jaimee Lambert, while midfielder Kodi Jacques was suspended for rough conduct after a solid tackle on Nicola Xenos.


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ESSENDON 6.4 (40)​

ST KILDA 4.4 (28)​

GOALS: Vogt, Clarke, Gee, Toogood, Wuetschner, Radford
BEST: Prespakis, Toogood, Gee, Walker, Alexander, Vogt

Crowd: 3,915 at Windy Hill


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ADELAIDE​

FB:	4. Zoe Prowse	13. Kiera Mueller
HB:	14. Stevie-Lee Thompson	26. Chelsea Randall	12. Chelsea Biddell
C:	17. Madison Newman	33. Anne Hatchard	23. Niamh Kelly
HF:	5. Rachelle Martin	15. Danielle Ponter	31. Yvonne Bonner
FF:	32. Jessica Allan	19. Jessica Waterhouse
Foll:	1. Caitlin Gould	10. Ebony Marinoff	25. Teah Charlton
Int:	28. Brooke Tonon	22. Lisa Whiteley	2. Eloise Jones
	11. Sarah Goodwin	27. Abbie Ballard
Emg:	16. Taylah Levy	9. Deni Varnhagen	21. Montana McKinnon

ESSENDON​

FB:	17. Clarke	26. Van Loon
HB:	27. Van De Heuvel	14. Gamble	9. Walker
C:	2. Gee	20. Cain	28. Busch
HF:	33. Clarke	24. Alexander	8. Toogood
FF:	3. Bannister	21. Wuetschner
Foll:	30. Wales	5. Nanscawen	4. Prespakis
Int:	36. Brown	18. Cutting	10. Vogt
	22. Radford	32. Scott
Emg:	16. Dyke	6. Marshall	11. Barba

Essendon has made one change to its side to take on Adelaide in round three.

Ruck Leah Cutting will make her club debut, replacing midfielder Kodi Jacques who will miss through suspension.

With previous AFLW experience at the Saints, Cutting will be looking to bring her strong aerobic capacity and competitive edge to the Dons' mix.

Forwards Bonnie Toogood and Jess Wuetschner will both line up for their 50th AFLW games.
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MILESTONES:​

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#18 Leah Cutting​

Club Debutante​

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#8 Bonnie Toogood​

50 AFLW Games​

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#21 Jess Wuetschner​

50 AFLW Games​

Fox Sports 3, Kayo, AFL Live Official App, AFLW Official App
Coverage starts at 3pm
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CARN THE DONS!​

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[bommer16]

Ade take out of Ess f50 too easily.

 

[yodellinhank]

Wow that tackle

I've had a gutful of umpires and the supposed "rules". Bannister gets KOd by the player with the ball throwing themselves back = that's footy. Waterhouse takes on the tackler = but you aren't allowed to hurt anyone even if it doesn't.

 

[Vindicater]

The other notable difference is the size and strength of the Crows.

Just a more advanced footy team.

 

[Lore]

Scotty hahaha love the celebration!!

 

[Lore]

The other notable difference is the size and strength of the Crows.

Just a more advanced footy team.

Hearing their coach talk in the huddle was interesting. Talking in code about "they've stopped clipping our wings so we'll go back to focus on shoulders" or whatever. Tells you a lot about how fluent they are with their game plan when that's all you need to say.

 

[Lore]

Finally getting a bit of momentum back but it's just damage control.

Pity Bonnie didn't kick that one, would've been a highlight

 

[bommer16]

I’m so glad women have the opportunity to play afl professionally. I don’t think I could ever handle the physicality of it. Total respect and admiration for these players.

 

[Lore]

Feels a bit like we're playing against a rep team today, at a different level. Game still has a way to go with equalisation

 

[bommer16]

Bonnie is such a valuable and awesome player for us. Her mini interview at half time was great.

 

[bommer16]

Great Scott. She’s a flyer!!!

 

[bommer16]

Not our day today. Bit of fight back in the last. On to next week.

 

[ghostdog]

I'd still have it playing so you can listen to it

I would too. Sadly, my wife will have Aussie Crawl only.

 

[Vindicater]

My daughter has already received a high five from her as she was talking by the fence with one of the coaches.

Just following up here. After the game during kick to kick Bonnie had a little chat and a photo with her. Excellent fan engagement.

 

[ant555]

Still think we lack pace and outside run. We have a lot of hard at the contest players but we lack the spread and can get run over back the other way. Can not take anything away from our effort and willingness to complete.

 

[bommer16]

That’s my girl stat alert
Amber Clarke completed todays game with 9 disposals and 4 good marks for the bombers. Good tackle as well.

 

[mcgrath_truther]

tough game to listen to (i tuned out when i heard a couple of vote no ads, no thank you!) but adelaide played extremely well. we looked listless when bannister went off

 

[Beerfish]

I could have actually gone to this but I was stuck at the art gallery

 

[Lore]

I could have actually gone to this but I was stuck at the art gallery

should've gone. We didn't win but Adelaide are probably gonna lift another cup

And you could've rubbed shoulders with Gil McLachlan, since he was also there

 

[ant555]

I could have actually gone to this but I was stuck at the art gallery

should've gone. We didn't win but Adelaide are probably gonna lift another cup

And you could've rubbed shoulders with Gil McLachlan, since he was also there

Rubbing shoulders with Gil would have been a win for me over an art gallery but I am just an uncultured truck driver from the North of Melbourne

 

[ghostdog]

Were we competitive at least?

 

[Vindicater]

Were we competitive at least?

In the 1st and 4th.

2nd and 3rd quarter they just went to another gear and we could not match it.

 

[yaco55]

Still think we lack pace and outside run. We have a lot of hard at the contest players but we lack the spread and can get run over back the other way. Can not take anything away from our effort and willingness to complete.

You are 100% correct - The team is painfully slow.