AFLW Round 4 - 2023 AFLW season

[Teen Wolf]

I'm calling it Last Chance Round. Or maybe Do Over Round. Something like that.

There could be a bit of juice in the Carlton-Richmond game. And if you're desperate to find a reason to back GWS, well, they did beat Adelaide in 2020 without Alicia Eva (who will miss this week, suspended for a tackle she should've got out of her system 18 months ago).

But the Sunday games have the most intrigue:

• A pro-Prior sicko might try to defend West Coast's dreadful past fortnight by saying GC were at home and Carlton are an inaugural team. But defending a heavy loss against Sydney? I'd like to see that.

• North Melbourne must avoid another debacle in front of goal against Brisbane, after last year. Shierlaw and Bruton are probably coming back in, while Brisbane are without Davidson. Last chance for Brisbane to stay in touch with the very top of the ladder--a win in Tassie (where NM is 11-0) would potentially paint this year's loss to Richmond in a similar light to last year's loss to Richmond.

• Essendon v Fremantle: No way the loser makes finals. Real tough one to tip.

• Both St Kilda and Collingwood would be shaking their heads about the losses they had last week. St Kilda must also be reminded of their loss to the Pies last season (the Stevens miss).

• Last chance for the Bulldogs to keep finals hopes alive. Looked better last week, but definitely won't make the 8 if they lose this week. They've got STK, CAR, ADE, SYD and WCE in rounds 5-9, so that's why there's still hope atm. Last chance for the Suns to prove R1 was merely a blip. Beating an inaccurate Collingwood last week helped a little, but it means nothing if they can't back it up immediately. Take care of business this week and then it can be reasonable to expect they're also good for wins against PA, GWS and ESS (taking them to 6 wins). Previous (only) meeting between GC and WB was the drawn match in S6, when Toogood Kernahanned the last shot.

 

[Teen Wolf]

What does it say--either about the standards of journalism or West Coast--that Channel 9 can get Aine Tighe's name right, but not Bella Lewis'?



Anyway, the real nugget from that press conference today was this Richard Prior quote:

"We're not in junior football. And losses, you don't go and carry on with your mates after that. They gotta hurt, and they gotta mean something. And you gotta get back on the horse and work your way through it."

Also, here's a quote from his press conference after the Suns game:

"I said to the players at half time: 'who wants to play on Stanton?'"

Yep, nothing junior football about that calibre of tactics. Couldn't look or sound less interested, too. Uncross your arms and stop pouting, turd.

 

[Teen Wolf]

Some venue trivia for this round:

Adelaide's match in Canberra will see them join Carlton on the list of teams to have played in all six states plus NT & ACT.

It will be the first time GWS have played two games at Manuka Oval in the same season. Overall they have a 2-5 record there (lost their last 4) and their matches tend to be against top teams (including in 2018, when they beat the eventual premiers).

Carlton and Richmond meet for the 4th time at Ikon Park, having never played each other elsewhere.

Brisbane are set to play their first game in Tasmania, having reportedly almost played a home game there before North Melbourne joined the competition (supposedly considered offers to sell a 2018 home game for $100k).

What else... I guess it's kinda interesting that Freo have back-to-back games in Victoria.

 

[Mitchell Madness]

Hawks with the boilover!

 

[Cdog71]

What does it say--either about the standards of journalism or West Coast--that Channel 9 can get Aine Tighe's name right, but not Bella Lewis'?

View attachment 1809054

Anyway, the real nugget from that press conference today was this Richard Prior quote:


Also, here's a quote from his press conference after the Suns game:


Yep, nothing junior football about that calibre of tactics. Couldn't look or sound less interested, too. Uncross your arms and stop pouting, turd.

So they avoid the biggest defeat in their existence by kicking a goal after the siren.
Michelle Cowan(Head of womens footy) comes out and says
“These losses are unacceptable” something, something “The coach has our full support” something, something , something. “We’re in discussions with the AFL for concessional picks”.
Geez…
This, getting on the front foot and pushing bullsh.t.
It’s just gotta stop

There’s gonna be a mens Tasmanian team playing VFL in 25/26, not alot has been said about a womens team but if there is going to be one I’d reckon aflw clubs would want to feel like their have most of what they want in place by the end of next season.

 

[Cdog71]

Melbourne looking pretty slick

 

[Mitchell Madness]

Melbourne looking pretty slick

They've had moments, but look like they're going at 20%
Hawks dears in headlights against the ring premiers

 

[InsufficientIntent]

Never seen so many missed easy tackles by the Hawks players. Sticking 1 arm out isn't going to cut it, let alone against the reigning premiers. Looks like most of their players decide when to give 100% effort. Frustrating to watch.

 

[DEVO]

When Gilroy was at North she was loved by the faithful for her toughness and willingness to crash and bash her way through a contest (see video below), her run through the middle and her long kicks into attack, but the few times I have seen her tonight she has looked a little timid at times, punching when she should have marked, letting her opponent get past her way too easy and not chasing. Maybe she is feeling a little lost with the Hawthorn gameplan.

 

[InsufficientIntent]

When Gilroy was at North she was loved by the faithful for her toughness and willingness to crash and bash her way through a contest (see video below), her run through the middle and her long kicks into attack, but the few times I have seen her tonight she has looked a little timid at times, punching when she should have marked, letting her opponent get past her way too easy and not chasing. Maybe she is feeling a little lost with the Hawthorn gameplan.

She looks like half the player she used to be doesn't she

 

[Liam Boy]

So they avoid the biggest defeat in their existence by kicking a goal after the siren.
Michelle Cowan(Head of womens footy) comes out and says
“These losses are unacceptable” something, something “The coach has our full support” something, something , something. “We’re in discussions with the AFL for concessional picks”.
Geez…
This, getting on the front foot and pushing bullsh.t.
It’s just gotta stop

There’s gonna be a mens Tasmanian team playing VFL in 25/26, not alot has been said about a womens team but if there is going to be one I’d reckon aflw clubs would want to feel like their have most of what they want in place by the end of next season.

It's hard to make excuses when sides from every wave of expansion have managed to get competitive. The ones who haven't should've taken it more seriously and done more to get their system going. We're already seeing Geelong, GC and GWS who earlier on looked like they needed more support turn it around and start to get serious and competitive. The league is still too new to be constantly reactive like this every time a club is s**t. If Port and Essendon who've been around for just over 12 months have managed to look competitive in games against those more established sides, what's West Coast's excuse when they've had more than twice as much time to get their s**t in order? I think they need to just let it settle for a bit and then look to correct if, say, Melbourne and Adelaide are still the league's clear top two 5 years from now and the current cellar dwellars still haven't fired a shot.

 

[Cdog71]

It's hard to make excuses when sides from every wave of expansion have managed to get competitive. The ones who haven't should've taken it more seriously and done more to get their system going. We're already seeing Geelong, GC and GWS who earlier on looked like they needed more support turn it around and start to get serious and competitive. The league is still too new to be constantly reactive like this every time a club is s**t. If Port and Essendon who've been around for just over 12 months have managed to look competitive in games against those more established sides, what's West Coast's excuse when they've had more than twice as much time to get their s**t in order? I think they need to just let it settle for a bit and then look to correct if, say, Melbourne and Adelaide are still the league's clear top two 5 years from now and the current cellar dwellars still haven't fired a shot.

Harford made a good point..last Rnd Melb put out nearly 850 games experience in their line up.
The west coast academy might be producing talent but it looks similar to Richmond’s start in the comp.
They look like they’re heading off in completely the wrong direction and basing their game on old ideas that are easily dealt with.

WA womens footy isn’t going great.
Not at the top level anyway.

 

[Teen Wolf]

Chyloe spent the first 3 quarters talking as if the Giants haven't played well at all during the first 3 rounds. "Where was this last week" etc etc. Real kneejerk stuff.

As they've reiterated today, it's not that GWS can't play good football (better than a number of teams much higher on the ladder--particularly Fremantle, Gold Coast and Carlton), but rather they just can't sustain it.

 

[Teen Wolf]

143 points, beating the previous record for highest-scoring AFLW game by 17 (today's margin was also 19 points closer than that 107-19 Melb-Frem match in 2022).

 

[DEVO]

The Carlton/Richmond game looks like a doozy, unfortunately here in Canberra we have the Port Adelaide/Geelong game which to date has been very one sided and rather embarrassing for Port.

 

[Aristarchus]

When Gilroy was at North she was loved by the faithful for her toughness and willingness to crash and bash her way through a contest (see video below), her run through the middle and her long kicks into attack, but the few times I have seen her tonight she has looked a little timid at times, punching when she should have marked, letting her opponent get past her way too easy and not chasing. Maybe she is feeling a little lost with the Hawthorn gameplan.

In a bit of a defence of Gilroy, I think she had an uninterrupted pre-season, I think with injury and travel back to Ireland. She still has some of her bullocking traits. Last week when barely anyone at the Hawks could trouble when I50 she got off 3 shots at goal (for 1 goal though). So she's still trying to lead from front.

Compared to last season, when she was definitely top 3-5 player for Hawthorn things seems to dropped a bit. Conversely, Ashmore is having a great start to season compared to last.

I am interested about what others who watched them more closely make of Bates and Bodey after their move. Particularly the latter, the Hawks forward line isn't the busiest to get involved in things.

 

[Mitchell Madness]

In a bit of a defence of Gilroy, I think she had an uninterrupted pre-season, I think with injury and travel back to Ireland. She still has some of her bullocking traits. Last week when barely anyone at the Hawks could trouble when I50 she got off 3 shots at goal (for 1 goal though). So she's still trying to lead from front.

Compared to last season, when she was definitely top 3-5 player for Hawthorn things seems to dropped a bit. Conversely, Ashmore is having a great start to season compared to last.

I am interested about what others who watched them more closely make of Bates and Bodey after their move. Particularly the latter, the Hawks forward line isn't the busiest to get involved in things.

Bodey is slowly fitting in. She is trying to read the play. But still doesn't quite know where the teammates are going (her best passages are when she links up with bates)

 

[Teen Wolf]

Congrats to Gemma Houghton on reaching 49 goals. I don't know why Ch7 were saying she got to 50 yesterday. Nor does any stats source I know of.

More on Houghton: she kicked 3.1 yesterday, i.e. 75% accuracy from 4 scoring shots. Previously, whenever having 3+ scoring shots in a game, she averaged 43% accuracy (best performance being the 71% from her 5.2 vs West Coast in 2021).

Most Accurate Goalkickers (G-B%, min. 15 goals)

First name	Surname	Matches​	Goals​	Behinds​	Acc%​
Jordan	Membrey	31​	17​	4​	80.95​
Eliza	James	22​	15​	4​	78.95​
Alyssa	Bannan	40​	35​	14​	71.43​
Daisy	Bateman	44​	24​	10​	70.59​
Aine	Tighe	24​	19​	9​	67.86​
Phoebe	McWilliams	52​	37​	19​	66.07​
Ashleigh	Saint	44​	50​	26​	65.79​
Caitlin	Greiser	38​	32​	17​	65.31​
Jessica	Duffin	42​	15​	8​	65.22​
Jessica	Matin	18​	15​	8​	65.22​
Jasmine	Garner	65​	54​	29​	65.06​

Least Accurate Goalkickers (G-B%, min. 15 goals)

First name	Surname	Matches​	Goals​	Behinds​	Acc%​
Sabrina	Frederick	62​	27​	47​	36.49​
Orla	O'Dwyer	45​	15​	24​	38.46​
Ellie	Blackburn	61​	28​	44​	38.89​
Hayley	Miller	63​	17​	26​	39.53​
Kaitlyn	Ashmore	62​	23​	30​	43.40​
Gabby	O'Sullivan	57​	17​	22​	43.59​
Monique	Conti	55​	18​	22​	45.00​
Aliesha	Newman	51​	21​	25​	45.65​
Sophie	Alexander	44​	22​	26​	45.83​
Jacqueline	Parry	37​	17​	19​	47.22​
Anne	Hatchard	66​	19​	21​	47.50​
Sophie	Abbatangelo	42​	29​	32​	47.54​
Gemma	Houghton	54​	49​	54​	47.57​
Paxy	Paxman	67​	23​	25​	47.92​

 

[Oscarman]

Geez North get a good run from the umps

 

[Teen Wolf]

Looked like a mini sirengate at the end of Q1 in NM v BL. Was gonna point the finger at Launceston but I'm watching two screens at once and a similar thing happened at Henson Park. Both games having clock troubles at the exact same time, obviously no coincidence.

It's criminal how soft some of these North players are for a team on track to go 4-0 (and 8-2 at worst). Wright and Eddey among the standouts in that regard today. More evident with Brisbane woefully undersized and compensating by scragging (hence the free kick count).

 

[Mitchell Madness]

Bloody longer quarters means hawks now don't have bigges comeback any more. Boo!

 

[Teen Wolf]

"This'll be a tough one to dissect for them" says Jo Wotton of North Melbourne's loss. They didn't try as hard as the opposition, pretty simple really!

It was fitting that Emma Kearney had the ball 50m out at the end of the game, juuuust running out of time, having burned ~30 seconds a few minutes earlier (when NM were already down) by showing no urgency to restart play (bringing it in from a behind, then giving the footy to the ump for a ball up).

Must've been 3-4k there for Sydney's win against West Coast (wouldn't have got 1k if it was in Perth, which speaks volumes). The Swans blew a lot of easy chances in Q4 so I'm reluctant to highlight West Coast's inaccuracy as the deciding factor.

 

[mblack42]

"This'll be a tough one to dissect for them" says Jo Wotton of North Melbourne's loss. They didn't try as hard as the opposition, pretty simple really!

It was fitting that Emma Kearney had the ball 50m out at the end of the game, juuuust running out of time, having burned ~30 seconds a few minutes earlier (when NM were already down) by showing no urgency to restart play (bringing it in from a behind, then giving the footy to the ump for a ball up).

Must've been 3-4k there for Sydney's win against West Coast (wouldn't have got 1k if it was in Perth, which speaks volumes). The Swans blew a lot of easy chances in Q4 so I'm reluctant to highlight West Coast's inaccuracy as the deciding factor.

3 to 4k if true is massive for the Sydney market. Even half of that is big.

 

[Teen Wolf]

Bloody longer quarters means hawks now don't have bigges comeback any more. Boo!

Who has won from 29+ points down this season? Sydney won from 25 down in R1, Port won from 20 down last week. Can't recall there being any bigger this year.

3 to 4k if true is massive for the Sydney market. Even half of that is big.

Maybe a risky prediction without getting a look at the broadcast side of the ground, but based on what I've seen I'd be surprised if it wasn't considerably bigger than previous games there (varied between 1,100 and 2,700).

 

[Teen Wolf]

4,595 the official figure as it turns out.