AFLW The 4 premiership contenders for Season 8 2023

[Connar]

Melbourne - Can they go back-to-back even without Daisy Pearce?
Brisbane - Will there be redemption from Season 7?
Adelaide - Can the Crows become the AFLW Pride of both South Australia and Australia?
Fremantle - Will their new coach make club history?

 

[Cdog71]

Dees
Pies
Bris
North


I think Collingwood might give it a shake if they can keep their important players healthy.

 

[briztoon]

Let’s wait and see if teams keep all their players (especially Brisbane).

 

[DEVO]

At this stage I'm selecting:

Sydney
Port Adelaide
Hawthorn
Narnia

But I'll leave my final selections for closer to the start of the season. If it eventuates.

 

[Mitchell Madness]

At this stage I'm selecting:

Sydney
Port Adelaide
Hawthorn
Narnia

But I'll leave my final selections for closer to the start of the season. If it eventuates.

Hawks will surprise a few.
Statistically they were on par with most teams, but couldn't hit the scoreboard. An easy fixture (hopefully) and we are pushing the 8 - not getting close to a flag though

 

[Tarkyn_24]

At this stage I'm selecting:

Sydney
Port Adelaide
Hawthorn
Narnia

But I'll leave my final selections for closer to the start of the season. If it eventuates.

Narnia and Freo equally likely imo

 

[timokane]

Time for the Pies to rebound.
Dees and Crows to be top 2. Getting a bit boring though.
then a toss up between Freo and tigers.
Tipping hawks and swans for the spoon.
Blues to just miss again.

 

[Schauermann]

Fremantle - Will their new coach make club history?

Perhaps. But not next season. Will probably only avoid being contenders spoon because of a few newer teams.

But happy when I am proven wrong in the end.

 

[BallaratBulldog]

Same teams as the last few years

 

[The Nostradamus]

Lions have been decimated
Won’t finish top 4
Will still make finals tho

Dees, north then crows then a gap for mine to the next rung of teams

 

[Teen Wolf]

Brisbane AFLW 2022 S7 Best and Fairest
1st: Emily Bates (190)
2nd: Ally Anderson (187)
3rd: Nat Grider (184)
4th: Cathy Svarc (178)
5th: Isabel Dawes (174)
=6th: Tahlia Hickie (166)
=6th: Breanna Koenen (166)
=6th: Sophie Conway (166)
=9th: Orla O'Dwyer (164)
=9th: Courtney Hodder (164)

Lose one player from their top 10, and now they're decimated... What happened to "such an even team"?

Whenever Melbourne have been without Daisy Pearce, pre or post twins, it's ended ugly for them btw. Probably wouldn't have made the GF last season without her.

 

[Demon in Hell]

Brisbane AFLW 2022 S7 Best and Fairest
1st: Emily Bates (190)
2nd: Ally Anderson (187)
3rd: Nat Grider (184)
4th: Cathy Svarc (178)
5th: Isabel Dawes (174)
=6th: Tahlia Hickie (166)
=6th: Breanna Koenen (166)
=6th: Sophie Conway (166)
=9th: Orla O'Dwyer (164)
=9th: Courtney Hodder (164)

Lose one player from their top 10, and now they're decimated... What happened to "such an even team"?

Whenever Melbourne have been without Daisy Pearce, pre or post twins, it's ended ugly for them btw. Probably wouldn't have made the GF last season without her.

So salty

 

[Teen Wolf]

So salty

Well no, that would be the people who pushed the narrative that the AFL were actively trying to get Daisy a flag.

Which is about as false and misguided as your response.

 

[TheTassieHawk]

Lions have been decimated
Won’t finish top 4
Will still make finals tho

Dees, north then crows then a gap for mine to the next rung of teams

I reckon Dees clear 1st barring injuries and then a whole bunch of teams that could finish 2nd-6th, but Brisbane more likely to be top 4 than not.

Brisbane had a percentage of over 280% in S7 and the 4th/5th best percentages were 173% and 166%, that is a fair gap in my view.

 

[Cdog71]

Brisbane still have a lot of class and exp in their midfield.I think Wardlaw is a big loss not just the scoring from a Forward on the lead, probably the most in the league, it allowed DDavidson to play with a bit more freedom or just send her up the ground if things weren’t going her way. She did seem to turn up in important moments Davidson. She may not handle the frustration if she gets stuck as the stay at home FF and won’t be as difficult to deal with as she’s been.IMO

The biggest influence on the end of season results is gonna be the bloody fixture.

Tiges for the flag
Dees
North
Bris

 

[rwan566]

Starcevich is the best all round coach in the league. I suspect there will be a few surprise improvements in our team this season. I think how we go will hinge a large part on how tayla smith improves.

She was one of our best improvers last season and if she starts showing more consistent aggression and improvement, I think she can be our wardlaw replacement

So I would not write us off but Melbourne currently in box seat for mine

 

[timokane]

Dees to win the flag again
then the next 3 to be:
Freo i see them re bounding
Lions they are good
And the next spot out of Pies or Tigers
I see Pies getting back there again on the back of an injection of youth and the tigers its their time to rise but its taken a long while.

As with the sliders i have the Crows in which i feel are done post Erin Phillips and same as Carlton post Tayla Harris.

 

[Mitchell Madness]

Dees to win the flag again
then the next 3 to be:
Freo i see them re bounding
Lions they are good
And the next spot out of Pies or Tigers
I see Pies getting back there again on the back of an injection of youth and the tigers its their time to rise but its taken a long while.

As with the sliders i have the Crows in which i feel are done post Erin Phillips and same as Carlton post Tayla Harris.

Freo could barely get over the hawks last yr when they were missing a quarter of the side to exams. Freo are miles off it

 

[Dirty Bird]

I can see Adelaide rebounding.

I have gotten the sense that after both the 2019 and 2022 premierships, we were arrogant and thought the next one would be a walk in the park. Both times we failed to back up.

Still have a good team (Sure, we lost our leading goal scorer, but she really only kicked bags vs dud teams, and struggled vs anyone good.........Other than that first game against an injury riddled Brisbane down at Nourlunga in 2021)

Brisbane will regress due to player defections, but they have by far the best coach in the league. Wont be long until they've reloaded and back at the pinnacle. Just dont believe it's this year.

Melbourne the team to beat. Haven't lost anything (Admit it. Pearce was past her used by date, she was just riding the coattails of an amazing team to win that premiership). It just comes down to attitude.

If they have an Adelaide like attitude in their defence, it's probably Adelaide's premiership to lose. But if Melbourne's focused, it'll be very hard for anyone to beat them. Adelaide and North Melbourne probably the only 2.

HAVING SAID ALL THAT - Some of the vast improvement we've seen in recent years, ie. Richmond. I can see someone coming from no where now that they've had enough pre-seasons in the league and being a good shot. This could be the first year there's a real smokey. And once that occurs. Who knows what will happen.

 

[Teen Wolf]

Melbourne the team to beat. Haven't lost anything (Admit it. Pearce was past her used by date, she was just riding the coattails of an amazing team to win that premiership). It just comes down to attitude.

Aside from the off-field leadership and on-field direction provided throughout the season, she was instrumental in both of Melbourne's wins against North, which you obviously didn't watch.

I also recall Q3 of R1 against Adelaide, when the scores were still close and players like Hore and L Pearce were choking in front of goal, D Pearce swooped in with a backbreaker off her opposite foot (Admit it. This is why they won that match from less I50s, nothing to do with the umpires).

Those three matches were pivotal in the context of Melbourne's season. True she had little impact in the R4 loss to, and GF win over, Brisbane--both of which were ultimately dictated by the presence/absence of Tayla Harris (who is by far the best player in the league, having the same 1-3 record in grand finals that validates the wonderful Craig Starcevich).

 

[Dirty Bird]

Aside from the off-field leadership and on-field direction provided throughout the season, she was instrumental in both of Melbourne's wins against North, which you obviously didn't watch.

I also recall Q3 of R1 against Adelaide, when the scores were still close and players like Hore and L Pearce were choking in front of goal, D Pearce swooped in with a backbreaker off her opposite foot (Admit it. This is why they won that match from less I50s, nothing to do with the umpires).

Those three matches were pivotal in the context of Melbourne's season. True she had little impact in the R4 loss to, and GF win over, Brisbane--both of which were ultimately dictated by the presence/absence of Tayla Harris (who is by far the best player in the league, having the same 1-3 record in grand finals that validates the wonderful Craig Starcevich).

Melbourne beat us Rd 1 last year based off amazing coaching.

Took the Bulldogs plan from the previous season, and implemented it for an entire game. Just ran waves right through us. Amazing slingshot passages of play.

 

[Teen Wolf]

Melbourne beat us Rd 1 last year based off amazing coaching.

Took the Bulldogs plan from the previous season, and implemented it for an entire game. Just ran waves right through us. Amazing slingshot passages of play.

It must be the coaching, and/or arrogance. Couldn't have anything to do with the difference in talent on the field. How about: Adelaide lost both of those games (in which they had more I50s) because Erin Phillips didn't play, or didn't play well.

I know this is women's football and we must cut down the tallest poppies, especially if they're 30 or older, but the truth is these players have 10-times the influence on a game's outcome than the woeful tactics applied by all coaches most of the time.

 

[Teen Wolf]

My previous early GF predictions
2018: W. Bulldogs to beat Melbourne—pretty good
2019: GWS Giants to beat Brisbane—not even close
2020: North Melb. to beat Melbourne—not bad, was still possible until season aborted
2021: Adelaide to beat Melbourne—prelim result
22 S6: Melbourne to beat Adelaide—grand final matchup, but got the result wrong
22 S7: Melbourne to beat Brisbane—correct, for the first time

My early GF prediction for 2023
North Melb. to beat Adelaide

My early ladder prediction for 2023
North Melb.
Adelaide
Melbourne
W. Bulldogs
Brisbane
Geelong
Richmond
St Kilda
---
Collingwood
Fremantle
Port Adelaide
Essendon
Hawthorn
GWS Giants
Carlton
Gold Coast
West Coast
Sydney

I have dropped Brisbane and Collingwood a spot each from my initial thoughts, based on likelihood of fixture difficulty.

Fremantle and GWS could be much better but I have no confidence in their ability to cope with one key injury, even against mediocre teams.

 

[Mitchell Madness]

My previous early GF predictions
2018: W. Bulldogs to beat Melbourne—pretty good
2019: GWS Giants to beat Brisbane—not even close
2020: North Melb. to beat Melbourne—not bad, was still possible until season aborted
2021: Adelaide to beat Melbourne—prelim result
22 S6: Melbourne to beat Adelaide—grand final matchup, but got the result wrong
22 S7: Melbourne to beat Brisbane—correct, for the first time

My early GF prediction for 2023
North Melb. to beat Adelaide

My early ladder prediction for 2023
North Melb.
Adelaide
Melbourne
W. Bulldogs
Brisbane
Geelong
Richmond
St Kilda
---
Collingwood
Fremantle
Port Adelaide
Essendon
Hawthorn
GWS Giants
Carlton
Gold Coast
West Coast
Sydney

I have dropped Brisbane and Collingwood a spot each from my initial thoughts, based on likelihood of fixture difficulty.

Fremantle and GWS could be much better but I have no confidence in their ability to cope with one key injury, even against mediocre teams.

North won't even get close

 

[The Nostradamus]

North won't even get close

we were close to a grand final last year and had one of the harder draws

other contenders outside of us lost more players (brisbane, adelaide)

ive got us top 2 with melbourne

i think shierlaw will be a huge get up forward for us too