1 week Ago By Kate McCarthy
It was a blockbuster first week of AFLW finals, headlined by both of last year’s grand finalists winning their way through to yet another preliminary final. On the flipside, Essendon’s season came to a devastating end with yet another injury and there was an ugly incident after the final siren of Brisbane’s win over Hawthorn. Here is the good, the bad and the ugly from the first week of AFLW finals.
Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today The good Kangaroos and Lions find another level Things kicked off on Friday night with the Kangaroos hosting Adelaide at Ikon Park. The Crows were ultra-impressive in the first half, bringing the heat and putting North under a huge amount of pressure. The Crows dominated territory in the first half, spending 76 per cent of the first half in North Melbourne’s forward half.
North’s defence held up time after time to keep Adelaide to just one single goal in the second term despite the Crows having 10 inside 50s for the quarter. North went in at half-time with a five-point deficit with Adelaide largely having the momentum in the match. The pressure that the Crows brought forced uncharacteristic fumbles and poor decision-making in the first half from the North Melbourne side.
To the Roos’ credit, they showed a huge amount of maturity and professionalism in the second half. They regrouped, reset and ultimately came out with a spark in the third term. Livewire forward Bella Eddy kicked two goals in the term to regain the lead for her team.
Amy Smith then provided an incredible highlight to slot a stunning goal from the pocket on the run. Chelsea Randall was incredible for the Crows, providing multiple game changing moments for her team. From a player that has had so many remarkable games, it could be the best game we have seen from the veteran.
An incredible chase down tackle in the second term and two goals to go with it, further highlighted her status as one of the best to have played AFLW. It was a win that Darren Crocker was extremely proud of and so he should be. Crocker spoke post-match that the team’s ability to change momentum in a game is major difference between the group this year and last year, something that players across all three lines played a part in.
It should instil even more belief in the groups, which seems strange to say about a team that is still undefeated in the 2024 season. Their ability to withstand everything that the Crows threw at them and band together and turn that momentum around as a team shows they truly have what it takes to go all the way in 2024. It was a similar, spirited performance from the Brisbane Lions on Sunday afternoon.
The young Hawks side took it to the Lions throughout the first half and went into the major break with an 11-point advantage over the reigning premier. The Hawks were well and truly on top around the ball, doubling their opponent’s clearance numbers 16 to eight. The Lions have typically been a team that has fought hard to the final siren and that is again what they showed on this occasion.
It was Cathy Svarc, who was the spark for the Lions, moving from the midfield to the half-forward line in the second half and kicking two goals. Courtney Hodder flipped the other way and went from the forward line into the midfield and rehashed the tackling machine that we saw in last year’s grand final, laying a mammoth six third quarter tackles. Like the Roos, the Lions showed no signs of panic and applied themselves to the task at hand, ultimately able to wrestle back momentum in their favour and finish the game with a six-point victory.
Both teams showed incredible maturity and professionalism to take everything their opponents through at them, withstand it and go back at them and win the game. It must be said though, if both Adelaide and Hawthorn bring the pressure and competitiveness they showed in their games this week, they are going to be tough for their opponents to beat in the semi-finals this weekend. The bad Injury-ravaged Bombers and Tigers bow out It was a case of everything that could go wrong, both in the lead up and during the game, for both the Bombers and the Tigers, went wrong.
The Bombers had lost key players all throughout their season, headlined by losing ruck Stephanie Wales to an ACL injury in round 10 and then losing key forward Bonnie Toogood in Round 11 to an ankle injury. The task to beat Fremantle was going to be hard enough before losing star midfielder Maddy Prespakis to a hip injury early in the second quarter. Prespakis took a mark and pulled up extremely sore, grabbing at her right hip.
The Essendon medical staff did all they could to try to get Prespakis back on the field, but ultimately, she was ruled out of the remainder of the game. Essendon coach Natalie Wood was forced to move the magnets, playing Amy Gaylor through the midfield in the second half as well as Maddi Gay who had been well-held by Philipa Seth in a defensive forward role on the halfback flanker. The Bombers did their best despite being some key players down but ultimately Fremantle were too good in the West, prevailing by 10 points.
The Dockers had done their homework, taking away Essendon’s uncontested possession game away from them by transitioning to defence quickly and taking away easy options when the Bombers had the ball. Mim Strom was phenomenal and took full control of the ruck, registering an AFLW record of 55 hitouts (beating her own previous record of 48) as well as 26 disposals (23 of which were contested), 11 clearances and 1 goal. It is hard to find a more dominant display from a player across the first week of finals.
Gabby Newton was also huge for the Dockers midfield, laying a career-high 20 tackles. Her namesake Gabby O’Sullivan showed a constant will to win the ball and ended up kicking a dazzling match-winner, stepping around multiple players (some of which were teammates) and snapping the ball from the 50m arc. Over at Alberton, in front of 5,172 fans, the Power got the job done against the Tigers.
The game was the highest-scoring AFLW final (combined scores) in history, with 120 points being scored. Port Adelaide were faultless in their ability to attack from anywhere on the ground and showed their combination of youth and experience is not to be underestimated. The experience of Kirsty Lamb, Gemma Houghton and Ashleigh Saint was on display as was the brilliance of their young stars, Abbey Dowrick, Matilda Scholz and Julia Teakle.
Teakle’s addition to the forward line gave the Power the ability to have multiple avenues to goal both in the air and at ground level. I simply cannot wait to see Saint, Houghton and Teakle go up against the Hawks defenders of Kemp, Everest and Elliot in next weekend’s semi-final. The Tigers had a rough week leading into the game with multiple players suffering from illness that had swept through the club.
They looked lethargic at times and simply could not go with the run and gun of the Power across the four quarters. They also lost their captain, Katie Brennan, with 10 minutes to go in the game with a hamstring injury. Whilst it was a tough way to end for both Richmond and Essendon, looking forward and you feel like the opportunities that have afforded themselves to younger players this year – particularly for the Bombers, will only help to accelerate their development into 2025 and beyond.
For now, that is what both clubs will have to turn their attention towards as their 2024 campaigns have drawn to a close. The ugly AFL integrity unit investigating post-match stoush The AFL integrity unit is investigating the heated post-match scuffle that broke out after the final siren sounded in Brisbane’s win over Hawthorn As reported by the ABC’s Marnie Vinall , Brisbane has confirmed that it is aware the AFL is looking into the matter but would leave it with the integrity unit. Tilly Lucas-Rodd and Charlotte Mullins appeared to exchange words before being separated by teammates.
Lucas-Rodd then appeared to go back to the group, pushing Mullins in the back. Lucas-Rodd looked visibly upset after the incident and went straight to Hawthorn support staff. It was a tense battle throughout, as is expected in a high-stakes final but add in two players who were part of Brisbane’s premiership success in Emily Bates and Greta Bodey as well as Daniel Webster who crossed over from being an assistant coach at the Lions in 2023 and is now the head coach of Hawthorn, there were some added side stories.
Aileen Gilroy looked to be at the centre of a strange incident, appearing to linger in the face of opponent Cathy Svarc before Svarc retaliated with an open palm to the face Gilroy, ultimately resulting in a free kick. Belle Dawes also received a one-match suspension for charging following a front-on collision with Hawthorn defender Ainslie Kemp. The MRO graded the incident as carless conduct, medium impact and high contact, resulting in a one-match suspension.
The Lions have already confirmed they will be challenging the decision in a bid to have the star midfielder available to face Adelaide or Fremantle in a preliminary final..
