2nds 2024 AFLW Swans playing in VFLW

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RMC recap:

Box Hill (3.1.19) lost to Sydney (12.10.82)​


The final match of the round saw Box Hill’s undefeated run come to an end at the hands of the Swans.

Scoring opportunities were few and far between for the Hawks, as the Swans continued to kick away.

Bella Smith led the way on the scoring front for the Swans with four majors, while Chloe Molloy again dominated through the middle and into attack.

The Hawks were meanwhile led by their youth, with Hayley McLaughlin and Charlotte Baskaran seeing the most of the ball.


central.rookieme.com

ICYMI | 2024 VFLW: Round 6

It was almost a perfect weekend for the away sides in the VFLW, but alas two sides could not make the trend a perfect streak.
central.rookieme.com central.rookieme.com
 
I didn't watch live but I have watched the replay. The commentary wasn't as good as it has been other weeks. The commentators didn't know all the players and sometimes guessed wrongly. They also didn't add a lot of insight. Worlds away from the knowledge of Gemma Bastiani.

Overall I thought it was a very good result against the competition leaders. I thought we had a strong four quarter effort, and we moved the ball really well by hand and by foot. We used a lot more handball than the oppo, which worked well to beat their defensive structures. I'm not sure if this is just our gamestyle or whether we made a clever adjustment after some savvy opposition analysis.

As has quickly become usual in these VFLW games where we're playing nearly our AFLW team, our defenders had less opportunity to shine because we dominated the play.

Even without Gardiner we dominated the contest and had double the Hawks clearances.

We used the ball pretty well going inside 50 and kicked mostly accurately for goal. (Pleasing to see we have moved on from our first VFLW game in that regard.) Molloy created and kicked a couple of great goals out of nothing much.

Defensively we worked hard but they did out-tackle us by a fair margin. That is unsurprising given we dominated possession but sometimes you see teams win possession and tackles both by significant margins and we didn't manage that.

****

In terms of individuals:

Morphett did not miss a beat in her return to footy. I mean literally from the very first centre bounce she won the tap, hit to advantage and it led to a minor score in the first 30 seconds. She was also one of our best for the game. Looked fit. Every reason to think she's going to pick up where she left off when injury cut her monster 2023 season short. We'll need her. About the only knock I could offer is that she kept going for risky kicks inboard, sometimes needlessly, and turned the ball over a few times. Still, I think that just fits her really aggressive mindset which is part of what makes her so good.

Tanya Kennedy spent more time in the middle with Gardiner absent. She did well (22 disposals, 6 clearances, 5 tackles). She also continues to lean defensively not just with her pressure in defensive play but also resting back and drifting towards D50 rather than forward as the need arose.

Smith's transformation from KPD to KPF is working a treat! At least at VFLW level Smith is showing she is a strong mark and an accurate kick for goal. She doesn't offer as much at ground level but if she's kicking 4 goals (as she did against the Hawks) I think we can live with that. She will be a good foil for Privitelli who is much more mobile and skilful. A bit comparable to McLean and McDonald in the men.

Davies is also working out well as a ruck-forward. I see her as a more skilful and disciplined version of Lexi Hamilton. She took a strong contested mark near the goal square in the first half and kicked truly as well as being a handy second ruck and shading her second ruck opponent. This wasn't her best game but she was serviceable.

Ruby Sergeant-Wilson had a solid game, one of the better ones I've seen from her.

Monty Beruldsen is consolidating her great improvement this season and putting in consistently good performances. Her contested work is getting stronger, her ball use is improving, and she's still got her big weapon, her speed. Plus she's just working consistently all game long which is probably the biggest thing.

I haven't decided what I think about Hillier yet. She hasn't made as much of an impression on me so far but this was possibly her best game so far. Got more of the ball. But I'm not a great fan of Alice Mitchell based on what she's shown so far. I doubt if we would keep them both when BT returns so I wonder what the pecking order is. The thing that Mitchell offers is height - she's taller than all our other defenders. In my view BT and Heads are clearly our best tall defenders (even though they're not that tall). It remains to be seen whether we'll look to move McEvoy towards the midfield this season or whether she'll continue to play primarily in defence. Depending on the choices we make both Hillier and Mitchell could be omitted from a best 21 but I struggle to see them both making the best 21 if BT, Heads and McEvoy are fit and in form.

I'm a Hausegger fan but she didn't stand out today. Had a couple of decent moments and also a couple of ordinary ones. Not a bad game, just a bit anonymous.

I think Paris McCarthy was injured late in the third quarter in a tackle by Hawks VFLW player Rosie Dillon who held McCarthy's arm behind her back as she took her to ground. I didn't read anything about this but I glimpsed Paris at Coogee yesterday and she had her arm in a sling. Also, I don't think McCarthy played the game out. I suspect she won't play this weekend.

Our best would have been Morphett, Ham, Molloy, and Kennedy. Beruldsen and Szigeti also did well.

***

I'm not sure how many AFLW listed players turned out for the Hawks but it was less than we had and more than any of our previous opponents had. So it's encouraging to beat them as convincingly as we beat the rest.

I still don't understand why other teams haven't been playing their AFLW players but it seems to have worked our really well for us and I think we will learn a lot from this and benefit when the AFLW season rolls around many months from now. There's been lots of opportunity to (a) work on our game plan; and (b) build cohesion among the group and integrate our new players. What's more, after this coming weekend, we get to go away, review intensively, and then further fine-tune and improve.

In a probable sign of my naivete I can't help feeling more bullish about our upcoming AFLW season. Whereas previously I thought we would be doing well to replicate our 6th placed finish last year, I'm now feeling more emboldened and even thinking it's not out of the question that we could finish top 4.
 
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Coaches MVP Award votes from Round 6 of the rebel VFLW

Box Hill Hawks 3.1 (19) def by Sydney Swans 12.10 (82)
9 Montana Ham (SYD)
9 Ally Morphett (SYD)
4 Chloe Molloy (SYD)
3 Tanya Kennedy (SYD)
3 Bella R. Smith (SYD)
2 Montana Beruldsen (SYD)


LEADERBOARD
34 Ange Gogos (DF)
33 Montana Ham (SYD)
28 Laura Gardiner (SYD)
28 Meg McDonald (CD)
25 Keeley Hardingham (WB)
25 Ava Seton (PM)
24 Zarlie Goldsworthy (GWS)
22 Madison Brazendale (GWS)
22 Madeleine Di Cosmo (NM)
19 Ruby Mahony (ESS)


www.afl.com.au

rebel Coaches MVP Award – rebel VFLW Round 6

Four perfect 10s; Bombers captain inspires victory; Swans young gun polls again
www.afl.com.au www.afl.com.au
 

SYDNEY SWANS vs COLLINGWOOD​

Saturday 4 May, 12:00pm, Tramway Oval

SYDNEY SWANS
B: A. Mitchell (8), K. Hillier (3)
HB: R. Sargent-Wilson (6), E. Heads (12), E. Veerhuis (24)
C: E. Juneja (48), M. Ham (18), L. Steane (21)
HF: M. Beruldsen (33), C. Hamilton (10), S. Grunden (16)
F: B. Smith (11), G. Davies (20)
R: A. Morphett (7), T. Kennedy (29), L. Szigeti (28)
INT: H. Cooper (2), L. Hausseger (26), P. Sheppard (4), S. Hurley (25), E. Vale (23)
EMG: L. Gardiner (31), A. Whelan (22)

IN: S. Hurley, E. Juneja, E. Veerhuis
OUT: C. Molloy, A. Whelan (AFLW), P. McCarthy (shoulder)
NEW: Emma Juneja, 17, 170cm, East Sydney/UTS/Swans Academy; Ellie Veerhuis, 18, 171cm, Figtree Saints/Swans Academy


Sydney has rested superstar Chloe Molloy and fellow midfielder Aimee Whelan, while Paris McCarthy is out with a shoulder injury, but Sofia Hurley comes back in and Swans Academy teenagers Emma Juneja and Ellie Veerhuis will get a chance to test themselves at the second highest level.
 
I'm excited to see Juneja get a chance after reading an article about her a couple of weeks ago. I confess I've Veerhuis's name isn't familiar to me, but I've not been following the U18 matches very closely.

We shouldn't forget that we still have the right to prelist two local girls at the end of this season as part of the expansion club concession. I imagine there will a huge uproar if/when we use this right at the end of last year if we finish towards the pointy end of the ladder (far from assured but I'm optimistic after seeing the progress across that squad that has been on show throughout this VFLW campaign, notwithstanding the fact it is only VFLW). Those uproaring will be ignoring the fact that Port added three players last off-season who were rated in the top handful in the league. I think Essendon also added their full complement, while the Hawks still have at least one (maybe two) spots available, as we do.

I presume Juneja and Veerhuis are effectively auditioning to be prelisted at the end of the 2024 season, alongside a couple who have already played for the VFLW team this season who I think are still U18 (Brown, Bailey), though I could be wrong on those last two's age and thus eligibility.
 
Will be good to see the Academy kids.

I'm not so pessimistic about uproar - our prelistings aren't touted to be the #1 and #3 picks like with Port last year. Also, we were unfortunate that the year we finished as the wooden spooners there was no proper draft and we didn't get to pick up a top talent then. We have worked very hard for our success and we're still not at the level of the top teams (or we weren't end of last season).

I note there are still no sightings of: Lochland, McEvoy, Collier, Privitelli, Tarrant, O'Sullivan etc. Collier could still be rehabbing. I heard Lochland was overseas at one stage but I suspect she's back now. Maybe the rest of them are among those that have full-time jobs that make it harder for them to participate when it's not yet the official season?
 
Callipygian said:
Will be good to see the Academy kids.


I note there are still no sightings of: Lochland, McEvoy, Collier, Privitelli, Tarrant, O'Sullivan etc. Collier could still be rehabbing. I heard Lochland was overseas at one stage but I suspect she's back now. Maybe the rest of them are among those that have full-time jobs that make it harder for them to participate when it's not yet the official season?
Click to expand...
Some of those players are to be seen in the most recent training gallery - Lochland, McEvoy, Collier, Tarrant, O’Sullivan. Haven’t seen anything of Privitelli in any of the training galleries.
 
liz said:
Some of those players are to be seen in the most recent training gallery - Lochland, McEvoy, Collier, Tarrant, O’Sullivan. Haven’t seen anything of Privitelli in any of the training galleries.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that! I hadn't seen them. Here's a link for anyone interested:

www.sydneyswans.com.au

Gallery: AFLW train on SCG

See the latest photos as the team trained on the SCG ahead of their VFLW clash with Collingwood.
www.sydneyswans.com.au www.sydneyswans.com.au

A few I can't place:

  • who's in #11?
  • who's with Cynthia Hamilton in #13?
  • and I'm impressed with how many I can recognise in #15 but there are a few I can't place: the two in the back between Collier and Morphett? (Juneja & Veerhuis?) And the one in the front between Tarrant and Szigeti. And the one between Hurley and Kennedy - could that be Bullas? (I can't remember, is she still on our list?) Also, is Molloy there? Maybe she's taking the photo?
 
Callipygian said:
Thanks for that! I hadn't seen them. Here's a link for anyone interested:

www.sydneyswans.com.au

Gallery: AFLW train on SCG

See the latest photos as the team trained on the SCG ahead of their VFLW clash with Collingwood.
www.sydneyswans.com.au www.sydneyswans.com.au

A few I can't place:

  • who's in #11?
  • who's with Cynthia Hamilton in #13?
  • and I'm impressed with how many I can recognise in #15 but there are a few I can't place: the two in the back between Collier and Morphett? (Juneja & Veerhuis?) And the one in the front between Tarrant and Szigeti. And the one between Hurley and Kennedy - could that be Bullas? (I can't remember, is she still on our list?) Also, is Molloy there? Maybe she's taking the photo?
Click to expand...
I couldn't identify everyone either. I figured some are VFLW train on players - for example, I'm not sure I'd recognise Senna Gulden. And some are the new players who joined us at the end of last season (noting that the Swans' website hasn't got around to updating the player list or adding photos yet).

The player punching the ball in photo 11 is, I think, Giselle Davies.

I'm not sure who's with Hamilton in 13, but it looks a bit like Brooke (?) Bailey from what I can tell having seen her play a couple of matches with the VFLW team.

Bullas is still on the list and is in the photo. She is between Kennedy and Hurley. I'm not sure about the others that you have question marks about, except that the one between Tarrant and Szigeti is the same person (I think) who is with Hamilton in picture 13 (who may or may not be Bailey).

No Molloy in that photo.
 

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Great game against much stronger opposition (compared to previous weeks). We almost ran away with it in the 3rd quarter but after scoring 3 quick goals we then had three behinds which were all quite gettable. Fantastic comeback from Collingwood too, scoring two quick goals in the last 90 seconds to win with seconds to spare.

Overall we were harder at the contest and applied more defensive pressure and dominated the second half (especially 3rd quarter) but it was a tough and hard fought game. We narrowly won almost all the stats and it came down to some defensive lapses at the death. A good learning experience and a reality check after our previous easy victories. Also a mostly even performance with plenty of contributors and plenty of hardness.

I'm not sure how many AFLW listed players played for Collingwood but I think it was more than any previous opponent.

I only watched the broadcast and it was blighted by both poor camerawork and poor audio (with the second commentator hard to hear much of the time).

Individually, Hurley was a standout. She racked up 16 tackles which is the sort of pressure she was applying during the back end of 2023. She also won plenty of possessions and clearances. (It didn't help that the commentators kept calling her Hausenger [sic] during the second half.)

Ham was also powerful and had a great goal assist for our 5th (and final) goal.

Eliza Vale racked up a lot of ball but didn't make a massive impression on me.

Morphett was strong and had a good game but Frederick was stronger in the ruck.

Our defenders had more opportunity than they have had previously because the game was much more evenly contested. Best game I've seen yet from Hillier. Heads was good. Mitchell was also better than she's been. I was disappointed in Hausegger - she wasn't bad but just didn't look as good as I thought she had in previous games when she was tested less.

Steane had a useful game and showed her worth. Davies was good again - I think she'll be in our best 21.

Grunden was best of our draftees. She applied good pressure in the front half and kicked a goal and a behind that was nearly a spectacular goal.

Juneja had a great debut including kicking our first goal from a long way out on the run. Possibly wasn't the smartest option but she backed herself and kicked straight so kudos to her. She also had some other nifty moments and showed aggression and hardness that was really encouraging. I think we'll have a player there. Veerhuis on the other hand was anonymous and I didn't actually notice her at all. I'm not even sure what role she was playing or where - did anyone else notice. She did accumulate a few possessions but I missed them.

I wonder how long we'll have to wait to see them play again? Looks like it'll be at least 3 months. Maybe they'll have a couple of warm up games before the AFLW launches at the end of August. It's been great to have them in the VFLW and it's a pity they can't continue.

Does anyone know if they will play in the Sydney comp? If I can find out, I'll post.
 
Coaches MVP Award votes from Round 7 of the rebel VFLW
Sydney Swans 5.5 (35) def by Collingwood 5.7 (37)
9 Carly Remmos (COL)
8 Montana Ham (SYD)
4 Sabrina Frederick (COL)
3 Sarah Rowe (COL)
2 Ruby Schleicher (COL)
2 Charlotte Taylor (COL)
1 Eliza Vale (SYD)
1 Tarni White (COL)


LEADERBOARD

42 Ange Gogos (DF)
41 Montana Ham (SYD)
35 Ava Seton (PM)
32 Keeley Hardingham (WB)
29 Madison Brazendale (GWS)
29 Madeleine Di Cosmo (NM)
28 Laura Gardiner (SYD)
28 Meg Macdonald (CD)
27 Abbey McDonald (GEE)
24 Zarlie Goldsworthy (GWS)
24 Carly Remmos (COLL)
 
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