Teen Wolf
Norm Smith Medallist
- Jul 5, 2011
- 8,223
- 9,059
- AFL Club
- North Melbourne
- Other Teams
- Afghanistan women's cricket team
ROAD TO THE GRAND FINAL
North Melb.
Conceded the fewest points of any team this year, by quite a way. Exceptional ball-winning stats from the midfield. Very flaky forward-line.
R1: beat STK by 40
R2: beat CAR by 60
R3: beat GEE by 9
R4: lost to BL by 2
R5: beat GWS by 30
R6: beat FRE by 45
R7: beat PA by 63
R8: lost to MEL by 23
R9: lost to ADE by 3
R10: beat WB by 46
H&A ladder: 3rd, 7-3, 224%
QF: beat MEL by 41
PF: beat ADE by 1
Brisbane
Strange season with a series of losses against teams that failed to make the 8. Have always been switched on for games against other serious contenders.
R1: lost to RIC by 6
R2: beat PA by 50
R3: beat SYD by 55
R4: beat NM by 2
R5: beat HAW by 27
R6: lost to COL by 5
R7: beat GC by 36
R8: beat ADE by 3
R9: lost to STK by 21
R10: beat MEL by 25
H&A ladder: 4th, 7-3, 149%
QF: beat ADE by 2
PF: beat GEE by 4
HEAD-TO-HEAD
Brisbane lead 4-0. The teams didn’t meet in 2019 and 2020, when the Lions were at their lowest ebb. The biggest margin was 36 points in R9 2022 (S6), a game that was moved to Victoria due to floods in Queensland.
R8 2021: BL 4.11.35 def NM 2.8.20 at the Gabba
R9 2022 (S6): BL 7.8.50 def NM 2.2.14 at VU Whitten Oval
R7 2022 (S7): NM 3.8.26 def by BL 5.3.33 at Arden Street Oval
R4 2023: NM 5.3.33 def by BL 5.5.35 at UTAS Stadium
NORTH-DAKOTA?
A major talking point will be the availability of Lions spearhead Dakota Davidson, who appeared to injure her knee in Saturday night’s win against Geelong. It has almost felt like the whole season has been building up to have Davidson do something outrageous (one way or another) in the Grand Final, with public opinion widely divided about this unique character.
Whatever your appraisal of her personality, you gotta admit she’s one hell of a footballer. And yet, she didn’t play in the game between the two teams earlier in the season, which Brisbane still won!
GHOSTS OF 2018
After losing a QLD grand final in 2017, Brisbane rebounded to make a second-straight GF appearance in 2018, taking on the Western Bulldogs at Princes Park.
The Dogs--featuring current Shinboners Jenna Bruton, Emma Kearney and Kim Rennie--prevailed in another close decider. On the losing side was current Lions Ally Anderson, Shannon Campbell, Sophie Conway, and Breanna Koenen.
Current Kangaroo Tahlia Randall also played in that game, for Brisbane (her last match with the club, becoming an inaugural signing for NM shortly thereafter). Described by then coach Craig Starcevich as the “female Alex Rance
PLAYERCARDSTART
Alex Rance
- Age
- 34
- Ht
- 194cm
- Wt
- 95kg
- Pos.
- Def
Career
Season
Last 5
- D
- 16.6
- 4star
- K
- 8.9
- 3star
- HB
- 7.7
- 5star
- M
- 5.7
- 5star
- T
- 2.4
- 4star
- MG
- 226.9
- 3star
No current season stats available
- D
- 17.0
- 5star
- K
- 5.8
- 3star
- HB
- 11.2
- 5star
- M
- 5.0
- 5star
- T
- 3.6
- 5star
PLAYERCARDEND
PREMIERSHIP PORTFOLIO, GRAND FINAL EXPERIENCE
Aside from the just-now-mentioned trio of Bruton-Kearney-Rennie, the only other AFLW premiership player on NM’s list is Ailish Considine (2 flags with Adelaide).
Brisbane will have 12 or 13 of the 2021 premiership team out there on Sunday. Several key architects of their maiden flag (Emily Bates, Kate Lutkins, Jess Wuetschner and Emma Zielke) obviously won’t be.
This will be the Lions’ 5th grand final appearance. They currently hold a 1-3 record, coming off a 4-point loss to Melbourne last year. All three losses have been by a kick or less.
Less GF experience to talk about with North, so I’ll mention the 2019 VFLW Grand Final at Ikon Park which featured Ellie Gavalas and Jasmine Ferguson playing for the Western Bulldogs and Collingwood respectively.
FITZROY FAITHFUL
The true Brunswick Street loyalists will of course be cheering on North Melbourne, the only team that will feature an actual Fitzroy player. I speak, of course, of Ash Riddell whose rise to AFLW dominance is the stuff of fairytales. Riddell won the Debbie Lee Medal in 2016 for her performance with Fitzroy in Div 3 of the VWFL, taking her team all the way to the grand final (which they lost by 9 points).
WHO IS THE BEST AND FAIREST OF THEM ALL?
There will be at least two League B&F winners featuring in this game, through Emma Kearney and Ally Anderson. Perhaps there will be a third, depending on how things go at tonight’s W Awards, for which more shall be spoken on in the awards thread.
Shannon Campbell (who was swung forward in familiar fashion on the weekend, kicking the winning goal) is the only player coming into this game with a Grand Final BOG medal to her name, having taken out the award last year in a losing side.
DUCK OF THE IRISH
Both teams are likely to feature a couple Irish players: Erika O'Shea and Niamh Martin for North Melbourne; Orla O'Dwyer and Jennifer Dunne for Brisbane.
Ailish "Ducky" Considine will probably, at best, be named as an emergency, but if she's to make a late charge into a grand final line-up this year, it wouldn't be her first time.
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