AFLW Finals, Week 1 - 2021 AFLW season

[Teen Wolf]

All times are local. In addition to the free-to-air television coverage noted below, all matches are broadcast live on Fox Sports and streamed live-and-free on the AFLW website/app.

QUALIFYING FINAL B
Melbourne (7-2, 4th) v Fremantle (6-3, 5th)
Saturday 1.05pm, Casey Fields
Seven (Melb/Perth/Adel), 7mate (Bris) and 7two (Syd)

QUALIFYING FINAL A
C'wood (7-2, 3rd) v North Melb. (6-3, 6th)
Saturday 3.10pm, Victoria Park
Seven (Melb/Perth/Adel), 7mate (Bris) and 7two (Syd)


TEAMS


MELBOURNE
B: L.Magee 26 L.Birch 9
HB: S.Heath 30 S.Lampard 8 M.Downie 2
C: C.Sherriff 18 E.Zanker 29 E.McNamara 22
HF: J.Parry 19 K.Hore 10 S.Scott 12
F: M.Gay 3 A.Bannan 16
Foll: L.Pearce 15 K.Paxman C 4 T.Hanks 5
I/C: G.Colvin 32 C.Emonson 11 L.Mithen 14 T.Cunningham 1 B.Tarrant 20
Emerg: N.McEvoy 17 M.Fitzsimon 24
In: C.Emonson
Out: D.Pearce (knee)

FREMANTLE
B: A.Stannett 4 J.Cuthbertson 29
HB: P.Seth 18 L.Pugh 32 E.O'Driscoll 3
C: E.Antonio 12 K.Antonio C 15 S.Cain 20
HF: G.O'Sullivan 22 R.Roux 17 S.Duffy 6
F: G.Houghton 27 A.Sharp 1
Foll: M.Strom 21 K.Bowers 2 H.Miller 19
I/C: T.Haynes 33 J.Stewart 7 M.Sergeant 23 B.Webb 26 S.Verrier 5
Emerg: M.Hyde 28 K.Grieve 13
No change



COLLINGWOOD
B: R.Schleicher 18 A.Porter 9
HB: A.Brazill 10 S.Livingstone 12 E.O'Dea 50
C: S.Chiocci 17 J.Lambert 13 E.Fowler 15
HF: A.Sheridan 14 S.Alexander 24 J.Lin 20
F: C.Molloy 2 M.Cann 25
Foll: S.Norder 1 B.Davey C 3 B.Bonnici 8
I/C: K.Stratton 41 S.Rowe 7 T.Brown 26 B.Smith 19 M.Shevlin 35
Emerg: A.Velardo 5 A.Newman 16
In: K.Stratton, M.Shevlin
Out: S.Casey (concussion), A.Newman (omitted)

NORTH MELBOURNE
B: D.Hardiman 31 J.Duffin 27
HB: S.Wright 17 T.Randall 16 A.Gilroy 8
C: K.Ashmore 10 E.Kearney C 9 J.Bruton 35
HF: D.Bateman 11 G.Campbell 43 S.Abbatangelo 1
F: B.Lynch 20 D.Bannister 2
Foll: E.King 60 J.Garner 25 A.Riddell 7
I/C: I.Eddey 3 K.Gillespie-Jones 5 N.Bresnehan 12 E.Gavalas 22 V.Saad 39
Emerg: J.Grierson 19 G.Hammond 44
In: J.Bruton
Out: M.King (hamstring)

 

[Aardvark]

If the Collingwood game is at Vic Park, which it should be, I hope FOX / 7 can afford a few bucks to put up a scaffold for the camera so we get a decent view of the game.

 

[The Victorian]

If the Collingwood game is at Vic Park, which it should be, I hope FOX / 7 can afford a few bucks to put up a scaffold for the camera so we get a decent view of the game.

I reckon both games will be at Ikon Park double header

 

[Teen Wolf]

MCG would be the best of all worlds. Maximises attendance, favoured centralised venue of Pies and Dees supporters, best TV and media facilities, most convenient for social distancing, identical dimensions to Olympic Park and very similar to Casey Fields.

Double-header on Sunday to make it cost-efficient, and play Melb v Frem first at 12.40pm which leaves the contingent of Dockers supporters (however modest) an hour to get across to Marvel for their men's game.

 

[Teen Wolf]

AFLW Latest News - AFL.com.au/aflw

Latest breaking AFLW news from the official website of the Australian Football League.

womens.afl

A predictable yet disappointing bit of scheduling. No vision, no faith. And, as also seen with Collingwood copping the six-day break for their reward as the higher-ranked finalist, no logic.

 

[parano1a]

And, as also seen with Collingwood copping the six-day break for their reward as the higher-ranked finalist, no logic.

Yet you wanted the game to be at Ikon Park where Collingwood would have no home ground advantage?

 

[Teen Wolf]

Yet you wanted the game to be at Ikon Park where Collingwood would have no home ground advantage?

No, what I want is for people to have the decency to read my posts before responding to them.

 

[Aardvark]

Personally I'm really glad to see the games at Vic Park and Casey. Both grounds will probably sell out and the atmosphere will be great. My only complaint is I wish there was more time between games so I could get to both.

 

[parano1a]

No, what I want is for people to have the decency to read my posts before responding to them.

Apologies. The MCG would be good but given it's Easter Sunday I don't think the AFL wanted to schedule an AFLW double header from 11am-3pm. Crowd would be very low, 10k at best.

 

[Teen Wolf]

Collingwood have already had 3 sellouts at Victoria Park this year, it's obviously a very low bar for them to clear as a top team during the H&A season, let alone finals. As for Casey, it's not a place I'd ever schedule a game if attendance and atmosphere were priorities.

Apologies. The MCG would be good but given it's Easter Sunday I don't think the AFL wanted to schedule an AFLW double header from 11am-3pm. Crowd would be very low, 10k at best.

I expect that would be a reason given for the decision, though Easter Sunday seems to get unfairly lumped in with Mother's Day as a crowd killer.

11am-3pm? I'm talking more like 1pm-5pm, and thinking 10k at worst. But given Ch7 aren't covering a men's game in its regular Sunday arvo slot, that seems to be where the real missed opportunity lies.

 

[The Victorian]

Collingwood have already had 3 sellouts at Victoria Park this year, it's obviously a very low bar for them to clear as a top team during the H&A season, let alone finals. As for Casey, it's not a place I'd ever schedule a game if attendance and atmosphere were priorities.


I expect that would be a reason given for the decision, though Easter Sunday seems to get unfairly lumped in with Mother's Day as a crowd killer.

11am-3pm? I'm talking more like 1pm-5pm, and thinking 10k at worst. But given Ch7 aren't covering a men's game in its regular Sunday arvo slot, that seems to be where the real missed opportunity lies.

But there still is football on. I hate having clashes. For the Grand Final for example I really hope they put the AFLW GF stand alone not clashing with any other games. My team play Saturday arvo in Melbourne and as we don’t get many Melbourne games I’ll be attending this one and if the AFLWGF is held on the Saturday then unfortunately I’ll have to miss out watching the GF if it clashes. That GF weekend also happened to have the VFL Round 1 too that Seven will be broadcasting (how many games not too sure as it hasn’t been announced but seeing there is 22 teams we’d expect at least 3 potentially 4 games that round)

Just because seven aren’t covering a match that day, doesn’t mean that there won’t be any football on.

 

[Aardvark]

AFLW is booming, even in its infancy, but inequalities need to be addressed

The AFLW is enjoying its best season to date, with six evenly matched teams qualifying for the finals, but a level-playing field still needs to be achieved as the competition grows, writes Kate O'Halloran.

www.abc.net.au

 

[Teen Wolf]

But there still is football on. I hate having clashes. For the Grand Final for example I really hope they put the AFLW GF stand alone not clashing with any other games. My team play Saturday arvo in Melbourne and as we don’t get many Melbourne games I’ll be attending this one and if the AFLWGF is held on the Saturday then unfortunately I’ll have to miss out watching the GF if it clashes. That GF weekend also happened to have the VFL Round 1 too that Seven will be broadcasting (how many games not too sure as it hasn’t been announced but seeing there is 22 teams we’d expect at least 3 potentially 4 games that round)

Just because seven aren’t covering a match that day, doesn’t mean that there won’t be any football on.

The AFLW finals aren't going to clash with a men's AFL match which 7 is the host broadcaster for. But they are going to clash with other men's AFL matches because a timeslot hasn't been cleared out for the women's games.

The most likely outcome at this stage is the AFLW GF will be played at 1pm Melb time on Saturday, 17 April. So yes, be prepared to have to choose between watching that and your men's team--no different to a choice I had to make in 2019.

 

[ep2018]

Finals predictions? I think Freo will win their way to the GF but will get beaten by Adelaide. Crows women win their third flag, unbelievable achievement.

 

[cmndstab]

Finals predictions? I think Freo will win their way to the GF but will get beaten by Adelaide. Crows women win their third flag, unbelievable achievement.

The brackets don't quite line up for that. If Freo beat Melbourne, they play Adelaide in the prelim.

 

[Purple_Turtle]

Early call:

Week 1: Collingwood beat North. Melbourne beat Freo.

Week 2: Brisbane beat Collingwood. Melbourne beat Adelaide.

Week 3: Melbourne beat Brisbane.

With that said this is based on absolutely ****ing nothing, except a view that North are a level below the other finalists and Melbourne have been in really good form against the top teams (could easily see Freo win this as well and then we're off to the races.)

 

[Purple_Turtle]

 

[Crusty Demon]

I can see us beating Freo this week, but I can't see us beating Crows over there. That Bulldogs loss was very costly. We always seem to have one game a season which costs us a real crack at the premiership. These girls have been playing well though so hopefully I'm wrong but Adelaide in Adelaide are just too strong!

 

[LeakyValve]

I can see us beating Freo this week, but I can't see us beating Crows over there. That Bulldogs loss was very costly. We always seem to have one game a season which costs us a real crack at the premiership. These girls have been playing well though so hopefully I'm wrong but Adelaide in Adelaide are just too strong!

Freo have not been the same since they knocked off Adelaide. Just OK and patchy. Have commented elsewhere that it has been a torrid summer in Perth and maybe that has caught up with the Dockers. They always seem to be playing in tough conditions.
If Melbourne do win, I hope in some way they go on to win the flag as it would be mint to see Daisy P stick it up some people and get her reward for what she has contributed to the game.
And it appears Eden Zanker is finally getting her act together after calling in absent for the first four rounds or so. If she plays to her best, she is the icing on the cake for your mob.

 

[Teen Wolf]

AFLW Latest News - AFL.com.au/aflw

Latest breaking AFLW news from the official website of the Australian Football League.

womens.afl

MELB In: C.Emonson; Out: D.Pearce (knee)
FREM No change

COLL In: K.Stratton, M.Shevlin; Out: S.Casey (concussion), A.Newman (omitted)
NM In: J.Bruton; Out: M.King (hamstring)

Circumstances like tomorrow have typically been the games that have tripped Melbourne up in the past. Not gonna say they should beat Adelaide in SA, but I trust them to give a more honest account of themselves if they get through to week 2. Without the captain, and with memories of the Dockers' barnstorming win the last time they played at Casey Fields, perhaps they won't get sucked into complacency and keep their momentum rolling on.

Collingwood's preparation coming into this weekend doesn't inspire a lot of confidence. I also think North are hungrier, several key players probably feeling like they won't get a better chance to win a(nother) flag than this year, and a loss would be more devastating for them. What that equates to on the scoreboard, maybe not a lot but definitely not nothing.

 

[Dory_77]

Good start by Melbourne with this wind.

 

[CURVE]

Fremantle’s slow starts are going to cost them today, they’ll need an unbelievable third quarter to win this.

 

[Dory_77]

Huge goal by Tarrant!

 

[Dory_77]

That was a tense second half but well closed out by Melbourne. Magee on Houghton had me nervous but she stood up well.

 

[MooreTreloar]

Well done Melbourne, set up what should be a cracking contest with Adelaide next week.

Hopefully Collingwood can get the job done now.