AFLW - practice match vs Wet Toast @ The Mine, 12:30pm (WA time) Sun 20 August 2023

Football Discussion Essendon AFLW
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Fremantle got back to its best after an injury-prone Season 7, crushing rivals West Coast by 52 points in a Western Derby. The Dockers dominated the midfield and gave their forwards plenty of chances, running away 11.10 (76) to 3.6 (24). Mim Strom was a star for the Dockers taking control in the ruck, while the top-end class of Kiara Bowers and Hayley Miller went to work.

We have records to protect (or break?) at Mineral Resources Park!

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(At the time) the 7th highest score ever in the AFLW.

And more…

STREAM AT LINK BELOW:

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Note corrected time: 1230 over there, not in VIC.

Game will be streamed, no details yet.

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It’s Wednesday and they’re yet to discover any WCE highlights…

West Coast 3.6 (24) lost to Fremantle 11.10 (76) at Mineral Resources Park

  • Former Blue Serena Gibbs played in defence in her first run for Fremantle, having spent a little time in the role at Carlton
  • Draftee Tahleah Mulder found plenty of the footy alongside usual suspects Kiara Bowers and Hayley Miller
  • Gabby O’Sullivan and Aine Tighe kicked two each

* West Coast highlights TBC

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Here’s the team:

# FULL NAME
2 Georgia Gee
3 Daria Bannister
4 Maddy Prespakis
5 Georgia Nanscawen
6 Danielle Marshall
7 Kodi Jacques
8 Bonnie Toogood
9 Brooke Walker
10 Jacqui Vogt
11 Alana Barba
14 Ellyse Gamble
16 Matilda Dyke
17 Georgia Clarke
20 Steph Cain
21 Jess Wuetschner
22 Amelia Radford
23 Renee Tierney
24 Sophie Alexander
27 Sophie Van de Heuvel
28 Mia Busch
30 Steph Wales
32 Paige Scott
33 Amber Clarke
36 Brooke Brown
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Sooo, NOT named are:

  • Jo Doonan – played second half last week
  • Lily-Rose Williamson – on crutches last week
  • Leah Cutting – we’re playing someone ruck-sized in Matilda Dyke
  • Mia van Dyke – present but didn’t play last week
  • MORCS :frowning:
  • Ash van Loon – played second half last week; was overtly good, again
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Miguel would be happy to see the above:

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Below is the opinion of Sarah Black and/or Sophie Welsh.

Notable absences: ex-EFC-VFLW player Krstel Petrevski, Eleanor Hartill
New faces: Lauren Wakfer, Zoe Wakfer, Amy Franklin

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I think Lily is out for a while. I’m not game to ask how long for. She just wants to play footy after missing games last year through injuries.

The rest of those completed training late this week for memory (it’s taken me a while, but I know all those players). Two or three from the squad were sore from training.
I think more will go up than those selected. They leave tomorrow, so keep an eye out on Insta.
A few players named will be on light duties.

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They might be naming “real” numbers in this final practice match (i.e. 16 on-field + 5 bench + 3 emergencies).

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I have to say, the marketing around women’s footy has been subdued.
By all teams.

I’m interested to see if there is any mention at the ground by announcers.
They used to spruik VFL, but that stopped a long time ago.

Not sure what the go is with it.
Maybe there’s just too much focus on Insta to capture women but not much elsewhere to capture other interested people.

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It’ll depend on how many quarters. It’s up to the discretion of the two teams.
The North practise game, we wanted 5 or 6 quarters because we had a full squad.
North didn’t have enough players for it, so it was forced down to a typical 4 quarters.

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I didn’t count their total number of players, but they had ~5 players warming up at half-time while everyone else was off, so likely had similar numbers to us.

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I like how they say bringing just one new player into a truly awful team is a good thing. Also, STILL not publishing that they got murdered by Freo last week!

Where and when: Mineral Resources Park, Sunday, August 20, 12:30pm

TV: Live streamed via the West Coast Eagles website and on the club app. Follow on social media @WestCoastEagles and @eaglesaflw.

Last time we met: West Coast 4.8 (32) def. by Essendon 13.6 (84) at Mineral Resources Park, round three, 2022.

It was a tough day out for the Eagles when they last met Essendon, falling by 52 points at Mineral Resources Park in round three of last season. Despite the scoreline, the emerging Eagles showed positive signs, with Ella Roberts (17 disposals) finding plenty of the ball, and Courtney Rowley (14 disposals and three tackles) playing an important role defensively. West Coast skipper Emma Swanson (25 disposals and 18 kicks) led the way for the home side, while Aimee Schmidt (six marks and two goals) had a crucial scoreboard impact.

What it means for the Eagles: West Coast’s players have dedicated a lot of hard work on the track and in the gym this pre-season, and this will be the first chance to see their efforts transition into a game environment. With Amy Franklin the only addition to the team this season, the squad is closer than ever, and connecting and gelling on a new level. Led by captain Emma Swanson and newly appointed vice-captain Bella Lewis, we’ll get a glimpse of what we can expect come round one, and how the team is likely to match up with the rest of the League this season.

The stat: Sarah Lakay (249 hitouts) finished with the second highest hitout average in the League last season and managed double the hitouts (20-10) against Essendon’s Stephanie Wales last time these two teams met.

Oppo in focus: Essendon midfielder Maddy Prespakis impressed last season, playing all 10 games and averaging 24 disposals and 12 kicks a game, and the home side will be looking to limit her presence around the ball. Bombers co-captains Bonnie Toogood and Steph Cain will also be on West Coast’s radar. Toogood is a force up forward and Cain’s speed and endurance can be damaging around the ground.

It’s a big week for: Eagles returning from injury

After significant time spent on the sidelines, it will be great to see Kellie Gibson, Evie Gooch, Shanae Davison and Lauren Wakfer back on the field in a game capacity after successful recoveries in the off-season.

Big call: New Eagles recruit Amy Franklin will kick multiple goals (three) in her first showing in the blue and gold.

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No pressure… but this is the benchmark we want to beat:

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Scott and Wales 3 goals, Prespakis 2 goals and 22 disposals.

Hopefully also improve on Paige Scott’s 0-5 free-kick for-against tally…

Note that the above arose from this:

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We can absolutely score, but as previously stated that relies on decent midfield extraction and delivery… not much of which was seen versus top team Norf last week.

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Noting that we’ve named 24 and we played 21 last year, but:

IN from last year:

  • Amelia Radford
  • Brooke Brown
  • Brooke Walker
  • Georgia Clarke
  • Georgia Nanscawen :heart:
  • Kodi Jacques
  • Matilda Dyke
  • Mia Busch
  • Renee Tierney

OUT from last year:

  • Alex Morcom ← was one of our best. We have lots of tall defenders now but stopping smalls remains a problem.
  • Ashleigh Van Loon
  • Catherine Phillips ← was stinky and copped crap in the game day thread; no one went near her, and she topped inside fifties.
  • Joanne Doonan
  • Jordan Zanchetta
  • Mia Van Dyke
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In pulling out the team list, I got the below. So white and brown-haired.

Pretty easy to spot the shoulders of the player sponsored by (certain members of) Blitz.

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Aimee Schmidt is a late out for today’s practice match, due to a quad strain.

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Somewhat (but not majorly) surprised by Van Loon and Cutting not playing, had figured both were likely best 21 over say Tierney or Dyke

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van Loon: I would be very surprised if she is not in our core squad. Per last week, I assume on limited time, and I think this is a normal-numbers game.

Cutting: we’re presumably still trying to work out our ruck setup, and giving WA native Matilda Dyke the run today.

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