The year we failed to win a final -- the 2024 VFLW season summary

[theDJR]

ELIMINATION FINAL

VFLW - Elimination Final vs Norf @ Arden Street - 1pm Sun 30 June 2024

Finals four-peat! Footscray beat Norf 50-43 today (reversal of 43-65 in round one).

Perkins 2.1.13 + EFC 0.0.0 defeated by Norf 12.4.76

In the league stat leaders, Norf have Di Cosmo, Barba, Tierney, Dojiok, Hales, Rhodes, and Reynolds. We have Mahony, MFord, Chaston, and Morrow.

@theDJR

@AngryAussie

Seeing Tierney and Barba in those lists still hurts a little bit.

It will hurt a bit less if Perkins kicks her second* goal after the final siren to win us the game.

*that would be her 100th VFLW goal.

@theDJR

Barba playing her 50th VFLW game; 35 with us, and all 15 possible with Norf this year.

She effectively did not miss a single game with us either: the last 4 games of 2019 as a junior, 17 in 2021, 9 in 2022 after being cut by the Suns (finishing the year with two shiny things), and the first 5 weeks of 2023 as an AFLW player.

And then injury crueled her within our AFLW team.

Bailey Hunt reaches (just) 25 VFLW games. Had been busy being the first ever AFLW Rising Star nomination and playing 44 AFLW games.

@theDJR

Port (6th) have beaten the Hawks (3rd)… which means the winner of this game gets the double chance!

We did exactly that from 4th/5th in 2021 and 2023 (didn’t need to do so in 2022).

All we have to do now is beat Norf…

@theDJR

I have thanked Ashley-Cooper, present today, for giving us a shot at the double chance.

@theDJR

Update of our changes since round 9:

OUT	IN	Role
Sienna Hobbs	Jayda Richardson	Fwd/ruck
Kodi Jacques	Bailey Hunt	Mid/fwd
Manaia Huta	Tayla Hart-Aluni	Small forward
Lavina Cox	Ava Jordan	Mid
Gabby Drage	Sarah Perkins	Forward
Chloe Prpic	Christina Bernardi	Utility

Junior Cox was one of our better players in round 9, but that’s overall a huge upgrade.

However, the two most important questions that are not really addressed by those changes are:

1. Who can individually go with Dojiok? Robinson was her primary opponent in round 9.
2. Can our midfield at least break even vs the likes of Barba/DiCosmo/Tierney?

(Barba is named back and Tierney is named in a stacked forward line, but I don’t believe they’ll stay there.)

@theDJR

The Essendon Royals (?) played bad; today’s emergency Dani says she was less bad than them as a whole.

@theDJR

Bright sun from the north, dark clouds to the south.

Here is Da Boss:

@theDJR

Orritt on Dojiok!

You know she won’t die wondering.

Hunt on Barbs.

ChristinaBernardi mid.

@DonBomb

Perkins takes a strong juggled mark, playing in front. Kicks long and strong. Goal!

@theDJR

We have doubled our round 9 score!!!

Nek minute… and the below is the quarter-time score.

@theDJR

No consistency. Ruby held without it.

And Rhodes goals from that.

Molan should have marked it in the first place.

6-19

@theDJR

Barba and DiCosmo both have 10 disposals!

Bernardi + MFord + Mahony are on just 4…

Not trying to pick on her, but it was REALLY unusual:

@IceTemple

@theDJR

Molan needs grippo, stat.

She is normally really good. Having a mare.

@theDJR

We’re marginally the better team this quarter, but it is just one point over ten minutes.

And now it is 7. All 7 due to Dojiok.

6-26

@IceTemple

Norf defenders are positioning themselves better than our forwards which is also not helping.

@theDJR

“Scar” beats Dojiok, twice.

The third time the ump takes pity on Dojiok, and gives her the free in easy range.

And she has her kicking boots on today.

Last kick of the half.

6-32

The above score is from 12 inside fifties each!

@theDJR

Flashback to last year: Maddy Pearson is here.

About half of the AFLW team, as well.

@theDJR

Radio 3DJR has optimistically relocated behind our goals.

But can see nothing from here.

@theDJR

Perkins mark and set shot incoming: from the same spot as earlier.

Don’t you worry about that!

12-50

That was her 100th, and final, VFLW goal.

@theDJR

Never ever play to the whistle. Norf don’t, and it works.

12-62

@IceTemple

last rev up for the season on the ground

@theDJR

Contractually-obliged Davidge mark.

@theDJR

3 points better margin today!

Norf 28 entries for 16 scores and 76 points
EFC 24 entries for 3 scores and 13 points

(for both the above and the below)

@theDJR

Top Ten busiest:

Alana 17 tackles, Rhodes 14. Tassiopoulos next with 8.

Top clearances:

• Di Cosmo 11
• Rhodes and Barba 8
• Tierney 5
• Hunt and Huggard 5

Barba led inside fifties, Chaston led rebound fifties (both 5).

Here’s my rant on the second-quarter umpiring: it wasn’t why we lost, but it 100% ensured there would be no comeback:

@theDJR

• We are still in this. But at 9:15 Tassiopoulos get doubled-dudded on HTB. She then gets harshly treated again 10 seconds later in a marking contest. Doijok pumps it deep forward, and a gross in-the-back of Robinson in the goal square sees perhaps the sealing goal. 3 of those 4 decisions within that minute were definitely wrong. ■■■■■■■ hell.
• LOL, Gemma clearly watched the Essendon AFL game, because she goes out of her way to blame us rather than the involved umpires (who she concedes set up the play). No, they just ■■■■■■ us over 3-4 times in a minute and directly caused that goal. We had no time to have a sook, and we didn’t.
• Says we “were trailing everyone to the footy at all times”. You just saw Robinson out-sprinting two Kangaroos to the goal square, which allowed them to put two hands through her jumper number. FFS.
• 11:10 “dangerous tackle”, my arse.
• 11:30 Molan is tackled by the neck, ump has a perfect view and says NO.

• 12:30, everyone stops for the whistle and goes “huh?”… except Barba. Alana has her back to the ump and has no idea what the free is but keeps running. Got lucky.
• Gemma says we are giving away the frees; I yell ■■■■ YOU.
• 14:05 BRONX CHEER after Norf are pinged for dragging it in. That leads to good marks by Davidge and then Richardson.
• 15:20 that’s not opportunity. ■■■■ off.
• “We’re not here to complain about umpires — we’re here to talk about the game itself”… ■■■■ umpiring is absolutely part of this game.
• Again says Essendon are distracted by the ■■■■ umpiring and haven’t bounced back in the past seven minutes… somehow forgetting that Norf haven’t legitimately scored in that time either.
• 16:10 WTF was that?!? Norf player deliberately runs into the back of Tassiopoulos rather than contest the ruck, and the ump pays them the free 20m from our goal. Wow.
• Gemma says our coaches need to tell our players that the umps are morons, and that will make them less moronic. Get stuffed.
• 16:55 if the Tassiopoulos decision 7.5 minutes ago was deemed too physical, then why do they not pay Molan’s big spoil now? UmpLotto is why.
• 18:30 unclear whether that is a mark (and hence goal). Robinson manifestly demonstrative.
• Wow. At best 1 legit goal from that quarter, very possibly none. And the game is over.
• I didn’t enter this re-watch expecting to go off like this… but holy ■■■■ that was bad. Across 9 minutes I make it 7 shockers against us and 2 debatables. Call it 7 and 1, because Dojiok debatably should have got a holding free not long before her possible-mark.
• It does tell you how bad this ground is for watching footy… though the first Tassiopoulos tackle was incredibly obvious from 100m away, as was the high tackle on Molan.

@theDJR

One of the few things the umps got right in the second quarter: called as a duck.

Hard to find bests, especially when any accumulation by the mids was very much out-weighted by their opponents.

BEST: Morrow, Perkins, Hunt, Chaston, and maybe not best but respect for Bateman and Orritt.