Prespakis has been named in the centre for NAB League’s week 6 Team of the Week. She had 29 disposals, was named BOG, and is now leading the League B&F with 21 votes from a potential 25.
Just abandon the Calder Cannons already, please!
(By my calculation, the under-age CC players on our list might only become available four games before the VFLW finals: the interstate championships use up four weeks mid-season, and Calder are currently on track to play finals.)
A dominant Calder Cannons put away Gippsland Power by 41 points on Sunday, in a game where inaccuracy from the Cannons saw them almost double their goals kicked in behinds. Despite the scoreline, the Power battled hard and were unfortunate not get on the scoreboard more with the Cannons’ defence switched on all day despite it not being down there too often.
It is no surprise that superstar Georgie Prespakis was a big contributor for the day, leading all comers for disposals, and being assisted well by the likes of Olivia Manfre, Reese Sutton and Emelia Yassir , with Neve Crowley being moved forward and leading the game for goals with three.
Photos from the belated jumper presentation are up. Unfortunately it is not a complete set of photos as they did in 2019 (was very useful to learn who’s who and still useful, click here!).
What they do reveal is that Isabel Currenti, last seen in some pre-season training shots, is still around (albeit demoted to #12).
Not clear if she is recently added, or like Simone Nalder, they just couldn’t be stuffed including her in the squad list on the website.
LOL at coverage of the Vic Metro Girls training: 38 photos and about three-quarters of them are Charlie Rowbottom, Georgie Prespakis, or Tahlia Gillard. Everything else is a group shot and no one else is named.
The Vic Country photo-set covers and names many more players, including our Jemma Finning. Photo below so you don’t have to search for it.
There is no photo of Snell, but she is in the team. She didn’t play for Bendigo last week and you can probably safely say that they wouldn’t have lost to Gippsland (by 1 point!) if she had.
Yassir got some time in the middle (Vic Metro had a zillion midfielders, Country were better balanced).
Sounds like Prespakis was BOG: she had 19 disposals in the first half (flat 20-minute quarters) and finished with 32, 10 clearances, 4 inside fifties, and 5 tackles.
Some further opinions on some of our players in the Vic Metro team. Player #2 (the highlight at the bottom is mine) is why we’d like an AFLW team in 2022 and existing player concessions as part of that. Sadly, I don’t think the other potential new teams and/or the AFL will have got their ■■■■ together in time.
#4 Emelia Yassir (Calder Cannons)
Yassir is one of the most crafty ground level midfielders in Victoria and proved as much with another solid performance in representative colours. The Calder Cannons product spent a lot of time competing at half-forward, but made the most of her midfield minutes and was able to combine with some familiar faces in the engine room. Yassir was often the anchor at centre bounce situations and did well to chain handballs as Metro looked to stream forward, with her speed a key feature in those situations. Her tackling pressure was also noticeable, and matched the intensity of the game.
#12 Georgie Prespakis (Calder Cannons)
Donning the long-sleeve ‘Big V’ jumper, there was a sense of familiarity in Prespakis’ game as she again proved to be the best player afield, as she has been throughout nearly every game in her fledgling career. Her cleanliness around the stoppages was on full show, with clean gathers and handballs out under pressure helping her look that class above the rest. Prespakis’ strength on the ball was also noticeable during her permanent midfield role, as was her terrific overhead marking ability around the ground. The Calder product worked hard both ways and impacted in all parts of the ground with her well-rounded style, bringing her teammates into the game with handball chains and instinctive work on the inside. We are running out of superlatives at this point, she is simply a marvel to watch and is likely the top draft prospect in the country right now.
#26 Neve Crowley (Calder Cannons)
Crowley has raised eyebrows in recent weeks as a promising forward target, having mostly plied her trade as a defender for the Calder Cannons. She was again employed at centre half-forward and drifted in gracefully to take some nice aerial marks, credit to her outstanding judgement of the ball in flight. Crowley looked most ominous in the second term, though had her couple of set shot attempts fall short and slide across the face of goal respectively. Overall, it was a solid outing and one which built on the promise she had already shown in advanced positions. Another big tick for her versatility.
Stupid COVID-riddled QLD has delayed their under-19s Girls Championship games till 23 and 29 May. This takes Vic Country players out of round 12 of the VFLW (vs Norf) and Vic Metro players out of round 13 (vs Darebin).
Was incredibly busy in the first half, having an number of early touches and driving the ball forward inside 50. A couple of her kicks were rushed, but she kept pushing and attacking the contest hard, also attacking the loose ball or an opponent with ball-in-hand. She spread well to win the pill on the wing late in the game, and applied the defensive pressure throughout the match.
Prespakis, Gillard, and Yassir played for Vic Metro vs WA earlier today in a narrow win.
The AFL site has Gillard as the Vic best (kicked a goal, but presumably primarily rucking), with Prespakis second-named (23 disposals, 9 tackles, 6 clearances).
DraftCentral agrees on Prespakis second, but drops Gillard and subs in Yassir as fourth best.
It’s certainly the spin that the AFL communication specialists are putting out there.
There is one important thing to remember: THE AFL DOES NOT PRE-DETERMINE OUTCOMES. The May meeting is definitely and absolutely where they will make their decision in a proper and good governance-y way.