Notable omissions since 2019 are:
- Kirby Hicks – 177cm key defender, formed a great combo with her initials buddy, Kendra Heil. Maybe those 13 broken arms and broken back eventually caught up with her.
- Hayley Bullas – now at WCE AFLW. Was nominally our best midfielder at the start of last year but then missed the second half of the year with injury… and that didn’t stop us improving.
- Maddy Collier – flanker also at WCE.
- Molly Warburton – tough defender
- Shae Audley – classic rover
- Ruby Svarc – winger now at the Bears (amazing speed but rarely did enough damage with it in her 12 games with us)
- Chloe Laan – beautifully hip-and-shouldered Mackrill
- Stassi, Moreen, and Puruntatameri – please let us be able to bring some Tiwi girls down later in the year! We only got 14 games out of them collectively, but Moreen was on the fringe of ripping games apart as a tall forward and Stassi was regularly featured in the VFLW Plays of the Week as a forward pocket.
- Georgia Patrikios – well, we only had her for four games, but there’s a reason she got drafted into the AFLW at #5.
- Alex Anderson – ditto only four late games, after she finished her AFLW season with the Bears.
- Krstel Petrevski – Mo22ie’s niece is now doing tricks at Melbourne AFLW. Only played 3 late games for us.
- Lauren Ahrens – KPP/midfielder with a booming kick, yet another one on this list playing AFLW in QLD or WA.
Warburton played all 14 games; Hicks, Collier and Audley 13. They’re big holes to fill.
I didn’t include Maighan Fogas above as a big loss, despite her 13 games across HF and mid.
While that looks like a pretty terrifying set of outs to cover, there are obviously new players (one of which kicked a team record five goal haul last week vs Darebin) and some returning players who only featured partially in 2019 who definitely have the potential to significantly improve our season:
- Alana Barba (3 late games on the HBF displaying serious class; if she could move into the midfield I think she could do a lot of damage)
- Alex Quigley (missed the first half of the season; reliable goal kicker)
- Monique DeMatteooooooooooooo (similar role as Quigley, only played 7 of 14)
- Courtney Ugle (ex-captain, injured the last six weeks)
- Federica Frew (came in for the second half of the season, midfielder)
Not sure if the rules remain as they were in 2019, but there is also the possibility we get some AFLW players added mid-season (maybe some of the ones who are listed as gone above). However, the increased overlap of the two leagues this year might reduce the number of players who do that. You’d want travelling interstate to be normalised by then, too.