Recent interview with Liv Manfre:
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“The women have been holding the fort; you know, playing finals at Bombers for the last little while. It would be nice to see our boys up there.”
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Wow!
I should probably just start the ‘VFLW 2024 Squad’ and ‘2025 VFLW Squad’ threads right now: a barely 16yo Cannon just had 49 disposals and 18 inside 50s in 80 minutes…
Was her third game with the Cannons, in which she has progressed from 29 to 36 to 49 disposals.
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BRING HER IN, FOR THIS WEEK’S FINAL.
LILA Keck’s final year of junior football has been considerably more frustrating than first anticipated.
The Bendigo Pioneers captain was looking forward to leading her side in the Coates Talent League and sharpening her forward craft ahead of the NAB AFLW Draft, but successive ankle injuries halted her progress.
Just one week after her first interview with womens.afl, Keck tore ligaments in her ankle.
“Things have been a bit different this time (since the last check-in), I endured something I didn’t think was going to happen,” Keck said.
"I did my ankle about eight weeks ago, which had me sitting out for six. Perfect time to do it, mind you, before national champs.
"I was debuting for Essendon VFLW, and I played three minutes into the third. Injuries aside, great experience. Even though I was only in there for a short amount of time, the girls were unbelievable.
"I came back, then ‘niggled’ the other, which set me back for another two weeks, and now I’m back. I’ve played three games, and I’m feeling good.”
Lila Keck in action during the match between the AFL Academy Girls and Under 23 All-Stars at Marvel Stadium on June 18, 2023. Picture: AFL Photos
Stuck on the sidelines for around two months, the ever-energetic Keck shifted focus, using the injuries to both joints as an opportunity to hone the other side of football.
“It’s been the mental side of things as well, just the strength in not being able to do what you love, but finding other ways to enjoy football,” she said.
"I tapped into the education side of things, did a bit of coaching at Bendigo Pioneers on the sidelines on the weekend, and learned heaps more doing that.
"We talk about it’s a physical [game], we’re always training and doing extras or in the gym or whatever, but with the injury, I did a bit of journaling, putting my emotions down.
"I tried to find things aside from football that made me happy. I probably improved my running, having that bit of a break, [now I’ve got] some fresh legs to take to the next level.”
Despite the setback, Keck’s overall goals for 2023 have not changed, and she’s relished her leadership position.
"The end goal for anyone who’s going to be sitting in this chair is to get drafted, but (I want to) just to play my best footy. I think my goals were to be a really good teammate, and to lead the girls really well this year.
"[Captaincy has] been lots of fun. I think my leadership comes naturally, so I didn’t find it any more difficult or a stress or anything, being given the role. If I wasn’t given the role, I probably would have still been the leader I am.
"Nothing’s changed for me, probably just the fact I’m being watched a little bit more by my teammates and they ask questions and that sort of thing. I’m really enjoying that side of it.”
Keck played for the AFLW Academy in its match against the under-23 state league All-Stars, and is set to be a senior leader for Vic Country in its three games, starting with a battle against Queensland on July 30.
She’ll also be fuelled by an old reliable source of carbohydrates, her pre-game go-to dinner.
“It’s what you wait all year for. I’m just going to go out there and do what I do, I’m not going to try and think about it too much, because I know going into national champs is your time to shine and people get caught up in that whole, ‘I have to perform’,” Keck said.
"If you just do what you do, and play to your strengths – I can hopefully play the way I want to play.
“Pasta the night before, pasta makes you run faster. Before the game, three weetbix with a bit of banana and honey, which is good, and a red bull. I don’t really feel like I need it, it’s just for the taste.”
Happy birthday, Eloise!
Stay un-broken!
Also: Lila Keck is today an adult!
And Steph Wales!
And Georgia Clarke!
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There are three other days where 2023 VFLW-listed or AFLW-played-in-VFLW players double up (not quadruple up).
24 Feb: Shelby Meyers and G.L.O.R.I.A. Elarmaly
11 Dec: Natalie MacDonald and Sophie Ure
22 Dec: Amber Clarke and Caitlin Sargent
Chaston 2 goals in today’s AFLW intra-club.
Crook 1 goal 2 behinds – she played the second half as full-forward. Had the opportunity to kick four goals. She went at 1 goal per half-a-game-as-a-forward in the VFLW too (also a sample of one game).
Other VFLW-listed players today were:
- Ugle
- Molan
- Ashley-Cooper
- Davidge
- Bella Clarke
- Keck ← LOL at U18 league having a four-week bye as soon as the VFLW finishes
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Clifford back at Rebels rugby training already.
Chloe Baker-West is cooked. Only 23 and a goal on the weekend.
Kayley Kavanagh 35
Maddison Ford 4 goals
That was part of Calder beating Geelong 63-24.
Bendigo lost 9-149 to Oakleigh…
Di Donato topped the stats on 25, Keck had 18. Not that either of those two are ever likely to play for us again, unless we draft Lila.
Krystal Russell 28 hitouts for Western; the best of her opponents got 8.
So let’s narrow this down to the modern VFLW, starting in 2017 at the same time as the AFLW. Records are shonky as prior to that – though a few seasons had a bonus round or three (the latter only in 2011), perhaps cancelled by 3 week final series.
So for EFC, Tamsin can easily win this race in the first half of next year: has played 13+15+15=43 games so far. Dicker is on 41 and debuted for us on the same day, but is older than her.
My first thought was she was probably unlikely to be THE league leader… BUT… the lost season of 2020 makes things interesting. If you had to span over that, you almost certainly would lag behind Tamsin. You’d need to play before 18yo and pretty much not miss a game.
So my first check will be whether any team played 50 games in 2017-2019 (Pies?). The answer is probably no, in which case the chase is narrowed down to 2021 babies.
More to come…
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Melb Uni played the most games (46) in 2017-2019. So someone needs to have shifted around. The only options to have done that (please don’t talk about mid-season shifts) are as below.
| Year | Team | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Darebin | 17 |
| 2017 | Diamond Creek | 16 |
| 2017 | Melb Uni | 16 |
| Year | Team | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Collingwood | 16 |
| 2018 | Hawthorn | 16 |
| 2018 | Geelong | 16 |
| 2018 | NT Thunder | 15 |
| Year | Team | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Collingwood | 18 |
| 2019 | Western Bulldogs | 17 |
| 2019 | Southern Saints | 17 |
Start with Pies 2019 and possible candidates:
- Katelyn Lee 18 – is too old
- Nicole Hales 18 – is too old
- Emily Bliss 17 – is too old
- Grace Buchan 17 – is too old
(All of them were 21-22yo at the start of the 2017 season.)
Bulldogs: mygameday doesn’t have data for them 
– I remember that now…
Fark this, let’s ask Brendon Rhodes…
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Just wait a few years.
Reece Sutton will beat them all to it.
Davidge is currently the leading candidate: 4.5 months younger, 3 games in front. Prpic also has a one day advantage on Sutton.
But yeah, Sutton is obviously A-grade.
| Players | Days old at game #13 |
|---|---|
| Davidge | 6,804 |
| Crook | 6,869 |
| Prpic | 6,969 |
| Sutton | 6,970 |
OK, Crook is definitely the best candidate from players who started in or after 2021.
I am reasonably satisfied that someone better, spanning over the lost 2020 season, does not exist – Crook debuted at 18.42 years old, so debuting a year younger AND continuing to play close to every game for 3+ years is implausible.
The threats* are, down to Davidge on 16 games:
| Player | Games | Years younger | Years needed for 50 | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tamsin Crook | 43 | 0.00 | 0.39 | 0.00 |
| Grace Matser | 31 | 0.25 | 1.06 | -0.41 |
| Isabelle Khoury | 30 | 0.43 | 1.11 | -0.29 |
| Madeleine Di Cosmo | 29 | 0.08 | 1.17 | -0.70 |
| Stella Bridgewater | 27 | 0.11 | 1.28 | -0.78 |
| Charlotte Ryan | 27 | 0.57 | 1.28 | -0.32 |
| Tahlia Meier | 26 | 1.04 | 1.33 | 0.10 |
| Nyakoat Dojiok | 25 | 0.26 | 1.39 | -0.74 |
| Tarrah Delgado | 23 | 0.88 | 1.50 | -0.23 |
| Kasey Lennox | 22 | 0.84 | 1.56 | -0.32 |
| Laura Gardiner | 20 | 0.13 | 1.67 | -1.14 |
| Nikita Wright | 20 | 0.14 | 1.67 | -1.14 |
| Trinity Skenderis | 19 | 0.74 | 1.72 | -0.59 |
| Mali McLeod | 19 | 0.78 | 1.72 | -0.55 |
| Trinity Mills | 18 | 0.10 | 1.78 | -1.29 |
| Analea Mckee | 18 | 0.68 | 1.78 | -0.71 |
| Charlotte Van der Vlies | 18 | 1.30 | 1.78 | -0.09 |
| Olivia Manfre | 17 | 0.96 | 1.83 | -0.49 |
| Stephanie Asciak | 17 | 0.96 | 1.83 | -0.49 |
| Tannah Hurst | 17 | 1.51 | 1.83 | 0.07 |
| Freya Taylor | 17 | 1.95 | 1.83 | 0.50 |
| Tia Davidge | 16 | 2.10 | 1.89 | 0.60 |
Explanation: the above assumes you play 18 games every season to catch up to Tamsin. If your position is negative, you are relying on Crook missing games to beat her to 50, or to later be able to break her record.
So as can be seen, if Crook stays fit, almost no one can catch her. There are only four such players, and with all due respect, Tahlia Meier and Freya Taylor are not going to get 18 games a year if they stay at Footscray. So Davidge is currently statistically the most likely to ultimately claim the record from a Crook that plays the first seven games of 2024.
(Davidge debuted at 18.38 years old, so 0.04 years earlier than Crook, and missed just one game this year, so has extended her lead on Tasmin; Crook has missed 8 games over 3 years.)
*couldn’t find the birth years for Mara McSweeney, Sabine Cowley Du Parquet, and Sara Cameron.