VFLW 2023 Squad

Football Discussion Essendon VFLW
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Aaaaaand the AwFuL has this morning published lists which are different to the app they updated yesterday.

For us, they have listed 25 players (i.e. the 33 minus the 8 cut players). Most other clubs also have a near-full list like that, but a few have something drastically different (e.g. the Southern Saints will supposedly only have access to two St Kilda AFLW players). None of our four new players are listed.

I’m going to go with this being wrong as well. At least it’s easier to read than the app. Wait till later today when the first round of teams is released to get a first cut on how wrong it is.

The useful thing the article does is confirm that the limit on AFLW players in any given game remains 10.

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The AFL has just put up another article that differs from that provided earlier today :crazy_face:

It includes our newly poached/traded players, mostly excludes those recently cut, and includes two new players we didn’t know about, plus one we did but were told didn’t make the cut.

The new players are:

  • Zoe Hurrell (Sydney) — already played for us in the Casey practice game. The importance of this one is it indicates you CAN have ex-AFLW players listed outside your VFLW core list.
  • Casidhe Simmons (GWS)
  • Annabelle Strahan (Western Bulldogs AFLW)

Also significant is Sargent’s presence, as she was one of the five cut earlier this week.

Frew, AshleyCooper, and Borg are “delisted” and don’t appear for any team. Ryan isn’t mentioned anywhere, but she wasn’t on any VFLW list last year.

I’m going to assume this third listing, while much more specific, still has errors to be fixed/amendments to come.

Arrivals:
Lily Bateman (Maribyrnong Park), Melanie Bateman (Marcellin), Tia Davidge (Castlemaine), Madison Gray (Port Melbourne), Caitlin Grech (Strathmore), Tayla Hart-Aluni (Moonee Valley), Manaia Huta (Darebin), Shelby Meyers (Oak Park), Jaimee-Lee Morrow (Western Bulldogs VFLW), Maddy Pearson (St Bedes-Mentone), Chloe Prpic (Coburg), Jayda Richardson (Yarra Valley Cobras), Krystal Russell (Yarraville/Western Jets), Leah Spargo (Keilor), Sophie Ure (Moonee Valley), Maddi Wilson (Carlton VFLW)

Essendon AFLW:
Sophie Alexander (Collingwood AFLW), Daria Bannister (North Melbourne AFLW), Brooke Brown (North Melbourne AFLW), Mia Busch (Hawthorn VFLW), Stephanie Cain (Fremantle/Swan Districts), Amber Clarke (Casey Demons), Georgia Clarke (Geelong AFLW), Leah Cutting (St Kilda), Ellyse Gamble (Western Bulldogs AFLW), Georgia Gee (Carlton AFLW), Zoe Hurrell (Sydney), Kodi Jacques (Richmond), Cat Phillips (St Kilda), Madison Prespakis (Carlton AFLW), Caitlin Sargent (North Melbourne VFLW), Paige Scott (Geelong VFLW), Casidhe Simmons (GWS), Annabelle Strahan (Western Bulldogs AFLW), Bonnie Toogood (Western Bulldogs AFLW), Sophie van de Heuvel (Geelong AFLW), Mia van Dyke (Geelong VFLW), Ash van Loon (Geelong VFLW), Jacqui Vogt (St Kilda), Steph Wales (Casey Demons), Brooke Walker (Carlton AFLW), Lily-Rose Williamson (Traralgon/Gippsland Power), Jessica Wuetschner (Brisbane Lions)

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Simone Nalder confirmed as AFLW top-up for the Saints.

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Surprized Frew & Zanchetta both delisted, does that mean they will not play VFLW? Lists are confusing.

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I think JZ may be going back to QLD???

I doubt Frew, AshleyCooper, and (to a lesser extent, given she previously lived and played in SA) Ryan are lost to VFLW footy.

I think you’ll find ex-AFLW players (maybe only those cut since last season) will continue to pop up on the AFLW portion of lists (possibly as soon as today’s match listings). It would be silly for anyone added to AFLW lists in the next few weeks to be banned from playing VFLW (or forced to play for two separate teams — e.g. if Sutton was drafted by a VIC club other than us in the AFLW oldies draft on April 4, would she still only be able to play VFLW with us?)

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This all feels like a bit of a mess now that the seasons don’t overlap.

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It certainly is very confusing, to me anyway.

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The naming of Borg for this weekend might help answer at least one of the questions, so:

WHERE’S THE TEAM?

Any hints on expected release time, @PH_WARFRadio ?

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Aaaaaaaand we’ve already disproved the AFL’s third attempted listing of players: Meg Ryan has been named for our Sunday game.

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Also, the AFL have today put up a FOURTH list of squads… and it’s different again :crazy_face:

This is in the game centre, and it DOES include Ashley-Cooper and Frew.

It includes Borg for us and not for Footscray, so it’s clearly from an older set of data.

They are ridiculously incompetent.

It does tell us that Annabel Strahan will wear #79.

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So: Annabel Strahan.

Three years at Footscray AFLW for one game. Footscray description makes her sound like a star!

A midfielder with good defensive traits, the former basketballer soared up the footy ranks quickly. Has clean hands and great decision-making, while proving a threat in the air with her intercept marking. Key parts of her game include her athleticism and pace.

Is 20yo and 172cm.

Video highlights of her as a junior (punch those handballs more!)

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This author will never be a proper communications specialist. Long paragraphs!

As a junior basketballer with the Bendigo Braves, this would-be footballer never imagined she’d one day be playing alongside her heroes in the AFLW.

By John Holton - Photography by Meg Mullen, Western Bulldogs

Former Bendigo Pioneer footballer Annabel Strahan describes the first time she walked the hallowed halls of the Whitten Oval as a moment of pure awe. “The facilities and the history of the club are quite overwhelming,” she says. “Taking to the field with my teammates for the first time, after watching them on TV, was both weird and incredibly exciting. “I still pinch myself some nights as I leave training, thinking how lucky I am to be doing this.” It was hard work rather than luck that saw Annabel gain a place on the Western Bulldogs list after initially missing out at the 2021 draft. Like many AFLW players, Annabel’s pathway into footy was as a ‘cross-coder’. Having grown up playing basketball, she was part of the Victorian Country High Performance program and played with the Bendigo Braves in under-12 and under-16 teams. “I started playing some local footy in 2018 and found it really freeing,” Annabel says. “I had fallen out of love with basketball – it had become really draining. Footy felt carefree and non-restrictive in comparison.” By 2019, she was playing in the midfield for the Bendigo Pioneers and the following year became co-captain of the team. It was a whirlwind time and her coaches soon gave the impression that AFLW was a real possibility. “That was when I stepped things up and got stuck into training,” Annabel says, “though nothing can really prepare you for the standard of AFLW. Getting myself to the same fitness and strength levels as the other girls was a real challenge, but after this year’s pre-season it felt like my body was there.”

Annabel’s debut game against Fremantle on February 1 came as a genuine surprise. After all the hard work, and waiting 13 months for her opportunity, she learned of her call-up just 90 minutes before game time. “Burkey (coach Nathan Burke) had mentioned they’d be doing some fitness tests on some players that morning, but when I hadn’t heard anything I thought ‘they must all be good’,” Annabel says. “Thirty minutes before warm-up, I was chucking on my gear.” Despite her mother and boyfriend having just 10 minutes to rush to Whitten Oval for the guernsey presentation, Annabel says they couldn’t have been prouder. It was even sweeter given that her mum is a Doggies supporter. “I was a bit of a swinging fan when I was a kid,” Annabel admits. “Some of my family are mad Carlton supporters, but I loved to get around Essendon and Collingwood. When I got older, I joined my mum and became a Doggies supporter… I haven’t looked back.” While Annabel is grateful and proud to pull on the red, white and blue guernsey, she is also aware of the disparities between the women’s and men’s games that still make it impossible for women to be full-time footballers. “It’s definitely something the players discuss regularly,” she says. “In a perfect world, we’d be playing at a full-time capacity where the expectations on players met the conditions needed to flourish and perform. “Training year-round and playing a longer season that mirrored the men’s competition would make for more consistent performances and would definitely lift the integrity of the game.” While she dreams of the day that AFLW is a full-time career, Annabel is also mindful of, and grateful for, the trailblazers who’ve carved a path for young women like herself. “The story of AFLW is one of perseverance,” she says. “People like Western Bulldogs general manager Debbie Lee, who’s fought so long for women’s football to be recognised. And some of my teammates who’ve been in the competition since the outset – the sacrifices they’ve made so that AFLW standards continue to rise.”

Outside of footy, Annabel has no trouble finding ways to relax. While the move from Bendigo to the big smoke has had its challenges, it also means she’s closer to the beach and can hit the surf whenever the ocean calls. “Surfing has become an essential recovery and relaxation from footy,” she says. “As much as footy is fun, it can be emotionally all-consuming and draining. Being out in the water helps me reflect and have time for myself.” Like so many of her AFLW peers who juggle footy with work or study, Annabel is studying a Bachelor of Political Science at Melbourne University, to enhance her career opportunities postfooty. “I’m completing my studies part-time and really enjoying the course,” she says. “I’m lucky, as a part-time student, not to have the level of responsibility many AFLW players have who are juggling full-time careers with football.” While Annabel is inspired by so many women who play, or have played the game, she also had her childhood heroes in the men’s competition. “Growing up, it was those superstar players who inspired you to dream big, no matter what sport you played,” Annabel says. “For me, that was Chris Judd and later, in my teenage years, Marcus Bontempelli. “As I’ve come to experience the highs and lows of selection and being a younger, less experienced player, I look to current players like Cody Weightman and Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, who have been candid about their experiences of struggling to break into the Bulldogs side. “Their comments on staying positive have been really important to me.” But Annabel’s greatest inspiration will always be her mum. “She has been my biggest supporter, even when I questioned the journey and lost self-belief,” Annabel says. “She is such a strong person and the way she has persevered and continues to chase her goals is something I want to emulate in my own life.”

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Now, Casidhe Simmons:

28yo key forward at 175cm, with 2 games for GWS last year.

Kicking 6 goals against Sydney Uni got her noticed? Is from QLD originally?

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Greater Western Vic stomped Bendigo 50-21 in round 2. Lucia Painter stood out with 28 disposals, 8 tackles, 4 inside fifties, and 4 rebound fifties.

Best
Bendigo Pioneers: Caitlin Evans, Gemma Roberts, Jemmika Douglas, Lucia Painter, Stephanie Demeo, Lila Keck

Goals
Bendigo Pioneers: Jemmika Douglas, Sienna Hobbs, Bryde O’Rourke

Disposals
Bendigo Pioneers: Lucia Painter (28), Stephanie Demeo (19), Jemmika Douglas (18)

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Sargent drawing (at least) some communication specialist attention.

Part of Essendon’s inaugural AFLW list, Caitlin Sargent was ultimately delisted without making her debut. But some impressive form up forward in the VFLW last weekend signalled a hint that she might be a shot back at AFLW level.

A marking target who stands at 174cm tall, Sargent simply couldn’t break through in the powerful Bombers attacking line but could settle well into a shallower forward set up.

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Mia-Rae gets a try on debut (she almost botched it!)

Didn’t look like Fiji was paying her much respect…

Rebels lost 12-39.

Video is cued to first mention of her late in the game, which precedes her try.

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Another memorable moment came in the 72nd minute when debutant Mia-Rae Clifford scored with her first touch, with a kick bouncing up into her arms for her to fall over the line.

Captain of the Essendon VFLW team, Clifford decided to test herself in the Super W this season and showed off her kicking skills by also converting her own try.