Liv Manfre at the Asian and Oceania Flag Football Championships in Malaysia – the other teams in our group are Thailand, Japan, South Korea, and Indonesia.
Video of her in action at Gridiron Australia on Instagram: "Can’t wait to see Womens star Wide Receiver @oliviamanfre in action this weekend 🏈🇦🇺🇲🇾 Live stream link and timings coming tomorrow"
Really becoming an end of an era in some respects!
New VFLW head coach and VFLW assistant coach role being advertised.
Travis Cloke should still be part of AFLW, then we’ll see if he ends up elsewhere.
Not sure which VFLW assistant isn’t coming back. Hopefully Kirby either comes back or finds a larger role elsewhere.
Oh dear, we are losing experienced players, re-signing young ones and have no head coach or assistant…
You gotta wonder if there is a plan for our VFLW team?
The experienced players were known at the end of last season.
I recall hearing about Mia and Ugle, but thought maybe I heard wrong.
We could be adding to the current assitants. Maybe Jacara and Kirby are returning.
I expect whoever we delist from our AFLW list will end up on our VFLW list.
There is a lot of young talent coming through both comps.
I think we still use the VFLW as a pathway to our AFLW list.
Does anyone on here no where my girl Courtney ugle is off too in 2024
RE-SIGNED:
Scarlett Orritt
NEW:
Ruby Mahony (OK, I gotta do research)
Kalani Scoullar (ooh, I know this one)
Scoullar is a Geelong AFLW (2 games) / VFLW (13 games) ruck. Prolific hit-outs no doubt helped by being 190cm, but almost never NAMED as the ruck. Will be 20yo at the start of next season. Very decent young combo with Krystal Russell.
Kalani Scoullar is one of the tallest players available in this year’s AFLW Draft. Standing at an impressive 190cm, if drafted it would make the GWV Rebels one of the tallest players in the AFLW. She uses that height to advantage in the NAB League, quite often having 10cm-plus on many opponents, and with her impressive positioning at the ruck stoppages and being able to palm it down or punch it clear of the stoppage for teammates to run onto.
When you are as strong and big as Scoullar, it comes with drawbacks in the form of athleticism. Scoullar is not quick nor nimble, and she admitted at the preseason testing that the jumping tests, rather than the running ones were more her go. She is not going to be an athletic or explosive ruck, so the best way of developing Scoullar further is by improving her overhead marking. In many ways, Scoullar is actually more impactful at ground level rather than in the air.
Though she dominates at ruck stoppages, she is not a consistent marking target, only averaging 1.3 marks at NAB League Girls level, and 1.5 marks when representing Vic Country across two games at the AFLW Under 18 Championships. What she does well, is actually getting her hands dirty and laying strong tackles, almost mirroring her disposal and tackle counts. In the NAB League Girls, she laid 4.3 per game, which is impressive for a ruck, and she can tap the ball down and provide a strong second effort at ground level.
Scoullar might have some areas to work on going forward, but 190cm rucks with strength do not grow on trees, so Scoullar definitely offers something different for clubs. In a year where there are not a lot of rucks available, Scoullar has come through the Vic Country programs, and developed traits that could hold up against senior opponents.
Mahony joined Swan Districts ahead of the 2022 WAFLW season and wasted no time to settling in establishing herself not only as one of the best and most consistent midfielders in the team, but in the competition overall.
That saw her finish runner-up in fairest and best voting in 2022 behind Abbygail Bushby and then she went one step better in 2023 winning the McSherry Medal as part of a season that also saw her named to the WAFLW Team of the Year and come runner-up in the league’s Dhara Kerr Medal.
Was a Freo AFLW train-on player.
Lucia Painter is the sole Pioneer/Cannon named in next year’s AFLW Academy.
Let’s get her and just-underager Cannon Chloe Baker-West into the team more next year.
From the hints on instagram, both Courtney Ugle and Mia-Rae Clifford will be with the Western Bulldogs VFLW team in 2024.
Yeah, I had heard at least two were going there.
The destination of at least two other key players is TBC.
What would be the appeal of going to Footscray over us? Just seems odd.
Footscray are (marginally) better than Darebin 
They also have our previous performance specialist, which probably doesn’t hurt.
Some pics and video of Thursday training are out.
MadGray is shown, but is not yet announced.
Possibly Zoe Hurrell in 36 (also not announced).
Tash Hardy and (probably, is very blurred) Matt Dea seen running training.
Overwhelmingly low numbers (i.e. less than 41) on VFLW-specific jumpers. Not sure what to conclude from that. I think only Dicker is in her previous number.
Ruby Mahoney is in #6.
Emily Gallagher (the one from Greenvale, presumably) is mentioned in the comments.
There are a handful of other newbies actually shown clearly, but I didn’t recognise them.
Bunbury talent Ruby Mahony went from strength to strength in 2023, picking up where she left off in 2022 to become a prolific ball-winner for Swan Districts and earned the Black Ducks’ McSherry Medal, going one better than her runner-up club best and fairest the year before. Also a WAFL Women’s Team of the Year representative and best on ground in the SWFL Grand Final, Mahony has signed on with Essendon VFLW in a bid to reach the next level.
Mahony’s main improvement is in her kicking, with just about everything out done at a high level. From her production numbers to defensive pressure and sheer consistency, the Swan Districts and Bunbury star has not done much wrong over the past two seasons. While a VFLW contact means she is more of a future draft prospect, Mahony could impress at training or also have caught the eye of another AFLW club.
Given her representation success and the fact she has come a long way over the last couple of years, Mahony has put herself in the potential draft framer. At 24, she still has plenty of years ahead of her, and with the move from Bunbury to Tullamarine, it shows she willing to go all-in on the chance to make the elite level. On numbers alone, she has shown she can match it with some of the best in her state.
STRENGTHS:
IMPROVEMENTS:
