Receive touchdown in the final minute by Liv to beat New Zealand by 1. That moves us into the final and qualifies us for the mid-August 2026 World Championship.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DQQJclvE_WZ/
| Team | W | L | PF | PA | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 3 | 1 | 97 | 50 | +47 |
| American Samoa | 2 | 2 | 61 | 90 | −29 |
| New Zealand | 1 | 3 | 57 | 75 | −18 |
We will play the winner of Japan and China in the final.
Japan relegated us to silver in 2023.
Two key defenders, three wings/speed.
Still waiting on Abbey (and hopefully some decent poachings)…
(That’s an OLD photo of Lily!)
China 25 upset Japan 22
China 36 Australia 29 
– touchdowns for Manfre and Prosser-Shaw
(The men’s tournament was almost parallel: Japan beat China, and Australia beat Japan!)
Lucy Thompson named as a top-up for our final AFLW game. For now an emergency, but come on, no one could believe that MiaVanDyke is going to save her AFLW career in this game?
Bailey Hunt will play for us next year.
Source: Bailey Hunt
We now officially have a Best 21.
Tia 21yo today
Tuesday, Jayda was 22
Not shown, Monday, Meg Harrison was 19
Pending further ANNOUNCEments, they are the final VFLW-listed birthdays for 2025.
Official ANNOUNCEMENT has been made for Bailey Hunt, as revealed by Radio 3DJR forever ago.
Also, SammyJ and kidz retained in Taylah Gilcrist, Madison Spring-Brown, and Shauna McElligot.
The last two did not debut in 2025.
By Tara Murray
Calder Cannons’ Shauna McElligott wasn’t happy with her 2024 football season.
Determined to get better, she engaged the services of private specialist coaches and did plenty of extra sessions.
That quickly showed as she returned for her top age Coates Talent League year.
After an outstanding season, she was crowned the winner of the Meg McArthur Medal as the under-18 girls best and fairest late last month.
McElligott said she was stoked to claim the Cannons highest honour.
“I was only about three-four votes behind Chloe [Baker-West] from rounds one to five and then I knew she got injured,” she said. “I thought maybe I’m a sniff here.
“It’s such an honour, the people who have won it in the past they’re good players, all of them.”
McElligott also took out the Cannons leading goalkicker award as she finished with 12 goals for the season.
After starting the season in the forward line, she moved up the ground to further expand her game.
“I’m glad the girls gave me the ball to be honest being in the forward line,” she said.
“Speaking to [coach] Ross [Smith] at the end of last year, he said he would give me more midfield time just to show off my skills a bit more.
“I started the year just forward and then about round five I started going into the midfield and then played there for a while.
“Then I did half mid and half forward for the rest of the year.”
McElligott’s season was built on wanting to improve on last year.
Last year she played 10 games and kicked four goals, but wasn’t named in the best at all.
“It was a bit of a rough season,” she recalls. “I was hit with a couple of injuries as well and couldn’t get much momentum and my confidence just dropped.
“A few things like that affected my year.
“Getting the feedback from the coaches at the end of the year and as soon as I got that, I got straight into it.
“I went to personal training and got a tackling coach and was doing a few other things on the outside.
“It definitely helped me.”
McElligott’s strong season saw her rewarded with other opportunities.
She was among a group of Calder Cannons that got to train with Essendon’s Victorian Football League women’s side regularly in the back half of the season.
McElligott said it was a really good opportunity.
“That was great getting to know everyone there, also that next level above the skills and everything was professional,” she said.
“I got to see how much stronger they are.”
She also made her senior debut for Aberfeldie playing alongside the likes of former AFLW players Mo Hope and Emily Smith.
“They are a good group to go back to and get my confidence back up even more.”
McElligott, who loves the games of Mon Conti and Zali Goldsworthy, said getting drafted would be a dream come true.
“It would mean a lot to be honest and it shows how hard work can pay off,” she said.
“If not, I keep putting in even more hard work.”
Cannons regional talent operations lead Sebastian Spagnuolo said McElligott worked hard to have the season that she had.
“Throughout the season she was by far our most consistent performer and earned the reward of being the runaway winner of the Meg McArthur Medal as our girls under-18 best and fairest.
“We are hopeful that her performances have caught the eye of AFLW recruiters as she’s definitely deserving of an opportunity at the next level.”
166cm inside mid Madison Spring-Brown was named the 2025 “most courageous” Cannon.
It’s literally quicker now to list those NOT announced as re-signed.
… daylight …
Other multi-year players with us:
Ruck-sized rucks:
Retired or confirmed elsewhere:
Others:
Snippets on the missing players:
Freya Hibberd is NOT broken, apart from working at the AFLPA.
If these are all listed, who is between Prince and sFord?
EDIT: oh wait, not necessarily a player…
Bella Page second from left has not been ANNOUNCED.
Vice-captain Sophie Molan:
This is not my usual post so please be kind
April 2024 I’d just come back from an amazing USA holiday and jumped back into a VFLW season. First game back hurt my big toe, don’t remember an action or a moment but this is where the pain started.
Fast forward to today, after 2 seasons of playing constantly in pain, rehab, countless exercises, taping, arts and crafts (IYKYK), cross training session, load management, MRI’s and X rays with no answer, training once a week just to get by, becoming besties with a moon boot, surgery in September and today 100 days since surgery a successful PAIN FREE return to run !! Yay
But its not just all of the physical pain and drain that goes with an injury, this injury had such a mental toll on me, more then I could ever had imagined. 2 years worth of uncertainty as to what the problem was and how we were going to fix it. Banter and running jokes about ‘Frogs dogs’ and ‘yeah I’m in a boot again’ ‘just wanted to get out of pre season’ are used to hide what was really being felt and bottled up inside. So many tears had at training, post games, in the car and in bed some visible to those around but most behind a closed door. I think it’s the uncertainty and constant worry that is definitely the worst feeling ever overtaking the physical pain.
I am fully aware it’s no ACL or career ending injury but I wanted to speak out to the other side of injuries that not everyone sees whether they are big or small. I am so thank full that I have the best circle of support people in friends, family, the EFC, sport psychs, physios and Doctors that have got me to this point today, a very happy girl who was once unsure if anything was going to fix her poor dog but today got through her first run pain free.
Bring on a big 2026
“arts and crafts (IYKYK)”
If that means what I think it means, her art has swagger and style, and has been extensively covered here.
We have deviated from the script of five (no more, no less) and ANNOUNCED eight more.
Re-sign:
Sorta return:
NEW:
This means nuts competition for KPP slots, which may lead to more mid time for the likes of Bernardi and Molan.
No AbbeyMcDonald. or Ibrahim on the outside, yet.
So-far ANNOUNCED squad by age (today) and height, with newbies, captain, and outliers labelled. Presumably a chunk more kids yet to be confirmed/announced.
Also possibly draft shenanigans this week.
P.S. Davidge will not dislodge Tamsin Crook as the youngest VFLW player to 50 games. She is set to fall ~3 days late, due to the season start being pushed back a month. Fark you, AFL schedulers.
Season start dates:
It’s a bloody long pre-season…
