VFLM game is scheduled for June 11 @ 11:35, but I‘d suggest that gets moved to later in the day. There is no way our home 1v2 final gets played on Sunday.
The AFL game (also vs Fark Carlton) is at night anyway, so no need to finish the VFLM more than 5 hours before that starts.
EDIT: the above has now occurred.
Final structure looks like this (ignore last year’s top six; from top to bottom the teams are 3rd, 6th, 4th, 5th, 1st, 2nd).
The script: beat the Hawks, beat Casey at Windy Hill again, and have a week off while we wait to see which of those two also make the Grand Final.
The unknown: AFLW pre-season starts after the first week of finals. The draft is also just before the Grand Final, but I imagine anyone drafted who has played that deep in will get to play for their VFLW team (as per last year).
We have 35 EFC finals-eligible players (sorted below by games played, with Ford excluded after being poached by Sydney).
11 more players on our list did not play a game, so don’t qualify.
Official injury list prior to this week’s game (so only Julian is nominally missing the first final):
| First Name: | Surname: | Club: | Injury / Unavailable | Weeks Out: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eloise | Ashley-Cooper | Essendon | Hamstring | 1 Week |
| Eloise | Gardner | Essendon | AFL Health and Safety Protocols | 1 Week |
| Nicole | Julian | Essendon | Calf | 3 Weeks |
| Cecilia | McIntosh | Essendon | Hamstring | 2 Weeks |
| Drew | Ryan | Essendon | Illness | 1 Week |
| Caitlin | Sargent | Essendon | Unavailable | TBC |
Whats the deal with Barba for next year? Is she committed to GC or is there some likelihood she’ll end up on our list?
As Barba was taken as a “top-up” there is no simple path to a “full” role at Gold Coast (and as of a few weeks back they’d given her no indication they were keen to keep her).
Wait and see if she gets “extension” listed by Monday 5pm 2pm, by us or by one of the other three.
Date/time/venue confirmed exactly as I predicted 
The AFL has today confirmed the fixture for Week One of the 2022 rebel VFLW Finals Series.
Saturday June 11
Qualifying Final, Essendon (1st) v Hawthorn (2nd)
Windy Hill, 11:05am AEST
Second Elimination Final, Geelong (4th) v Southern Saints (5th)
Deakin Uni Waurn Ponds, 1:05pm AEST
Sunday June 12
First Elimination Final, Casey Demons (3rd) v Collingwood (6th)
Casey Fields, 11:35am AEST
Entry to all rebel VFLW finals is free.
All matches in Weeks One to Three of the 2022 rebel VFLW Finals Series will be broadcast live and free on AFL.com.au and the AFL Live Official App.
The AFL is pleased to confirm the 2022 rebel VFLW Grand Final will be broadcast live on the Seven Network, with the match to be played at Port Melbourne’s ETU Stadium on Sunday July 3.
AFL Head of State League Competitions Jennie Loughnan said the 2022 rebel VFLW Finals Series would showcase the highest standard of state league football for women in Victoria.
“After an entertaining home and away season, we look ahead to the 2022 rebel VFLW Finals Series with great anticipation,” Loughnan said.
“As the state’s premier women’s football league, the rebel VFLW Competition has continued to showcase the state’s best football talent. This is highlighted by the number of players who have recently been signed to AFLW clubs for the upcoming season.
“We have been delighted to be able to take the rebel VFLW Competition to more people in 2022 by live streaming every game live and free and we are thrilled to have all finals streamed on the AFL platform and the Grand Final broadcast on the Seven Network.
“The increased exposure of the rebel VFLW competition throughout the 2022 season has been a great asset for the clubs, players and fans.
“On behalf of the AFL, I would like to thank all clubs, players, umpires, venues and our broadcast and commercial partners for their tremendous support of the rebel VFLW Competition and wish all players and clubs the best of luck ahead of the Finals Series.”
The 2022 rebel VFLW season comprised a 14-round home-and-away fixture followed by a pre-finals bye. Six teams will contest the four-week finals series culminating in the 2022 rebel VFLW Grand Final on Sunday July 3.
The last VFLW premier was Collingwood in 2019, with the 2020 season cancelled and the 2021 season called off before the Grand Final between Collingwood and Geelong could be played.
Week Two
Saturday June 18 and/or Sunday June 19
First Semi Final: Loser of Qualifying Final v Lower ranked winner from Elimination Finals (Venue, Date, Time TBC)
Second Semi Final: Winner of Qualifying Final v Higher ranked winner from Elimination Finals (Venue, Date, Time TBC)
Week Three
Sunday June 26
First Preliminary Final : Loser of Second Semi Final v Winner of First Semi Final
(ETU Stadium, Time TBC)
Week Four
Sunday July 3
Grand Final: Winner of Second Semi Final v Winner of Preliminary Final
(ETU Stadium, Time TBC)
The higher ranked team on the rebel VFLW Ladder at the conclusion of the Home and Away Season will play host to matches in Weeks One and Two of the 2022 rebel VFLW Finals Series.
Both the Preliminary Final and Grand Final will be played at Port Melbourne’s ETU Stadium.
To qualify to play in the 2022 rebel VFLW Finals Series:
Relevant.
The Hawthorn match report gave no indication if Meg Hutchins will also pay finals.
Hoping the hawks’ relatively easy run into finals will give us a match day edge. Need to recapture our scoring from the start of the season.
Hawk summary of their lead-in game:
Here’s coach Cherie O’Neill’s top picks for this week’s best on ground.
Emma Humphries
“Emma again played on the wing and created some good run and ball movement for us with our forward 50 entries. She had another solid week.”
Jordan Mifsud
“Jordan really embraced Indigenous Round and I was proud to watch her play today. She stood up for us on the field and led by example.”
Katelyn Cox
“Katelyn had some really good intercepts and created some great run off the half-back flank.”
Ainslie Kemp
“Ainslie was solid down back in the contest. She provided great leadership and was very valuable today.”
Sarah Perrott
“Sarah does her job in the ruck week in, week out. She does everything you ask of her, competes hard and her second efforts around the ground today were fantastic.”
Kristy Stratton
“Kristy played quite high up the ground for us at times and did a lot of mopping up. She has great footy knowledge, reads the ball well and just creates something from nothing.”
One thing I do hope for, although the cynic in me feels this is a pipe dream, is that the membership and marketing sections of our club really uses this home VFLW Qualifying Final (and following weekend’s Semi-Final) to really pump up our upcoming AFLW season.
By that I mean, we have multiple tents set-up in the Car Park on the wing at Windy Hill, for AFLW membership sales, AFLW merchandising and AFLW player signings.
If done well, it should run like the following…
Merchandise tent to sell AFLW inaugural season merchandise. I fear that AFLW club polos, hoodies, jackets and scarves may be months away from being ready (if sold at all!). At least the club could do mock-up designs and perhaps promote the day as “exclusive pre-orders” or “expressions of interest” in what the club might sell (to gauge numbers). At the very least (with a week’s notice) they should whip up some player badges and mugs/flasks - stuff that can be quickly produced/printed. Even player posters (quick and easy to create)?
AFLW Memberships tent (and AFLW Player Sponsorships - HELLO!!!), and throw in a carrot that if you buy on the day, you’ll be let into an AFLW Member exclusive post-match after the siren in the President’s Room, where you’ll get to mingle with both the VFLW and AFLW players, with free party pies/nibbles and soft drinks (alcohol at bar prices)
Film everything on Qualifying Final day to promote it will be done again during the Semi-Final.
Should be the minimum the club does… right?
Mate, I’m just hoping they’re smart enough to concede the Qualifying Final is the main event of the birthday weekend… or at least the one they can get the most goodwill from.
The “Stories Behind The Photos” is a start…
!
Mia wants that shiny thing.
To fire us up for this Saturday, I jumped on the BomberCast to talk all things about our VFLW finals campaign and our AFLW squad.
The interview I did with them was recorded a week ago before our 3 most recent signings.
Teams are in for the VFLW Qualifying Final at Windy Hill - FREE ENTRY on Saturday.
Video stream from 11:05am with Brendan Rhodes and Libby Birch on AFL.com.au, but stuff that, listen to the game instead from 10am to 1pm on WARFRadio.com and 89.1 FM at the ground 
| ESSENDON | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| B | 21. A. Morcom | 45. B. Clarke | |
| HB | 13. E. Hosking | 14. D. Marshall | 16. T. Crook |
| C | 1. C. Ugle | 5. G. Nanscawen | 9. M.Anthony |
| HF | 22. N. MacDonald | 44. G. Dicker | 26. J. Doonan |
| F | 4. M. Clifford | 24. R. Tierney | |
| R | 30. S.Nalder | 28. A. Barba | 42. J. Zanchetta |
| INT | 8. E. Ashley-Cooper | 18. K. Heil | 23. A. Radford |
| 17. F.Frew | 20. C. McIntosh | ||
| EMG | 34. E. Everist | 15. L.Caruso | 7. J. Davies |
| 43. O. DiDonato | |||
| INS | 8. E. Ashley-Cooper | 20. C. McIntosh | |
| OUTS | 34. E. Everist | 25. I. Ayre | |
| HAWTHORN | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| B | 17. K. Cox | 11. J. Richardson | |
| HB | 21. J. Trend | 44. L. Guastella | 27. E. McLinden |
| C | 4. N. Garner | 32. J. Mifsud | 19. L. Camilleri |
| HF | 12. S. Wilson | 31. A. Holmes | 13. M. Kendall |
| F | 20. J. Williams | 41. K. Stratton | |
| R | 29. S. Perrott | 14. G. Mcrae | 7. I. Khoury |
| INT | 46. A. Molesworth | 50. C. Granville | 24. S. Bolding |
| 28. N. von Bertouch | 37. G. Walsh | ||
| EMG | 35. J. Wise | 8. C. Schmidli | 26. J. Hutchinson |
| 44. S. Humm | |||
| INS | 31. A. Holmes | 50. C. Granville | 44. L. Guastella |
| 19. L. Camilleri | 28. N. von Bertouch | 11. J. Richardson | |
| 24. S. Bolding | |||
| OUTS | 30. A. Favell | 3. I. Porter | 5. E. Humphries |
| 15. M. Hutchins | 9. A. Kemp | 35. J. Wise | |
| 8. C. Schmidli |
