The squads for the two teams are MASSIVELY different. If the Hawks can’t win this game, they may as well shut down.
Median age is 22 for them vs 21 for us; meh, but it’s top-end experience that shows the difference.
We have 4 players older than 25yo (our captains, Kendra, and a recent convert from volleyball with 1 year of VFLW experience).
They have 13 (maybe 14; I failed to get an age for Ellie McLinden but she’s not young).
We have the following ex-AFLW players:
- 36yo Clifford
- 35yo Heil (zero games)
They have the following ex-AFLW players (almost half of their squad):
- 37yo Nadia von Bertouch
- 36yo Chantella Perera
- 32yo Abbey Holmes
- 31yo Jess Trend
- 29yo Maddie Boyd ← won the practice match on her own
- 28yo Nicole Garner
- 28yo Akayla Peterson
- 27yo Emerson Woods
- 26yo Cassie Davidson
- 24yo Holly Whitford
- 22yo Charlotte Hammans
- 22yo Kristy Stratton
- 20yo Grace Matser
- 20yo Mietta Kendall
(I haven’t checked if all of the above are ex-AFLW, but none are with Hawthorn.)