Listening to the radio/stream can be confusing: early on, at least, they’re calling Collier and Warburton as playing for Casey!
And they’re blind, so even when they think Collier plays for us they can’t distinguish 23 and 28.
EDIT: it improves rapidly.
The “last touch” out-of-bounds rule from the AFLW has unfortunately been introduced to the VFLW.
We have definitely improved our game. Although we lost some valuable players, they seemed to have been replaced by quality players.
Ugle seems overwhelmed at the start but got herself going by half time. Her 2nd half, she was leading from the front.
I thought we broke the Tiwi girls but they worked through it. Rina (40) is going to get so much better. She can play forward, back and ruck. Jess Stassi (31) was amongst it but injured her foot/ankle and that hampered her.
Stepnell (25) and DeMatteo (3) work very well together.
All barring the absurd umpire end to the game (should have been a ball up, not free kick) - it was a good game to watch. Lots to look forward to.
Based on the headline photo, are we perhaps maybe sacking Bullas? Or are the people in this section of Blitz slightly more sane?
The Bombers lost 5.2 (32) to 5.5 (35) despite largely leading the way for three quarters, with the umpire slotting a set shot with the last kick of the game to snåtch the victory.
It started as a slow, tightly-contested affair with the Bombers defensive pressure keeping Casey goalless in the first quarter.
Maddy Collier was first to the scoreboard, kicking a goal just minutes before quarter time to reward the efforts of the young side.
Shae Audley booted our second to keep the Bombers’ in the lead by 13 points. But it wasn’t long before Casey forwards Bianca Jakobsson and Maddy Guerin responded with back-to-back goals, helping the visitors to a one-point lead at the main break.
Essendon came out for a fiery third quarter, with higher pressure and intensity around the ball.
Relentless tackler Hayley Bullas picked up right where she left off last season, swarming Casey at every opportunity, while skipper Courtney Ugle’s defensive pressure and work rate was unmatched as she led the Bombers for the first time.
Monique DeMatteo kept the Bombers on the scoreboard with back-to-back goals, pushing the margin to 11 points in the third term.
Debutants Isabel Currenti and Ruby Svarc impressed with their toughness around the contest and ability to force the ball forward.
DeMatteo scored her third major in the final term, before goals to Guerin and Jakobsson narrowed the margin to just five points.
The Dons defended gamely under siege as the game came to a close, but Guerin scored her third in the final seconds of the game to give Casey the final lead.
The Bombers held their ground against a side with 11 AFLW players, while the inclusion of 11 debutants certainly brought a renewed focus on running and forward pressure.
Essendon coach Brendan Major admitted it wasn’t the result he’d hoped for, but he saw plenty of promising signs from the players.
“I think they’ve improved in a lot of areas. We move the ball a lot better, our work around the contest is pretty strong. We were strong over the ball, our rucks look good, they brushed it up pretty well,” Major said.
“We struggled to defend in some key areas, but apart from that I think we probably played three quarters of good footy and then we just let it go a little bit in the end.”
Major saw plenty of positives from the game but was especially impressed with the Bombers’ gameplay.
“From an individual level, I thought Simone Nalder rucked extremely well, I thought Alex Morcom played really well off the half-back flank,” he said.
“Sian Wilson’s pressure in the forward line was fantastic and Ruby Svarc off the wing was really exciting.
“Georgia Nanscawen and Shae Audley were bulls all day on the inside and Hayley Bullas just does what she needs to week in, week out, so you kind of know what you’re getting from them.”
The Bombers take on Geelong at Central Reserve in Colac next Saturday.
Looking ahead, Major said he is focused on continuing to build with the team.
“We don’t really know the opposition…so we’re really just focused on what we’re doing…it’s about continuing to build every week.
“It’s really important for this group to gain some belief and understand what they can produce and continue to build throughout the season.”
Essendon 1.0 2.1 4.2 5.2 (32)
Casey Demons 0.0 2.2 2.3 5.5 (35)
GOALS
Essendon – DeMatteo 3, Audley, Collier
Casey – Guerin 3, Jakobsson 2
Victoria Raptis is in the final year of her Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) degree at RMIT University. As part of their strategic partnership, Essendon Football Club and RMIT University are committed to providing opportunities for students, staff, players and the wider community.
We’ve moved up on the player point scale from last year. Yesterday’s teams had Casey at 101 of the maximum 106 points (players rank between 1 and 6 points, and the lowest for any Casey player was 3; they had seven maxed-out 6s).
We were at 90 and had three 1s (Stassi, Moreen, and Warburton) and three 6s (Audrey, Collier, Nanscawen).
As comparison, when I did this exercise last year, I think we tallied up to around 70.
different circumstances isn’t it? womens team has 2 years of history? mens team has 140 years as the most successful afl team.
Highlights. Unlike the examples earlier, they somehow forgot to include the umpire’s gifting of that last free though…
Some of the VFLW stats for round 1 are out now (yesterday, in at least one case). Not us, though; not sure if they botched the upload or never completed the stats (according to them no one goaled in the last quarter, which would have been fine by me).
We were the only team to get someone suspended. Yay. Was a lovely hip and shoulder down the guts.
Sian Wilson – Essendon
The Match Review Panel charged player Sian Wilson for charging against Geelong player Elizabeth Birch during the first quarter of the Swisse Wellness VFL Womens Round 1 match between Essendon and Geelong on Saturday 11th May 2019 at Windy Hill – Essendon. Based on the available video evidence and the medical report, the incident was assessed as careless conduct with medium impact and high contact. The incident was classified as a two match base sanction. The player has no applicable record which impacted the penalty. An early guilty plea enables the player to accept a one match penalty.
Outcome – accepted one match sanction
Stats are out in the VFL app. Pretty equal overall, the Cats won tackles 94-80, and hit-outs 43-34 (Nalder with 31 was tag-teamed by Zanker with 24 and turncoat Winbanks with 18).
Except… we won inside fifties 30-22… argh.
Turns out my report above was exactly right: Nanswawen topped our disposals on 19 and 6 tackles, just behind their giant Jakobsson on 20 and 9 marks and 2 goals.
(Remember that the men play 50% longer.)
Bullas was right up there with 18 and 7 tackles.
Drop-off after that, with our newbies Audley and Svarc on 13 disposals each. Audley had a game-leading 11 tackles, while tiny little Ugle lead strongly with 10.
DeMatteooooooo had 12 disposals and 3 goals straight.
The Bombers led the Demons by 11 points at three-quarter time, but a late goal in the final term saw the visitors come away with a win.
“We played our brand of footy all the way through, which was really good. We brought exactly what we wanted – we were really hard at the contest, we were that first possession to the ball…and it was really exciting,” Bullas said post-game.
“I guess in the second and fourth quarter, we kind of lagged a little bit and were set back, but next week it’ll just be bringing our four quarters of footy.”
The Bombers headlined a host of promising young faces who measured up against Casey’s AFLW-listed talent.
Bullas says the developing youngsters had no problem in rising to the occasion.
“Yes, we have a young side, but we really took it to them and stepped up. We’ve been working seven months for this and we really went out onto the ground and trusted the process,” she said.
“(Head coach Brendan) Major this year always talks about trusting the process and it was really awesome to see that through everyone.”
Bullas’ own progress has been integral to the Bombers’ midfield, while her display of tackling pressure was unmatched during Saturday’s game.
The reigning best and fairest winner was back at her impermeable best, finishing the day with 14 disposals and six tackles, but Bullas believes there is still room for improvement.
“I mean, there wasn’t as many tackles (as last year), because we had that first possession.
“I guess, there’s a lot to build on, I’ve come a long way from last season and I’ve developed a lot more, but there’s still so much more to develop overall as well, so that’s just the start,” she said.
Looking ahead to round two, Bullas says the team can show plenty of further improvement.
“We just need a little bit more belief throughout our four quarters, a little bit more of that belief could go a long way for us.
"Everybody else at the club is getting behind us, so I’m excited to see what next week is going to bring.
“Definitely bringing that pressure again, putting that pressure on, being the first to the footy, we want to cover off that outside and make sure we’re using their outside as well.
“You saw Ruby (Svarc) just kill it on the outside today because she held that and same with Isabel (Currenti), so if we can get it out to them, they can really use that speed to get it into our forward line, which is exciting.”
Essendon will be given a chance at redemption when they take on Geelong on Saturday, May 18 from 12pm at Central Reserve in Colac.
Victoria Raptis is in the final year of her Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) degree at RMIT University. As part of their strategic partnership, Essendon Football Club and RMIT University are committed to providing opportunities for students, staff, players and the wider community.
Went to training last night and watched the girls kick bananas from the boundary line 40 out on the Marvel stadium oval. These girls have talent and LOVE the sherrin. Here’s a little snap I took during warm up.
League leader for tackles (11) is Shae Audley.
League leader for hit-outs (31) is Simone Nalder.
