Hooray, Bombers win!
I can hear the girls singing the song inside the huts - from the grandstand. Great win.
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Thatâs our first demolition win. Nice!
Considering who is out, we really played well. Willy werenât messing around and were quite physical in their attack. We have a few real gems on our list.
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Thanks Hoffy and co for your reporting
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Quigley is a small forward?!?
Essendon VFLW has recorded back-to-back wins, defeating Williamstown by 39 points at Williamstown Football Ground on Saturday.
The Bombers put together one of their most complete performances of the year, leading from the get-go to ultimately seal the 7.5 (47) to 1.2 (8) victory.
Essendon hit the scoreboard early with a Maddy Collier major just four minutes in.
The Dons started to show some speed and intensity controlling the contest but were wasteful with their inside-50 entries.
The Bombersâ back six, including Katherine McFadyen, Molly Warburton and Chloe Laan, worked overtime to force turnovers and limit Williamstownâs opportunities in front of goal.
Essendon came out firing in the second quarter, as back-to-back goals to Shae Audley and Jessica Stassi saw it build on its first-quarter lead.
Georgia Nanscawen and Ruby Svarc were impactful, trapping the ball inside the forward half as pressure from the Dons built around the contest.
Essendon continued to hold possession and control the game, helped by a late goal to Federica Frew.
It was a fairly scrappy start to the third quarter, as both teams struggled to gain any form of momentum.
The Bombersâ courage and commitment were notable as they forced the opposition into quick disposals and a number of turnovers.
Williamstown managed to worm its way back into the contest, controlling the play, as forward Moana Hope booted the Seagullsâ first goal of the game.
The Bombers once again stormed out of the blocks, helped by two third-quarter goals to Alex Quigley.
Cecilia McIntosh, Lori Stepnell and Maighan Fogas were important to Essendonâs forward six, providing the midfielders with strong targets up forward and adding pressure on the Seagullsâ defenders.
Essendon was able to maintain composure and finish off the game strongly as a goal to Sian Wilson sealed the deal.
Senior coach Brendan Major said the teamâs collective efforts had significantly improved.
âWe probably played three-and-a-half quarters of consistent football, which is more than what weâve done for the rest of the year,â Major said.
âBut I think our ball use across the ground was much better this round than it has been othersâ.
Major was impressed with Quigleyâs performance, and also had praise for Georgia Patrikios, who played an important role in her first game in the red and black.
âI thought Quigley was best on ground,â he said.
âHer defensive work, her willingness to fly in the air and bring the ball to ground makes her a very dangerous small forward.
â(Patrikios) she is absolutely elite, sheâs clean, she uses the ball well and she takes the game on.
âShe is going to be a very high draft pick and have a great future at AFLW levelâ.
The Bombers will take on the top-of-the-table Saints next week as they look to break the latterâs winning streak.
âWeâve just got to make sure that weâre trying to play our football for as long as possible,â Major said.
âThe Saints are a very good outfit, they are very good around the contest, so weâre going to have to be clean and our communication is going to have to be goodâ.
Essendon will play the Southern Saints from 11:30am on Saturday, August 3 at Windy Hill.
Essendon 1.0 4.4 4.5 7.5 (47)
Williamstown 0.0 0.0 1.1 1.2 (8)
GOALS
Essendon â Quigley 2, Collier, Audley, Stassi, Frew, Wilson
Williamstown â Hope
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.
Iâm not sure! Let me ask. I was gallivanting interstate, same as you! 
For the second week running, Essendonâs effort without the ball overwhelmed its opponent, the Bombers laying 95 tackles to 73 in a 39-point defeat of Williamstown. They achieved this despite also winning 26 more contested and 17 more uncontested possessions and now rank second in the VFLW for tackles per game. Georgia Nanscawen (round-high 12 tackles), Shae Audley (nine) and Maighan Fogas (seven) all rank in the competitionâs top 10 players for total tackles, while highly-rated Calder Cannons graduate Georgia Patrikios also laid seven in her VFLW debut.
An answer to my earlier question!
Williamstown achieved the novel feat of having a sister and brother combination run out for the club in VFLW and VFL games on the same day on Saturday. Scarlett Dunell â sister of Seagulls premiership forward Sam Dunell â made her VFLW debut in the loss to Essendon and recorded nine disposals and three rebound-50s. Playing in the back line means Scarlett faces a task to match Samâs tally of 206 VFL goals.
ROUND 12 STATS LEADERS
TACKLES (12): Jordan Ivey (Geelong Cats) and Georgia Nanscawen (Essendon)
INSIDE-50s (6): Lauren Ahrens (Essendon), Aisling Curley (Collingwood), Federica Frew (Essendon) and Madison Prespakis (Carlton)
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My top players for the game
Nanscawen - was heavily tagged but it freed up Audley and still nailed those tackles
Collier - got involved in heaps of plays and a goal
Frew
And of course, Quigs
Special mentions to Patrikios and Nalder
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Some nice slo-mo footage in the video at this link:
Essendon VFLW vice-captain Simone Nalder says teamwork and clear communication are what motivated Saturdayâs 39-point victory against Williamstown.
The Bombers led at every break, recording back-to-back wins for the first time in one of their most complete performances of the year.
âI thought it was a really hard-fought game. We had a really strong first half,â Nalder said.
âComing into the third quarter, they really stuck it to us, but I was really happy to see that the girls stepped up to that. We kept trying to work together.
âA big positive from todayâs game is that we showed that the three lines can connect, and that really helped us to get over the line at the end of the game."
Nalder was more than impressed with the teamâs performance, admitting she was excited by the development of the playing group.
After winning just one game in their inaugural VFL season in 2018, the Bombers have saluted four times this season, with another four games still to play.
âReflecting back to last year, and throughout this season, the development has just been exceptional.
âItâs a super-competitive environment at training, but I think thatâs helping to lift the quality of our play.
âI think something that really stood out was that connection between the lines, so thatâs something weâve really been working on."
Nalder was appointed acting skipper after Courtney Ugle (broken leg) and Hayley Bullas (knee) were ruled out for the rest of the season.
The 29-year-old said she âloves being part of the leadership groupâ and lauded the support of her teammates.
âItâs been really impressive to see that despite Ugle and Bullas both being out injured, theyâve still played an integral role in leading the group,â Nalder said.
âI suppose for me, things havenât changed much, I just keep going about my usual leadership style.
âIâm more of a reserved personality, so itâs good that weâve got other girls in the group like Shae Audley, Kirby Hicks and Kendra Heil who are adding a lot of voice to the group as well."
Nalder has stepped up in the absence of several leaders. (Photo: Ben Johnstone)
Nalder impacted the game and led by example, sparking the Bombers into action against Williamstown with a true captainâs performance.
The ever-reliable ruck finished the day with 38 hitouts, 16 disposals and three marks, but was humble in reflection.
âI think it comes back to the group around me. The mids have been working on that connection between me tapping the ball down and that talk from the girls,â she said.
âThere was also heaps of communication today from the backline, which helps me to feel confident and feel like I can help outâ.
Essendon will look to continue its winning streak when it takes on the Southern Saints at Windy Hill from 11:30am on Saturday.
âI think itâs about brining what we did today to the four quarters, and just continuing to build,â Nalder said.
âItâs really exciting to see what the group will be able to bring against a tough opposition in the Saints this week."
The match will be streamed live on the VFL website.
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.
Jessica Stassi continues to rack up Plays of the Week (at #3):
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