Courtney started well, but faded (4 disposals in the last half). She had the chance to put us in front late in the third quarter; she missed the set shot from 10 metres out, the Saints went to the other end and goaled, and we never got close again.
Busch again relatively quiet. Amber Clarke may be one of our youngest players, but we know she has the ability to stamp her influence on VFLW games. Did not.
Pearson on debut showed moments of legit class, mixed in with some clangers. Look forward to her developing and playing a key role in our team.
I won’t name-and-shame in round two, but geez we had some passengers today. Last year we had the depth to fill that bottom five or so when others were out; we did not today.
Tay Hart-Aluni was better than Munkara, I guess*. Certainly gets the ball a LOT more, but was slow to dispose and take her chances. Hopefully a learning experience!
Trevor Barker Oval is always an interesting place to stand by the interchange. As the coach boxes are literally a few metres from the benches, you hear all of the discussions: stats, strength and conditioning, multiple coaches, players, runner. The latter (Lauren Spark) was certainly not a passive participant.
Cloke is (most of the time) a positive encouragement guy.
Renee hurt her ankle early in the second quarter and watched rest of game from the bench. She’ll be assessed by our medical team further this week for appropriate recovery timeline.
Mia Busch
12 disposals, four tackles, two clearances
Mia continued to learn a new role to help her development at AFLW level by playing on the wing. She’ll grow with more minutes.
Alana Barba
24 disposals, eight tackles, five inside 50s
it was a fantastic game from Barbs. She worked hard as a midfield/ forward rotation and impacted around the ball with a team-high disposals to go along with her eight tackles and five inside 50s.
Amber Clarke
Nine disposals, two tackles
Amber played her first game for season 2023. She used her speed on defence to help cover our backline and she will be better for the run.
