Saints are all over the place since beating us in round two. We can’t score big, but have won three in a row and one more gets us past them on the ladder.
Stats Leaders (leaders, us, Saints, maybe a few others).
Apart from goals, the numbers below are averages… but the rankings are sorted by totals.
Disposals
1 - Jess Bates (Pies) 28.2
5 - Tessa Boyd (Sts) 20.3
8 - Gabriella de Angelis (Sts) 19.0
Goals
1 - Lucy Burke (Sts) & Sarah Cameron (Willy) 8
7 - DeMatteeeeeooooooooooo (and others) 6
Marks
1 - Maddi Boyd (Hawks) 6.3
3 - Tessa Boyd (Sts) 3.8
10 - COURTNEY UGLE 3.3
Tackles
1 - Jess Bates (Pies) 10.8
3 - Lauren Caruso (Port) 9.3
7 - GRACE DICKER 8.3
Kicks
1 - Angelica Gogos (Darebin) 16.2
3 - Tessa Boyd (Sts) 14.2
9 - Nicole Julian (Willy) 12.7
Handballs
1 - Maddie Di Cosmo (FCFC) 13.3
Hit-outs
1 - Kalani Scoullar (Cats) 28.5
The last game was an odd one: the Saints dominated disposals via a marking game, but only managed to drew even on inside fifties. The score was tied until 23 minutes left, and then after a long series of missed opportunities by us they cut loose.
De Angelis, as featured in the league bests above, was yet again one of their bests (28 disposals and 1 goal). I have PTSD from her games versus us over the years.
We had the best ruck (Ryan) and the worst ruck (Cornish): that should be a notable point of improvement for us this time around. We didn’t have Clifford and we lost Tierney to injury in the second quarter.
Ryan (8 clearances) and Barba (24 disposals) were the only AFLW or recent AFLW players to contribute notably for us. Despite their efforts we were beaten 24-40 for clearances… and worse on the outside.
Teams:
| ESSENDON | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| B | D. Marshall (6) | B. Clarke (45) | |
| HB | G. Clarke (17) | E. Gamble (14) | C. Ugle (41) |
| C | K. Heil (78) | A. Radford (22) | S. Van De Heuvel (27) |
| HF | E. Chaston (61) | M. Ryan (76) | M. Wilson (66) |
| F | M. Clifford (47) | O. Manfre (43) | |
| R | S. Wales (30) | A. Van Loon (26) | G. Dicker (44) |
| INT | T. Crook (49) | M.Huta (56) | S. Molan (73) |
| R. Sutton (72) | C. Prpic (58) | ||
| EMG | Z. Hurrell (53) | T. Davidge (77) | E. Cornish (55) |
| J. Richardson (52) | |||
| IN | E. Gamble | A. Radford | M. Huta |
| S. Molan | R. Sutton | ||
| OUT | J. Doonan | A. Clarke | E.Ashley-Cooper (inj) |
| L. Spargo (inj) | T. Davidge | ||
| SOUTHERN SAINTS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| B | C. Matthews (44) | G. Foran (37) | |
| HB | J. Moore (15) | A. Hynes (16) | T. Boyd (21) |
| C | W. Laing (9) | M. Podnecky (10) | C. Ryan (11) |
| HF | E. Stuber (7) | T. Kearns (23) | A. Tregellis (42) |
| F | G. De Angelis (39) | L. Burke (28) | |
| R | M. Kershaw (3) | J. Wrigley (18) | M. Capsalis (5) |
| INT | B. Enno (26) | O. Robinson (33) | D. Jolliffe (4) |
| K. Ebb (53) | R. Neaves (25) | ||
| EMG | N. Cormack (12) | M. Fogas (29) | J. Webster (32) |
| S. Black (22) | |||
| IN | T. Kearns | M. Kershaw | M. Capsalis |
| M. Podnecky | R. Neaves | K. Ebb | |
| OUT | G. Hodder | C. Murphy | S. Black |
| N. Cormack | M. Williamson | M. Fogas | |
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Call our changes this week a net win, but LOL at some of the positioning:
- van Loon is a hell of a big-bodied midfielder! Imagine being at a stoppage facing her and Ryan… I wouldn’t even try to go near the ball.
- Ugle shuffled back to nominally give us a small defender (extra talls Crook and Molan are named on the bench) after running alone and rampant last week (but van de Heuvel to the wing).
- where the hell is NatMac? We sooooo need a fast forward.
Saints casually slot in Kearns/Capsalis/Neaves.
I’ll comment on us second because, well, it’s one hell of a punchline.
The Saints have made 8 changes since their round 2 game against us.
| OUT | IN |
|---|---|
| G. Hodder (31) | A. Tregellis (42) |
| G. McLean (6) | C. Matthews (44) |
| I. Gentile (35) | D. Jolliffe (4) |
| K. Ripari (24) | E. Stuber (7) |
| N. Cormack (12) | G. Foran (37) |
| S. Black (22) | M. Capsalis (5) |
| S. Kaukiono (27) | O. Robinson (33) |
| S. Phillips (48) | R. Neaves (25) |
Ripari out is good for us.
We’ve made 14 (!) changes since losing to them at Sandy. I’ve very broadly paired them off below.
There are few net losses, and many substantial improvements…
| OUT | IN | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| M. Busch (28) | K. Heil (78) | def/wing |
| R. Tierney (23) | E. Chaston (61) | fwd/mid |
| M. Pearson (64) | E. Gamble (14) | key def |
| C. Sargent (80) | M. Clifford (47) | key fwd |
| A. Barba (11) | A. Radford (22) | key mid |
| M. Bateman (62) | G. Clarke (17) | KPP |
| T. Davidge (77) | C. Prpic (58) | med ute |
| A. Strahan (79) | S. Van De Heuvel (27) | med ute |
| Z. Hurrell (53) | S. Molan (73) | med ute->big ute |
| M. Gray (48) | A. Van Loon (26) | med ute->big ute |
| A. Clarke (33) | R. Sutton (72) | mid/fwd |
| J. Richardson (52) | S. Wales (30) | ruck |
| L. Spargo (51) | M. Wilson (66) | small fwd |
| E. Cornish (55) | D. Marshall (6) | tall ute |
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Gamble to play her first VFLW game for EFC (7 such games for Footscray previously + 30 AFLW games).
Any relation to Jeff Gamble?
No.
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FFS. Not a good time to be a Bomber called Eloise.
Spargo’s out attributed as a calf injury.
However, the Bombers have suffered a major blow with best-and-fairest winner Eloise Ashley-Cooper ruled out for virtually the rest of the season with a serious hamstring injury, while Amber Clarke and Joanne Doonan have been rested.
The Saints have also gone for experience, recalling Tayla Kearns , Bec Neaves and Madi Capsalis alongside Kim Ebb , Maggie Kershaw and Michelle Podnecky , with six players dropped, including the surprise omissions of No.1 ruck Sarah Black and the experienced Nicki Cormack .
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Yeah.
Rough on her.
I think she’s done a similar injury before.
Does Van Dyke ever play VFLW? Or is she solely AFLW?
Still trying to work out who is who and whether they are AFLW players.
I’m also glad Manfre keeps getting opportunities.
Her leading patterns are very good.
| Player | Games | AFLW Type |
|---|---|---|
| Zoe Hurrell | 2 | delisted (Bin Chickens) |
| Annabel Strahan | 2 | delisted (Dogs) |
| Caitlin Sargent | 3 | delisted (EFC) |
| Eloise Ashley-Cooper | 2 | delisted (EFC) |
| Meg Ryan | 7 | delisted (EFC) |
| Eloise Chaston | 4 | delisted (Pies) |
| Alana Barba | 5 | EFC |
| Alex Morcom | 1 | EFC |
| Amber Clarke | 4 | EFC |
| Amelia Radford | 3 | EFC |
| Ash van Loon | 3 | EFC |
| Danielle Marshall | 2 | EFC |
| Ellyse Gamble | 1 | EFC |
| Joanne Doonan | 4 | EFC |
| Mia Busch | 3 | EFC |
| Paige Scott | 2 | EFC |
| Renee Tierney | 2 | EFC |
| Sophie van de Heuvel | 2 | EFC |
| Stephanie Wales | 3 | EFC |
| Georgia Clarke | 3 | EFC (new addition) |
| Kodi Jacques | 2 | EFC (new addition) |
| Sophie Molan | 4 | EFC (new addition) |
So 64 of 147 players this year (assuming this week progresses as named) have been either current EFC AFLW players (44 games) or recently-delisted AFLW players (20 games).
Ugle, Crook, Dicker and Ryan are the only players named for all seven games so far.
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Cheers.
Im struggling to put names to faces.
Your photos have really helped.
I’ve had to start an instagram account just to get an idea on who is who.
Our website is pretty poor for content.
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Correct, but obviously not at this scale.
Ashley-Cooper played 42 games in a row* for us before missing rounds 13 and 14 in 2022 with a hamstring injury. There was a bye between round 14 and the finals, so it’s not clear if it was a 2 or 3 week injury. She bounced straight back to win the Best Finals Player award, though.
Only then did everything fall apart…
*This is THE record continuous run for our VFLW team, though it is likely Simone Nalder would have got to 49 games† if not for the AFL shifting the 2021 season forward to clash with her wedding.
† My spreadsheet (and the easy ability to then see everything related to a specific game in one spot on Blitz) is valuable. I should probably include it in my will.
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History vs Saints:
| Year | For | Against | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 24 | 60 | -36 |
| 2019 | 44 | 46 | -2 |
| 2021 | 29 | 47 | -18 |
| 2022 | 46 | 46 | 0 |
| 2022 | 36 | 26 | 10 |
| 2022 | 42 | 7 | Shiny Thing |
| 2023 | 17 | 42 | -25 |
Amber Clarke running laps during first warm-up.
Davidge in the warmup. 22 out there, so she is THE emergency.