AFLW - Game Day discussion - Season 2021

[Boots]

Totally cracking game. I remember Nathan Burke saying at the start of the season that the women's team would be relying on their fitness to win games, and it certainly seems like they are outlasting their opponents. Even St. Kilda in round one, they nearly got there and became significantly more animated in the final term, partly I think because their opponents were tiring. Last two weeks they've shown the ability to keep going for four quarters and it's great.

Scott was brilliant. The shepherd she did for Brown as she ran the ball out of full back early in Q4 was just fantastic. Looked great at the ground (from behind the goal) and looked even better on the replay. She's got a great thumping kick. Hope we see more of her. Brown and Lynch were both great in defence, and I wonder how much they were lifted by Scott.

Poor Giorgostathis keeps getting noticed for her skills instead of the fact she's at almost every contest (although agree she needs to practise bouncing).

Melbourne feels like a big scalp and I can't wait to see how we do vs. Adelaide, Brisbane, Collingwood and the roos.

[azabob]

Would love to find a way to bring Bonnie Toogood into the game more.
Can be a matchwinner if she hits a purple patch.

Reminds me very much of Jake Stringer on-field - either boom or bust.

[comrade]

Totally cracking game. I remember Nathan Burke saying at the start of the season that the women's team would be relying on their fitness to win games, and it certainly seems like they are outlasting their opponents. Even St. Kilda in round one, they nearly got there and became significantly more animated in the final term, partly I think because their opponents were tiring. Last two weeks they've shown the ability to keep going for four quarters and it's great.

Scott was brilliant. The shepherd she did for Brown as she ran the ball out of full back early in Q4 was just fantastic. Looked great at the ground (from behind the goal) and looked even better on the replay. She's got a great thumping kick. Hope we see more of her. Brown and Lynch were both great in defence, and I wonder how much they were lifted by Scott.

Poor Giorgostathis keeps getting noticed for her skills instead of the fact she's at almost every contest (although agree she needs to practise bouncing).

Melbourne feels like a big scalp and I can't wait to see how we do vs. Adelaide, Brisbane, Collingwood and the roos.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1363347960176672770

[bornadog]

Would love to find a way to bring Bonnie Toogood into the game more.
Can be a matchwinner if she hits a purple patch.

Reminds me very much of Jake Stringer on-field - either boom or bust.

Will Bonnie get done for the sling tackle?

[Happy Days]

Will Bonnie get done for the sling tackle?

Absolutely not. She should have got a free kick for it.

[soupman]

Man this season has been such a step up in quality. It's gotten to the point where the only time you notice any skill limitations is when some of the girls have set shots from 30+ metres out. The marking in particular has been so impressive, and some teams including us have so much dash now. It's always been entertaining but this year has been s enjoyable to watch.

Our top liners have always been good but we have so many quality threats now. Blackburn, Fitzgerald and Huntington are all so clean and so dangerous with ball in hand, and the grunt we have across the field is so good now, we are so much better at halving if not outright winning contests. Been super impressed with Brown who prior to this season kind of just bounced around, Guest and Lynch have also been fantastic in defence.

Really looking forward to watching our next game, it is so enjoyable watching a Bulldogs side that gives it's all for 4 quarters and has genuine offensive threats up forward.

[mjp]

Man this season has been such a step up in quality. It's gotten to the point where the only time you notice any skill limitations is when some of the girls have set shots from 30+ metres out. The marking in particular has been so impressive, and some teams including us have so much dash now. It's always been entertaining but this year has been s enjoyable to watch.

I love watching it.

The skill limitations show up as follows:

- Inability / unwillingness to switch the ball due to either skill limitations or confidence in skills.
- Constant double handling of the ball below knees which causes congestion. 'Clean' players like Fitzgerald are therefore making a massive on field impact...unfortunately most games feature some very poor ball handling related defending that costs goals.
- Consistent use of 'one hand only' to handball limiting the effectiveness. The girls handball skills remain sub par and this would be so easy to fix.

I will also add that as a 'competition', the players are still not in the physical condition to play elite sport. I get it - the argument will be that they aren't full time therefore cannot be expected to present as such, however if you were to compare the girls (remembering healthy body fat % for girls is 28% whilst for men it is only 20%) to a state league mens team (also not full time, and in most cases without the same access to elite level facilities) you would find a much higher percentage simply carrying too much weight...I guess it doesn't matter as much as the games aren't as long but in a sport with such an issue with ACL injuries being in optimum condition would be a GOOD THING.

[comrade]

Yeah, biggest skill issue I notice is the ball handling at ground level. Even if a player is in plenty of space, they quickly get shut down once they fumble and it happens very, very often. Will surely improve over time but turns games into slogs when with a touch of clean handling, the ball would ping around much faster.

[Bulldog4life]

Observations from me. Fierce is the appropriate name for this group. Their tackling and going in hard for the ball is sensational. Browny has improved from game to game this year with Sunday's game being her best. Scotty adds further aggression to the back half. Overall our backline is a very solid unit. Elle and Izzy are the standout stars. Izzy's goals were outstanding. You have to love Lamb's bull like approach to the game. She is important to the team without a doubt. I thoroughly enjoy watching this team. No negatives from me.

[jazzadogs]

Lynch, Fitzgerald and Hartwig have been three huge inclusions to our squad this year. Particularly impressive debut seasons from Fitzy (clean under pressure with great skills) and Twig (love her dash out of defence, although she will definitely get herself in trouble every now and then by taking on too much!).

The defensive group are surprising me each week. Since Gamble replaced Spark they have really clicked as a unit. Scotty adds a lot of grunt to the group and would definitely make them walk taller, but Ferres also had her best game of the season - I really rate her and was surprised she didn't play round 1. Elsa Brown also played the best game I've seen - she has a lot more confidence this year and was more willing to stand up for herself.

As mjp mentioned, the lack of trust in skills to switch the ball makes it much easier to defend. I went to the North v Pies game at Marvel on Saturday night, and it was an absolute slog with the ball bouncing between the two defensive zones. Neither team managed to break through because they just kept kicking it 30-40m long and high into the middle of the zone. It is a real benefit of having Scott/Blackburn who can kick 50m accurately, and Huntington who can mark anything.

The umpiring was atrocious. The Toogood tackle was caused by them not blowing the whistle, and in general the tackler needs to rewarded more often. Too many times the ball gets thrown or dropped and it gets called play on, with a bit of a 'let the girls play' attitude. In contrast physical contact is too easily picked out for free kicks, when it is either a) not worthy of a free kick or b) caused by the clumsiness of a player who doesn't know how to brace for contact.


I thought we would be lucky to win 2-3 games for the season. Beating the Blues and Demons is a HUGE result for a developing team, and the Giants are definitely at a level that we can beat. I'm excited to see what happens.

Final thought - love that we have had 2 sold out games at Whitten Oval and had the largest crowd of the weekend!

[bornadog]

Absolutely not. She should have got a free kick for it.

She got a reprimand (with an early plea) and a 400 dollar fine

[bornadog]

[Hotdog60]

I don't mind the jumper.

[bornadog]

I don't mind the jumper.

One of the better indigenous jumpers we have produced.

[SonofScray]

Hate one off jumpers, but that one looks good at least.