Aflw - 2025

[Bornadog]

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Two future stars locked in

[Prince Imperial]

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Two future stars locked in

This is fabulous news as they are both very promising players.

We finally seem to be getting it right with our AFLW program.

[josie]

Great news regarding Buttifant and Grigg. I was worried about Grigg as she’s from SA. An excitement machine.

I think we’ve got a good coach in Hyett and hope we show a bit of patience with her and our young team. If we hold the majority of this group together I reckon we can be top contenders in a few years.

[weltschmerz]

Fantastic. Grigg going to break some tackling records.

[Hotdog60]

If we can keep most of this side together for a few years we might start showing something.

[BiteNibbleChomp]

https://www.afl.com.au/aflw/news/1292243/aflw-clubs-players-deal-with-move-of-vflw-season

Apparently we're looking at playing more AFLW players in the state league this year.

Last year we barely had any (IIRC Fitzy, Carruthers, Gorham and maybe one or two more were in a couple games, and there was one game where Blackburn played and got 4 goals which was quite nice), and the lack of experience definitely showed early on, so I'm pretty keen on this.

The games are free entry too, our first one is at Whitten on Easter Sunday 1100 - though I won't be surprised if the AFLW players don't get involved much until their pre-season starts (I think it's May 15, just before VFLW round 5).

We also put the new numbers out for the VFLW team today - I did notice we're keeping a 28 in the team, so maybe Kimber is getting promoted to a smaller number?

- BNC

[BiteNibbleChomp]

Well they weren't kidding about us playing more AFLW players in the state league - this weeks game had 9 (none last week for the season opener). I was at the game so how about a match report?

I will preface this by saying that VFLW is at a noticeably lower standard than AFLW, so be wary of reading too much into anything I say below. Last year Sydney and GWS both played five rounds in the VFLW, with Sydney winning 4/5 and a percentage of 345, and GWS winning all five with a percentage of 415. Both those sides finished bottom 4 in the AFLW. Our opponents today were Darebin, who last year won just 3 games out of 14 and finished third last (excluding the NSW teams) - history suggests they're probably not the strongest of opposition in this league either. As far as I'm aware, Darebin doesn't have any AFLW affiliation and didn't field any current AFLW players.
I also have only made notes for the AFLW-listed players, trying to keep track of everyone is a bit more than I'm capable of (I'm just a dude with a notepad after all!) .

Stats (At the end of each quarter break)
Scoreline
Bulldogs 4.2 4.3 5.6 6.6.42
Darebin 0.0 0.0 1.1 3.3.21
Hitouts
Bulldogs 7 15 25 37
Darebin 11 22 31 40
Clearances
Bulldogs 7 14 19 28
Darebin 6 13 22 30
Tackles
Bulldogs 20 42 57 84
Darebin 10 24 52 70
Frees
Bulldogs 7 13 14 16
Darebin 2 10 17 25
i50s
Bulldogs 12 18 29 36
Darebin 2 12 18 28
Disposals
About even throughout - I didn't note the quarter breakdowns. At full time,
Bulldogs 217 (146 Kicks, 71 Handballs)
Darebin 207 (147 Kicks, 60 Handballs)

Bulldogs Scorers (* for VFLW players)
Woodley 2.1
McLeod* 2.0
McFarlane* 1.1
McKee 1.0
Smith 0.1
Hardingham 0.1
(Rushed 0.2)

General Observations
I don't know if anyone else considers 18C and overcast to be perfect conditions, but I do so I'll say the game was played in perfect conditions. It rained a bit before the game but I don't think it ever did during. No wind judging by the flags behind Gordon Street. No idea who won the toss but we kicked to the Barkly Street end first and third quarters. Crowd was a couple of hundred (about typical for VFLW), including some of the AFLW players that weren't in the match.
First quarter we were very dominant - Woodley got our first goal about a minute in (soccer kick from a fair distance out - it's on the BulldogsW insta). Darebin barely got the ball inside 50 - 4.2 isn't quite a winning score in most VFLW games but for a quarter-time score it is pretty close to game over. Second quarter a fair bit of the play was down the Barkly Street end again - helpful for me seeing the game from the Whitten stand but not ideal given it was our defensive half - but outside of one time when the ball hit the behind post, it didn't really look like Darebin was ever a particularly good chance at scoring. In the third, Darebin got their first score early on (touched over the line) and had most of the play in their forward half for the first half of the quarter - they got their first goal, then Woodley replied with one for us immediately after, and then we controlled territory the rest of the quarter but didn't do a whole lot with it. Fourth quarter it felt like we went down a gear or two, a lot of the play was in their forward half and they got two goals to our one.

Players
Woodley gets my three votes for the game, scoring 2.1 (plus two misses, both under a good deal of pressure), plus 20 disposals and two tackles. Most of my notes for her are just variations of "did this thing good"
Gavalas got the highest fantasy score (102) - I must have a blindspot as while the official stats sheet says she did a lot (23 disposals, 10 tackles, 5 clearances) I apparently didn't notice much of it, except during the third quarter when I noted she suddenly seemed to be everywhere. Took a bounce at one point, the only one I saw during the game (and that while being chased down too!). Two votes.
Jas Smith seemed to be everywhere... I was listening to the Danny/Boyd podcast a couple weeks ago and Tom Boyd noted that the wing position is a lot of running around without necessarily getting the ball all the time - only she also apparently got 20 disposals (again, blindspot). I also saw her in the goal square by herself at one point which ended up preventing a Darebin goal. One vote.
Hardingham I actually didn't notice was playing until I was checking the stats at half-time (lol ). Early in the third she went off with the docs clutching her arm, but she came back on 10' later so seems all good. Was our main ruck for the match - she was one of the best ruck/forwards in the comp last year. Today a good game despite the injury, I'd be hesitant to say much more than that though.
McKee was our other main ruck (Hartwig did also get a couple of shots there, and McFarlane - still salty we dropped her - when it went forward). She won more of the hitouts than did Hardingham (I want to say they had a similar number of opportunities) and I also noticed her playing more defensive a bit before half time - not sure if that was just because the ball had been in their half for ages or it was coaching.
Hartwig I thought had a quiet game - just one behind that was touched (and thus counted as rushed) but never looked like going through anyway. Stats sheet says 10 disposals 5 tackles.
Kimber I noted down as our second best defender (after the VFLW listed Sansonetti, who put in a strong showing). That said, most of the first half of the game was played a lot in our forward half so the defence didn't get a ton of time to shine. 5 intercepts.
Buttifant I really didn't get much of a read on (literally no notes about her during the game ). Stats sheet gives her 11 disposals, 4 intercepts. No news is good news I guess?
Barwick worried me a bit. Just 6 disposals, of which nearly all must have been in the second half. I also noticed a few times particularly during the last quarter where Darebin kicked to a player who Barwick was playing on, and she was a good few metres behind unable to contest the mark. Fourth last in fantasy scores for Bulldogs players too. Really don't want to be harsh here (it is just one game after all), but being ranked below a dozen or so state-league Bulldog players when playing an opponent that history suggests is relatively weak is not encouraging.

Did find it notable that most of these players would probably be on the fringes of our best 21 if they're in it at all (Woodley and Hartwig are the only two I'd consider locks, though Smith is probably in there too). Too early to read too much into this, but hopefully the players are better for the experience.

Guernsey Numbers
Not at all important, but I find it interesting so why not?

Kimber is keeping 28. Someone screwed up on that post on the club website a couple weeks back. Asciak (VFLW player) has been given 29.
Hardingham was listed on the website as 24, but wore 33 during the game. If she's taking 33 this year then Edmonds would need a new number.
Buttifant is wearing 4 this year. I am guessing this means Pritchard has been given 1, as that's the only lower number currently free.
Louise Stephenson has been given 14 per her Instagram bio.
Assuming no-one else changes number, that means 9, 20 and 22 are available - McDonald and Poustie will each likely get one of these.

...and that has to be the longest post I've ever written on WOOF

- BNC

[HOSE B ROMERO]

Wonderful work BNC (Beyonce?? ). I was just going to cut and paste the final scores on here but was too lazy.

[Bornadog]

Wonderful work BNC (Beyonce?? ). I was just going to cut and paste the final scores on here but was too lazy.

Yes unbelievable report - thanks

[Bornadog]

List Changes for AFLW Team

Ins: Lou Stephenson (Hawthorn), Keeley Hardingham, Emma McDonald, Sarah Poustie (draft)

Outs: Eleanor Brown (GWS), Jorja Borg, Keely Coyne, Bree McFarlane, Aurora Smith, Elizabeth Snell (delisted)

A fairly quiet player movement period under new list manager Dan Fisher after significant turnover in recent years.

Stephenson and draftee McDonald will add height and stability to the forward line, and VFLW ruck Hardingham comes in as a replacement for Borg, who was delisted after rupturing her ACL but will continue to receive rehab support from the club.

Poustie is a hard-nosed midfielder, while the traded Brown hasn't played for two seasons due to personal reasons.

[BiteNibbleChomp]

https://www.afl.com.au/aflw/news/1310778/risk-v-reward-the-state-league-dilemma

...
Bulldog Keeley Hardingham was drafted from the club's VFLW side late last year as a developing ruck, and played her first game in the twos as an AFLW-listed player on Saturday, but finished the match with a low-grade medial elbow injury, affecting the inside (pinky finger side) of the joint.
...
Pre-season starts on May 12, with a week of induction, meetings and physical testing, before full-blown training starts on May 19.

- BNC

[BiteNibbleChomp]

VFLW Round 3

I went up to Ballarat for the mens game today, so this is purely from me watching the replay and looking at the stats sheet after the game, so I don't have quarterly breakdowns for anything other than the scores. VFLW replays also only have one camera (and it's unfortunately not a great one at that), so a lot less opportunity to see what's happening off the ball. IIRC the only other time there's a clash with the AFL Dogs games is when the men play Richmond in June (although VFLW has only put out half its fixture so far).
Collingwood, our opponents this week, were a game shy of making finals last year. They also didn't field any current AFLW players, while we had twelve on the field. They're probably a better side than Darebin, but as always don't read too much into that.

Stats
Scoreline
Bulldogs 1.5 4.6 6.8 6.13.49
Collingwood 2.1 3.1 4.1 4.2.26
Hitouts
Bulldogs 35
Collingwood 30
Clearances
Bulldogs 34
Collingwood 22
Tackles
Bulldogs 58
Collingwood 50
Frees
Bulldogs 20
Collingwood 15
i50s
Bulldogs 34
Collingwood 24
Disposals
Bulldogs 224
Collingwood 234

Bulldogs Scorers (* for VFLW players)
McFarlane* 2.1
McDonald 1.2
Grigg 1.1
Stephenson 1.0
Gavalas 1.0
Hartwig 0.2
Woodley 0.1
Smith 0.1
Tabb* 0.1
Bishop* 0.1
(Rushed 0.3)

General Observations
Last time I was at Vic Park, and the time before that, were days similar today (apparently high teens and clear skies). Both times it was freezing. Apparently there was also a ton of dew on the ground (at 1030 in the morning... ). In case you haven't guessed, I really don't think a lot of this ground haha (Ballarat by contrast is one of my favourite grounds).
The stats don't do a great job of showing how dominant territorially we were in the game - the first quarter especially was played almost all in our forward half. Inaccuracy hurt us with Collingwood being a lot more efficient with their entries. Of our thirteen behinds quite a few were very gettable shots (after a while I stopped keeping notes on each time we missed a shot. The two goals Collingwood did get in the first were both after extended periods of the ball being tied up in our forward half, only for it to be kicked out to a very empty Pies forward half (reminded me a lot of that bad patch in the mens game against Freo last month). We tightened up our defence a lot more as the game went on.
The commentators on the replay also noticed that our strengths in the game was our speed and getting the ground balls. Collingwood by contrast played a much more controlled kick/mark game.

Players
Gavalas was clear best on, with 25 disposals (12 in the first quarter), 6 clearances and a goal (set shot from ~25m out). She was also at a lot of centre bounces and just about every time there was a pack on the field, I even compared her to Libba in my notes.
McDonald was also very impressive, especially for a first-gamer. She did take a little while to settle into the game (first quarter wasn't anything special), but her effort was excellent throughout. We played most of the game with her as our main target up forward, and the set shots she did take were reasonably gettable shots but all missed. Her one goal was under pressure - she tried to soccer the ball, slipped over, and then two seconds later soccers it in anyway. Did a ruck tap at one point too. 2 votes.
Stephenson gets 1 vote from me. We played her as our primary ruck (though she matched McKee for hitouts), and her one goal was from a ~30m set shot.
Grigg is apparently trying to go for a world record in tackling. 9 on the stats sheet, and that doesn't even count the ones that don't get called. Also got a goal on the run, outside the boot and a tough angle.
McKee played midfield and drifted half-back, I think the coaches were trying something a bit different with her? If it's an experiment, I think it's a successful one - 16 disposals, 5 clearances (81 fantasy points also, third highest of the Bulldog players).
Gutknecht was another one out of her usual position, played backline. Because we controlled the territory so much, our backs didn't see a huge amount of the ball, but when it did she was one of our more reliable players there - I noticed several good spoils throughout the game.
Kimber I reckon was again our best defender. Not a heap on the stats sheet (9 disposals and 3 marks), but that's mostly due to the game being mostly played in our front half.
Smith was very good again on the wing. Copy everything I wrote last week. Even the bit about the goal square, only this time she was just a bit too far out to prevent a Collingwood goal. And 10 disposals instead of 20, though it felt like more.
Hartwig and Woodley escaped my notice for much of the game, Hartwig with 10 touches and Woodley 15. I do think it was a coaching strategy to have McDonald as the primary target (with Stephenson and McFarlane often being the second), which came at these two's expense. Both played well.
Buttifant didn't have a touch until halfway into the third quarter, and ended with just five for the match. Again, the game was mostly played in our forward half, but this wasn't her best game even so.
Barwick started out quietly too, I counted just three disposals to half time. Her second half was a fair bit better, official stats have her with 8 contested possessions by the end.

Hardingham didn't play due to the injury last week, sounds like we still don't have a timeframe on that one.

It is looking more like a deliberate effort to get games into our younger players at this point, and if so I'm definitely on board - certainly better than chucking everyone in the deep end and scoring four goals from our first three games like last year. Barwick and Buttifant in particular I reckon will benefit a lot from more time on the field - both were taken in the top dozen or so picks in the draft but we haven't yet seen a lot of that in the games. McDonald is also one to keep an eye on going forward.
The commentators on the replay were also saying that the VFLW finals will coincide with the early rounds of the AFLW season, which might be an opportunity for some of the players who don't make selection in the national team to still get a game in the state comp. They haven't put the full fixture out yet, but I've looked at the dates and I think the only way that works is if the state comp has another bye or two. Last year also I don't think AFLW players were allowed to be selected for the state finals.

Guernsey Numbers
I swear someone at Whitten is trying to troll me after seeing my efforts to predict everything last week, because this week is a mess:
Buttifant was back wearing 20. She also posted on insta today with the 20 guernsey so I'm guessing last week's 4 was a one-off.
Stephenson had 21. Either that means Zimmie is getting a new number or this is temporary. The AFL website has her as 14, as does her insta profile.
McDonald had 17. Could mean Georgostathis is getting a new number (her insta still has 17 listed). AFL website has her as 9.
If Pritchard is keeping 4, then 1 would still be available, potentially going to Poustie? This assumes the AFL website is correct, which seems more likely than everyone picking new numbers like you would a lotto ticket. That said, last year Dom Carbone (VFLW listed) was listed as 54 on the website all season but wore 51 in games.
Am I overthinking all of this? Surely. Doesn't mean I won't keep doing it

- BNC

[josie]

Great summary & much appreciated BNC. It’s good to see some of our AFLW players play VFLW. Hopefully should hold them in good stead for AFLW season. Might also generate more interest in VFL season and inspire/encourage VFL players.

[Hotdog60]

VFLW Team: Round 4 v Casey
The Bulldogs have added a host of senior-listed players for Saturday's clash at Mission Whitten Oval.



The Western Bulldogs have added a host of senior-listed players to their Round 4 team to face Casey.

AFLW Dogs Naomi Ferres, Jess Fitzgerald, Dom Carruthers, Sarah Poustie and Keeley Hardingham feature at Mission Whitten Oval on Saturday afternoon.

They join Mali McLeod and Jorja Livingston in the side.

Analea McKee, Heidi Woodley, Ellie Gavalas, Sarah Hartwig and Kaylee Kimber have been managed, while Jasmyn Smith (concussion) and Millie Klingbeil (omitted) will also miss.

The Bulldogs will be hoping to make it three straight wins when they host Casey on Saturday afternoon.

The first bounce will be at 2:05pm AEST on Saturday 10 May, and be live-streamed via the AFL Live Official App and afl.com.au/vflw.

They will also debut the 2025 First Nations guernseys designed by Kamilya Lowana White.

The VFL Bulldogs will play at the same venue from 11:05am, marking a Dogs’ double-header at Mission Whitten Oval. VFLW Round 4


Western Bulldogs v Casey
Saturday 10 May, 2:05pm AEST
Mission Whitten Oval, Footscray (Wurundjeri/Boon Wurrung)

B	T. Crook (30)	B. Barwick (12)
HB	B. Gutknecht (18)	S. Sansonetti (55)	J. Livingston (40)
C	E. Bishop (35)	S. Asciak (29)	D. Carruthers (8)
HF	E. Mcdonald (17)	M. McLeod (31)	B. McFarlane (58)
F	E. Grigg (5)	L. Stephenson (21)
R	K. Hardingham (24)	J. Tabb (63)	J. Fitzgerald (23)
INT	C. Buttifant (20)	T. Skenderis (34)	S. Poustie (6)
	R. Saulitis (56)	N. Ferres (16)
EMG	L. Swain (71)	T. Hurst (45)	I. Milford (64)
F. Taylor (48)	E. Ramsay (46)	A. Klingbeil (53)

In: Livingston, McLeod, Hardingham, Fitzgerald, Poustie, Ferres, Carruthers

Out: Smith (concussion), McKee (managed), Woodley (managed), Gavalas (managed), Hartwig (managed), Kimber (managed), Klingbeil (omitted)

LINK

[Hotdog60]

Girls are playing well 42 to 6 at half time