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