Aflw - 2025

[Hotdog60]

64 -6 end of 3rd quarter

[Hotdog60]

Full time 79 to 14 with the dogs giving one up late

[BiteNibbleChomp]

VFLW Round 4

I love seeing teams that wear red and blue and call themselves the Demons lose. Especially by huge margins. So that was very satisfying .
That said, this Casey side that we played is pretty bad. They were 0-3 going in to this game, and last year were a whole game, and 50 percentage points, short of making finals (indeed their percentage was the second worst in the comp, and that's only because Geelong's team was - and remains - pathetic). No Melbourne AFLW players were included in the side either - they had some earlier in the season but have pulled them due to concerns about potentially risking injuries. AFLW preseason starts Monday so I kinda get it, but I'm very glad that's not the approach we're taking.
So take what you will from this game, but I reckon North next week will be a much better test for how we're developing.

Stats
Scoreline
Bulldogs 4.3 6.6 9.10 11.13.79
Casey 0.0 1.0 1.1* 2.2.14
*Not sure if that point got counted in the end, that's what the screen at Whitten showed at 3QT but I counted two behinds in the last.
Hitouts
Bulldogs 7 14 28 37
Casey 7 12 19 31
Clearances
Bulldogs 7 11 17 25
Casey 4 12 17 22
Tackles
Bulldogs 16 31 39 53
Casey 18 28 51 68
Frees
Bulldogs 4 10 12 15
Casey 4 6 9 11
i50s
Bulldogs 13 27 43 53
Casey 4 10 12 18
Disposals
Bulldogs 71 149 228 292 (163K/129H)
Casey 37 96 137 170 (121K/49H)
Marks
Bulldogs 47
Casey 28
(only thought to note these down at the end of the game so don't have the quarter breakdowns there)

Bulldogs Scorers (* for VFLW players)
McFarlane* 3.1
McDonald 2.2
Grigg 2.2
Carruthers 2.1
Stephenson 1.1
Ferres 1.0
McLeod* 0.2
(Rushed 0.4)

General Observations
Normally here I would write a bit of a summary of what happened in each quarter. There's no need. Casey never looked like accomplishing anything. Nearly all the game was played in our forward half - the inside 50s stat tells that story better than I could. I basically gave up writing notes at 3QT because it was just "we're smashing them". We had the wind in the first and third quarters.

Players
Let's start in the backline this time:
Gutknecht, as last week, was played at half-back, and was probably a big part of the reason the ball rarely got any further back than that - 12 intercepts, 22 disposals at 91% efficiency (I had her noted as a strong performer at the game but hadn't realised just how strong until I went through the stats later!). I've never rated her particularly highly as a forward, and especially considering how our young forwards are developing, this is a move I am quite keen on. Definitely one to keep watching, and one I will give 1 vote to.
Barwick stepped up a lot compared to her last two games, 16 disposals and a lot more efficient with them than I've seen her previously - this was probably her best game in our colours. Stats sheet doesn't have the official count, but I think I saw her take three bounces, always nice to see.
Buttifant was our other senior player to feature regularly down back (starting on the bench but I think one of the full back spots on the field?)- stats sheet puts her equal with Barwick. I don't have a lot of notes on her, but it felt like the ball was rarely deep in our backline, so whatever she did worked I guess
Carruthers played wing in the first half and inside mid in the second - I thought her first half in particular was excellent, and not just because of that epic running goal (see BulldogsW insta for this if you haven't watched it yet!) - even though I thought she got a tad lucky not getting pinged for running more than 15 (just me?). There was a similar instance in the second quarter that could have been another goal (forgot to note if that was a miss/behind or she just kicked to a teammate, and I can't be bothered opening up the replay ). 41 fantasy points does her a disservice.
Fitzgerald was a regular centre bounce attendee - 21 disposals and a key part of why our midfield was so dominant all game. I noticed our socials making a (rightful) big deal of Grigg's first goal thirty seconds in - Fitzy was the one that got it out of the centre circle and to Griggy to kick.
Poustie was another one to feature at a lot of centre bounces (usually it was one of her and Fitzy, plus either Stephenson or Hardingham as ruck, and then two state players). 17 disposals and 3 clearances is a great result for her first game. She also was wearing a helmet during the game - Caleb Daniel was my favourite player at one point, so that can only be a good sign.... though it could do with a paint job as there was no white to go with the red and blue.
Ferres played in the forward line (starting on interchange, as she did all her games last year, though our site has her as a defender) - I think half forward earlier on and deeper later in the game - escaped my notice a lot of the time and was evidently a quiet one with only 9 disposals. Her goal was a set shot from maybe 30 out.
Stephenson was backup ruck this game and a forward target otherwise - 14 hitouts and scored 1.1, but that stat that caught my attention is five tackles inside 50. Just 10 disposals, but she played her role and did so well.
Speaking of tackles, Grigg only had four this game ("only" ), but more than made up for it elsewhere - 18 disposals, 2 goals and zero fear.
McDonald is - after two games! - fast becoming a player I want to see lining up for round 1. 8 marks was the most for anyone on the field, and our second highest scorer behind McFarlane, who was more obviously used as our key forward for much of the match. Apparently got a hitout in the ruck at one point - I must not have noticed that but nice to know we're testing that option out (at 180 she's the same height as McKee, who I'd imagine is who she'd likely be against for selection, assuming we go with Edmonds and Hardingham as our go-to rucks). 2 votes.
As for Hardingham, let's just say there's a reason our midfield was so dominant. Most hitouts on the field (22); equal second most disposals (21), equal third for intercepts (7, behind Gutknecht and Buttifant). Apparently not enough mention in the notes I took during the game (I wrote "strong so far" part way through the second and then nothing more - this is why I go through the stats before doing my writeups!). 3 votes.

If I'm counting this right, we've now had 17 of our 30 listed players feature in at least one VFLW game so far. I would say nearly all the others would be locks in our best 21 (and would thus have less need for the development opportunity that the state games provide), but after some of these performances, we could be looking at some serious competition for spots come selection time.
I did also hear that we might be looking to play Westo more on the wing, and Blackburn at half-forward, this year. Could be interesting...

Guernsey Numbers
Poustie has 6. Previous games had Stephenson in 21, McDonald in 17 and Hardingham in 33, all of which they kept today. Buttifant was in 20 again.
This indicates that Gorham, Georgostathis, Farquharson and Edmonds would all be getting new numbers, of which 1, 9, 14 and 22 are available. Either that order, or swapping 9 and 14, would be necessary for everyone who is changing to have a lower number than last year.

- BNC

[Hotdog60]

Good review BNC and covered all of it. I think the more games you can get into the players can only be a benefit despite the risk factor so I'm glad we are running them through these early games. Just on Grigg she did a great effort at one grab take aways and in the AFLW is a great asset because if you are clean below the knees, it just gives you much more time and space.

[BiteNibbleChomp]

VFLW Round 5

I know this is a bit later than usual. I hope "I was at Marvel last night" suffices for an explanation

Well, that and I wanted to think about this one a bit more. This is our first loss where we've fielded senior players, and in the previous games it has consistently been those players rolling over weak opposition (no shade intended towards the state teams, but there is a huge difference in the amount of training and support that those girls get compared with the AFLW program, and it shows on the field). So I've been able to just make a few notes through the game, look at the stats and the end, and say who's doing good and who's been a bit quiet.
This time, our state players were largely the ones dominating both the play and the stats sheet. Typically I don't make many notes on them (I can't keep track of the whole team all game), but I did note the top 5 of Bulldog players by fantasy score at each quarter break - shoutouts to Bishop, Tabb, Sansonetti and Livingstone for featuring prominently here. I think there's a couple of ways to read this: it could have been a coaching strategy that saw the state girls getting the more prominent positions for more of the game - our only line-up changes from last week were Gutknecht and Buttifant out for a couple of state players. It could be the conditions - this was a scrappy game where it rained for 70% of the game time (and prior to that, just about all morning) and clean possessions were hard to come by. It could be North were just really good - last years' premiers, 3-1 record this season with their one loss a narrow one against finals threat Essendon. And credit to them.
But North didn't play any of their own senior players, whereas we played 9. I commented at the start of my first writeup about how the Sydney teams flogged their VFLW opponents and still finished bottom 4. We're fielding about a half-and-half team each week rather than a full AFLW side, but if the skill gap is as big as that, then this loss might be a reminder that there's still a fair bit of work to do before we'll be a finals contender in the national comp. But we're doing that work now.

Or it could also be that Arden Street is a terrible ground with no seats and no cover. I was bunched up against the wall of one of the buildings with half a metre of dry space. Couldn't see nearly as much as I'd like .

Stats
Scoreline
Bulldogs 2.0 3.0 3.2 3.4.22
North 2.3 2.3 4.5 6.7.43
Hitouts
Bulldogs 9 25 36 50
North 12 20 30 47
Clearances
Bulldogs 5 14 22 34
North 12 21 29 41
Tackles
Bulldogs 13 29 45 65
North 14 35 53 74
Frees
Bulldogs 2 6 6 10
North 6 9 15 17
i50s
Bulldogs 7 14 20 24
North 8 20 28 37
Disposals
Bulldogs 47 116 170 209 (116K/93H)
North 57 126 177 234 (136K/98H)
Marks
Bulldogs 13 18 20 23
North 8 9 11 16

Bulldogs Scorers (* for VFLW players)
McDonald 1.1
McLeod* 1.0
Bishop* 1.0
Tabb* 0.1
(Rushed 0.2)

General Observations
Well, at least this went better than the last time I went to a rainy game at Arden Street (AFLW Round 6 last year, if you don't remember it then please don't look it up unless you want to be really sad).
North started out very strongly - by about the 8 minute mark they had scored 1.2 while we had had only one serious look at the sticks, with Grigg taking a set shot 30m or so out that was marked right in front of the line (would have been a behind if it went through). Our first goal came on a quick handball chain (I want to say McDonald to Fitzy to McLeod who put it through). Our second (Bishop) was on the back of a 100m penalty (I think the first 50 was for the North player not standing their mark, no idea what the second was).
Second quarter was when the rain was heaviest, I was going to say it was the scrappiest quarter but then noticed only five marks were taken across both teams during the third, so maybe that one gets the title (see above). North really should have scored more than they did during that quarter, they had more than a couple of decent entries. Rain eased a bit during most of the third, not that it did us much good - I don't think we had an inside 50 until about 12 minutes into that quarter. Early in the fourth we also dominated territory but couldn't convert, whereas when North did get their entries a bit later, they did. I wrote in my notes at that point "where is our backline?" - our defenders had pushed a bit further forward than they should have.

Players
So earlier I said that I was tracking the fantasy scores each quarter (yes, flawed measurement I know). At quarter time it was Poustie leading this stat for us (didn't check how she compared to North's stat leaders). My vantage point wasn't great for observing the scraps in the midfield, so after a strong effort early on I don't have many notes. Stats sheet has her at ten tackles for the game (Griggy, your spot is under threat now! ), three marks (only Sansonetti had more for the Dogs) and two clearances. Like last week she was a regular attendee at centre bounce.
Fitzgerald was another inside mid who I didn't have a good view of but the stats sheet reveals to have been quite good - nine tackles, four clearances. The official writeup for the match gives her a shoutout. I'm guessing whoever wrote that had a better view (and probably a warmer one too) than I did.
Hardingham monstered the stats sheet again - I feel like I write this every week now . 38 hitouts (game high), 8 clearances (Bulldog high), 13 contested possessions (Bulldog high) - yes I occasionally do remember to look at the "Advanced" page of the stats sheet. I did also notice we rested her up at full forward rather than putting her on the bench at one point: last year she played more obviously as a forward (though also got the ruck job), whereas this year she seems to be mostly a midfielder - but at least in the men's comp there's been a lot of talk of resting players in the goal square as a strategy, and if that's what we're going for, I'm fully on board.
A positional change I was hoping to see more of was Carruthers on the wing after her excellent first half last week. Didn't happen, she's back to the inside mid spot. Can I argue with six tackles and five clearances? No. But I do think there is something there after last week.
Stephenson had a game of two halves. Up to half time, five disposals at 100% efficiency. After half time, four more disposals at 0% efficiency (of course there's more to it than that but the stat is kinda funny). I'm also not sure exactly what we were trying to do with her - one time I'd look and she'd be full forward, two minutes later she's rucking deep in defence. I don't mind her down back: our defence was quite good in the second when I first noticed her back there, and she was in the forward line at the time of the two North goals late in the fourth. Fittingly, if you sort by fantasy score on the stats sheet and filter for Bulldogs, she's dead centre. So she can be the middle of this list too.
Ferres had a similar game to last week, playing a linking role at half forward and getting nine disposals - but those at just 45% efficiency (this the worst of our senior players, but six state players were below her). No score involvements either. I don't want to be too harsh especially with the efficiency - rough conditions and a good opponent will do that - but I had hoped for more from her.
Grigg was another one who was a bit of a letdown this week, though after last week's performance that might have been inevitable. Two tackles, 10 disposals and three frees against. Can't fault her effort however, she's always getting into the contests.
McDonald continues to impress - particularly her marking. The stats only give her 2 marks and 6 contested possessions for the game, but it sure felt like it should be more - even more impressive given the conditions. She was also our highest scorer - one goal from a set shot in the second quarter (estimating the distance is difficult from where I was, but it looked like quite a long kick - maybe 35m?), and one behind which was a snap about 20m out under pressure.
Barwick is a hard one for me to rate this week. She had the second best efficiency of any Bulldog at 71% and 5 intercepts, and around quarter time I had her noted down as someone to watch as I thought her effort to that point had been very good. Then I barely noticed her again until late in the fourth. Finished with 7 disposals and 25 fantasy score. Feels a touch harsh to me.

Guernsey Numbers
Nothing new to report.

- BNC

[Hotdog60]

I watched till half time before watching the men which wasn't much better. There were some nice passages of play but come unstuck where it counted nice rewrite up BNC keep em coming.

[BiteNibbleChomp]

https://www.westernbulldogs.com.au/news/1788073/vflw-team-round-6-v-box-hill

VFLW team for tomorrow's game against Box Hill has been put out, no AFLW players will be there.
Did find it noteworthy that they're explaining this as being due to the team going on their camp this week - some of the other clubs have been saying stuff like risk of injury or wanting their players to prepare for the pre-season as reasons not to field their senior players in the state comp (I think we've been the only club to do so in any serious numbers). Leaves the door open for some to return to play next week.
I won't be doing write-ups for games only featuring the state players, but happy to resume them if any senior players feature again .

Did also notice VFLW round 9 vs Sandringham has been moved from Sunday June 21 to the Saturday morning of that week, probably so it won't clash with the AFL match against Richmond.

I'm a bit surprised that we still don't have the AFLW fixture yet - last year it released May 31 (which was also before the start of pre-season), and this season starts two weeks earlier. Although there was that post on the AFL site a few weeks back where they basically said they still hadn't worked out how they were going to handle the overlap with the mens comp . They have been saying 'before the end of May' so maybe I'm just being impatient .

- BNC

[Hotdog60]

Jasmyn Smith signs on
The Bulldogs midfielder has extended her time at the Kennel.



Western Bulldogs midfielder Jasmyn Smith has extended her time at the Kennel.

The 21-year-old put pen to paper on a contract which will see her remain a Bulldog until at least the end of the 2027 NAB AFLW season.

Smith was acquired via a trade with Gold Coast SUNS prior to the 2024 season, playing all 11 games in her debut campaign at the Dogs.

She enjoyed a career-best outing in the Week 4 win over Collingwood, collecting 15 disposals and five marks.

Smith has also featured at VFLW level in recent weeks.

“Jasmyn had a strong first season with us, cementing herself in the team and finishing Top 10 in our Best & Fairest,” AFLW List Manager Dan Fisher said.

“She’s one of the hardest workers in our group with an elite athletic profile, which she uses as a winger to support in defensive 50 and outnumber in forward 50.



“She’s also been exploring her emerging leadership capacity through our Pups program, which assists the on and off field development of our first to fourth-year players.

“We look forward to her continued growth over the next three years.”

Smith joins Elaine Grigg and Cleo Buttifant in re-signing ahead of the 2025 campaign.

LINK

[josie]

Thanks Hotdog. Good signing. Liked Smith’s last season. Will be fascinating how the team goes this year. I’m hoping they sneak into finals and surprise a few.

[BiteNibbleChomp]

Jasmyn Smith signs on
The Bulldogs midfielder has extended her time at the Kennel.

Chuffed. In the couple of state games she's played this year she's been one of the standouts - hoping for a big season for her this year

Also how good is that pink Diamond Dog?

- BNC

[BiteNibbleChomp]

Anyone who has enjoyed my running commentary about trying to figure out the guernsey numbers that are changing this year might get a laugh out of looking at the official team page - apparently we're going in to the season with two #9s, two #24s and none of the changes I've noted on the field so far. Gotta be bugged or something haha.

They do also have Gutknecht listed as a defender now - she's played back in the VFLW games so this isn't just a screw-up by the website designer.

https://www.westernbulldogs.com.au/teams/aflw

- BNC

[Bornadog]

Season starts for us 16 August

image.png

[Hotdog60]

Williamstown v Western Bulldogs
Sunday 1 June 2025, 9:35am (AEST)
DSV Stadium, Williamstown • Bunurong

B	S. Sansonetti (55)	T. Crook (30)
HB	R. Benham (44)	J. Livingston (40)	B. Gutknecht (18)
C	T. Skenderis (34)	J. Tabb (63)	K. Weston-Turner (13)
HF	R. Saulitis (56)	F. Taylor (48)	M. McLeod (31)
F	I. Young (51)	Z. Hamilton (62)
R	L. Swain (71)	J. Fitzgerald (23)	S. Asciak (29)
INT	E. Ramsay (46)	P. Pavic (52)	Z. Ward (59)
	S. Poustie (6)	I. Davies (43)
EMG	L. Ashcroft (42)	H. Brodie (47)	C. McDermott (38)
B. Ward (54)	M. Styles (50)	C. Parnell (36)

Ins: Davies, Fitzgerald, Gutknecht, Poustie, Weston-Turner, Ward, Pavic
Outs: Parnell, McFarlane, McDermott, Bishop, Ashcroft, Brodie, Milford

[BiteNibbleChomp]

Season starts for us 16 August

It's finally here

Geelong in Ballarat... I do wonder if that was inspired by a certain comment made a few weeks ago...

- BNC

[Hotdog60]

Interesting KWT listed on the wing is she done as a forward?