With our season over, disappointingly, we will now have to turn our attention to 2024. In the immortal words of Arnold Schwarzenegger (and general Douglas McArthur), 'we will be back'!
It is now time to digest what we've achieved and where we've failed. [1] Considering that we were 15th not that long ago, with some of the worst losses we've endured in recent times, getting to 3rd was an amazing achievement. Teams feared us (at last!) and they needed to.
[2] Michael Voss has lost his Preliminary Final. I'm sorry we couldn't do it for him, but we have done things in the last couple of months that looked impossible halfway through the season.
[3] We turned the worst forward line in the competition into one that didn't just have 2 towers.
[4] We haven't really played that well for some time, but we still kept on winning. That wasn't a fluke: that has hard work and belief.
Voting is as usual: you have 15 votes to award pretty much as you will, with the following provisos: [1] 15 votes in total, no more, no less. [2] No more than 10 votes for any one player (even Sam Walsh or Patrick Cripps) [3] Three players at least must get a mention. [4] A grade for the game, A+ (what I want to see) to F-.
The team this week: Backs: Keeley Skepper Vaomua Laloifi Half-backs: Kerryn Peterson Harriet Cordner Gab Pound Centreline: Marianna Anthony Abbie McKay Brooke Vickers Half-forwards: Amelia Velardo Phoebe McWilliams Erone Fitzpatrick Forwards: Mia Austin Jess Good Followers: Brea Moody Mimi Hill Darcy Vescio Interchange: Keeley Sherar Lily Goss Taylor Ortlepp Maddy Hendrie Jess Dal Pos
Emergencies: Imogen Milford Ciara Fitzgerald Dayna Finn
AFL 1st Semi Final: Carlton vs Sydney Our first final for a decade and an excellent result.
Trends: [1] There were 10 voters this week, a really small number for such a significant game. Such is life, but I did expect more. Please do take the time to vote: it makes our statistics a lot more reliable and, more importantly, it shows how active we are on the forum.
[2] The rating was a 9.17, which is an B. Probably s sign of what we've got used to in the last couple of months. Still, it was a terrific win.
[3]16 players managed a mention again this week, which shows just how we've played for the last couple of months. Just about everyone had a really solid contribution. Since I've been doing this we've never been this consistent all over the board as we've been in the last half of the season.
[4] The average vote this week was 37. I don't think that can be right, but I can't find any error yet.
[5]6 players managed 100 votes or more this week. It shows that we had a good group of significant players.
[6] Blake Acres managed 337 votes to be BOG this week, his first for us. Sam Walsh was only a handful of votes behind.
[7]3 players, Acres, Walsh and Cottrell, were awarded votes from everyone this week. The rest of the votes were well spread.
[8] Our youngsters continued to make an impression, an excellent signs moving forwards.
[9] There was no one area of dominance this week, but all areas really made a contribution.
Game played in Perth at 15:05 at Mineral Resources Park (wherever that is). We've never played the Weagles before in the AFLW. I hope we can come back after last week's embarrassment.
Our line-up: Backs: Jess Dal Pos Vaomua Laloifi Half-backs: Keeley Skepper Harriet Cordner Gab Pound Centreline: Marianna Anthony Abbie McKay Amelia Velardo Half-forwards: Phoebe McWilliams Maddy Hendrie Breann Moody Forwards: Mia Austin Darcy Vescio Followers: Jess Good Mimi Hill Brooke Vickers Interchange: Keeley Sherar Lily Goss Taylor Ortlepp Gen Lawson-Tavan Erone Fitzpatrick
I won't get to sleep for at least another hour yet, so I'll start off proceedings. 1st Semi Final Carlton vs Melbourne Another heart-stopper and the perfect result. But I can’t give the team an A, not even for a win like this. We made far too many errors at crucial moments and wasted a lot of Inside 50’s. Team: B+ Finding a way to win from where we were was special.
Votes: [3] Sam Walsh [2] Patrick Cripps [2] Jacob Weitering [1.5] Tom de Koning [1.5] Nic Newman [1] Adam Saad [1] Sam Docherty [0.5] Mitch McGovern [0.5] Jesse Motlop [0.5] Blake Acres [0.5] Lachie Fogarty [0.5] George Hewett [0.5] Adam Cerra
Explanations: [3] Sam Walsh: 34 possessions, 2 brilliant goals, 6 marks, 8 tackles and 3 clearances says it all: the sort of game that makes a difference. [2] Patrick Cripps: 27 possessions, 9 clearances, 6 tackles and some really good moments describes the game from a man who it mattered to. [2] Jacob Weitering: Head knock or not, Weitering dominated his position, even if he didn’t hold some he usually marks. His ability to starve the Melburne key forwards was crucial. [1.5] Tom de Koning: Tom produced in some big moments. He took only 4 marks, but each of those was crucial, as were his goals and clearances. [1.5] Nic Newman: A few uncharacteristic mistakes, but a very solid game on defence at 30 possessions again. [1] Adam Saad: Really did a job on his opponents. [1] Sam Docherty: Came back after a dislocated shoulder and was crucial at important times. [0.5] Mitch McGovern: 20 possessions and a solid job in defence. [0.5] Jesse Motlop: Not a lot of ball, but his goals were crucial. [0.5] Blake Acres: Down for him with only 17 possessions and was targeted by the Melbourne players, but still managed to pop up at do crucial things when he was needed. [0.5] Lachie Fogarty: Not enough scoring, but still doing very good things in the forward line. [0.5] George Hewett: 20 possessions; a solid game. [0.5] Adam Cerra: Faded out of the game, but what he did was excellent.
Honourable Mentions: Brodie Kemp: Not his best game, but still doing nice things and hold down a critical post. Matthew Kennedy: Not really a key forward, but he worked hard and did some nice things. Caleb Marchbank: What could have been: got to a lot of contests but didn’t hold his marks. His decision making was much better tonight. Marc Pittonet: Lion-hearted in the ruck. Worked hard and kept Gawn under control mostly. Oliver Hollands: 4 possessions in the last quarter, and 1 kick smothered poorly, but his run and smart disposal was excellent in that final flurry. Alex Cincotta: Not huge possessions, but really did a solid negative job.
Sam Walsh was the difference this evening. He was special. 34 possessions, 8 tackles, 2 goals and 600+ m gained was huge. Patrick Cripps wasn't far behind. 27 possessions, 6 tackles and 9 clearances! Some teams don't get 9 clearances in a game! Cerra started well, but faded, as did Tom de Koning. However, Tom took some really important marks this evening. And he had clearances at important times. He should be pretty happy with his performance.
Blake Acres again showed he why we recruited him. He did some really nice things, he ran hard, he took marks at clutch moments and kicked truly when it mattered. An inspired choice.
Fox footy Commentators said it was the loudest they have ever heard
I've been going to the footy for 53 years and I've never heard a noise that loud, not even winning premierships. It was phenomenal! Normally my friends and I are easy for people to hear; not tonight. I won't sleep for hours yet, until my adrenal glands recover. But that was amazing.
