Well, we won the VFL. We lost the AFL. Its 1-1. Lets see if we can win the AFLW to break the tie.
TBH, i'm not confident as Pies have a better list which is more settled. We will probably spend a few weeks finding positions for a lot of our girls as we've been raped and pillaged by other clubs in the off-season.
FWIW, every game this year, we had 5 or more of those players in our best 21. 3 games, we had 6! We've basically lost over 1/4 of our talent in the 1 season....and its high end talent.
But....a victory against the pies will help us get over it....
KEELEY SKEPPER - Pick 17 Pos Midfielder Ht 163cm, DOB 15/3/04 From Murray Bushrangers/Vic Country
The Saints had been very keen on Sofia Hurley until the Sandringham midfielder opted to make the move north. Skepper is a tenacious inside midfielder who was named Vic Country's MVP at the Under-18 Championships. Attacks the ball despite her light frame and is a strong all-round performer.
MIA AUSTIN - Pick 18 Pos Forward Ht 178cm, DOB 22/4/04 From Eastern Ranges/Vic Metro
The Blues have been heavily linked to key forward Austin, and have a need to fill that area. Has only played one year of NAB League but was a dominant presence in attack with her strong marking and athletic ability when the ball hit the deck.
ESSENDON has pulled off a stunning double coup ahead of its maiden season in the AFLW, with the club set to sign important Carlton duo Maddy Prespakis and Georgia Gee.
Womens.afl can reveal the Bombers have lured both players in what is a significant filip for the incoming expansion side and a brutal blow for their arch rivals at Ikon Park.
Sole representative in the AA side, last picked on the bench.
Kez Harrington makes her 3rd AA side.
Moody was a bit stiff to not get the ruck position IMO, went to Lauren Pearce. I think after 5 or 6 rounds, Moody made the team of the week 4 or 5 times.
Last round and the match up we've been waiting to see. Tayla Harris vs Carlton.
The result is basically known. The ladder positions largely irrelevant. All eyes will be on Tayla.
So what do we do with her? We'd know better than anyone how to play her...and I'm talking mentally more than anything else. I feel like she is one of those 'don't poke the bear' types. Make her angry and she'll play better. Perhaps we go down the friendly path and make her feel like she is playing against her friends. She's said before she doesn't like hurting people, both in boxing and in footy.
I feel like she could be easily distracted as well. I forget who it was, but I think someone asked Richo (i think) a riddle during a game just to mess with him and he spent more time trying g to work out the riddle than focus on what he was supposed to be doing on the field.
The men's teams used to have dossiers on players with a list of do's and don'ts time to bring that back to Tayla.
We've made our first change to the lineup in weeks, a forced change with Lucy mcevoy an out with a sore calf and Brooke Walker returning.
A point has been made about half wanting effort and commitment and walker being left out sent alarm bells her way. Well she had 7 tackles last week in th3 vflw and has been recalled this week.
Finals are mathematically possible, but realistically no chance. Still, would be good to get 3 on the trot
So talking about comings and going from our AFLW list had me thinking. How well did we do from the original draft and how many players are still playing footy, both here and elsewhere.
So looking at players drafted by Carlton. Pick # - Player - Where are they now? 3 - Bianca Jakobsson - Now at St. Kilda, after spending 3 years at Melbourne, we only got 1 year from here before trading her out. 14 - Kate Gillespie-Jones - Now, delisted. Previously spent 3 years at NM, after 2 years with us. 19 - Sarah Hosking - Now, Richmond. Famoulsy walked away 2 years ago despite being part of the leadership group. 30 - Gab Pound - Still with us, still going strong. Only 27 and at least a few years left. 35 - Danielle Hardiman - Now at NM. Spent 2 years with us before being poached by the kangas during the expansion with KGJ. 46 - Shae Audley - Now, retired. She played 16 games with us over 3 seasons and never played elsewhere. 51 - Bella Ayre - Was part of the trade to Brisbane for Tayla Harris, but was delisted after only 2 years. 62 - Lauren Brazzale - Still on the list having played 36 games thus far. Recently found herself in/out of the side. Currently, 28 with suspect form. 67 - Breann Moody - Still on our list and dominating. By her own admission, she felt out of place and was just making up the numbers initially. Developed into the premier ruck of the competition. 78 - Jess Hosking - Now at Richmond after following her twin out the door 12 months later. 83 - Natalie Plane - Part of the heart and soul of the club. Still giving her all for her club and teammates. 94 - Sarah Last - Delisted after 2 years at the club, she did not find another club. 99 - Tilly Lucas-Rodd - Now at St.Kilda after following her GF Bri Davey out the door after our GF loss in 2019. 110 - Katie Loynes - GWS. An inspired pick and former captain left us last year for GWS after not being offered a contract. Turning 36 next month. 115 - Madeline Keryk - Now at the Cats where she was drafted after being delisted by us after 2 years at the club. 126 - Kate Darby - Now also at the Cats. Delisted after 1 year with us. Spent a year out of the game before being redrafed by Geelong. 129 - Alison Downie - The 37yo is playing her first season at Collingwood after not being offered a contract with us in the off-season. 140 - Laura Attard - Delisted after 2 seasons with us. Did not find another club after that. 142 - Rebecca Privitelli - Now at GWS. Was delisted after 1 season with us, GWS drafted her as a free agent and she remains there to this day.
Thats the 19 players we took during the draft.
We also had access to players through a variety of other pathways.... Marquee player - Bri Davey - Now co-captain at Collingwood (with another ex baggers tragic) after walking out on us while she was our captain. Marquee player - Darcy Vescio - Still at the club, still surprising us. Whether its with goals kicked or gender identified as. Darcy has it all. Priority player - Lauren Arnell - Retired after 3 years with Lions after being our inaugural captain. Rookie player - Nat Exon - Now at St. Kilda, after being part of the Harris trade to the Lions. Only spent a year with us, but showed plenty of heart. Rookie player - Kate Shierlaw - Now at St. Kilda. Delisted after 2 years at the club (at her request i believe), was named Co-captain at the saints. Free agent - Jess Kennedy - Delisted after only a year on the list, she was never picked up elsewhere. Free agent - Hayley Trevean - Delisted after only a year. Spent a year in the VFLW before being picked up by Geelong for a year before being delisted again. Free agent - Alison Brown. First year at Melbourne. Only 1 year with us before being out of the game for 2 years before being drafted to saints where she spent the last 2 years.
Overall, i think we picked pretty well. There are 5 current players who was apart of our original list. There are 13 additional players who was on our original list that are still in the AFLW but are playing for other teams.
The following players are now on our list after originally being put on another AFLW list in season 1. Priority player - Jess Dal Pos - Drafted by GWS, she joined us for this season. 6 - Nicola Stevens - Drafted by Collingwood where she spent just 1 season before joining us and becoming a staple since. 8 - Elise O'Dea - Drafted by Melbourne. Is in her second season with us now.
So 8 players from the original draft period are on our current list of 30. From the 18 players we drafted in that original draft period that are still playing footy, only 5 are still playing in Navy Blue. While that number is somewhat alarming. When you take into account the number of additional teams in the game now, and if those teams would actually make our 21 now, its not nearly as bad as it appears.
But, 18 from our original 30 still playing should be seen as a good effort from our original recruiters.
