No details yet, but we have made it and so many others did not.
Now for the main event!
[I'll fill in the opponent when we know who it is.]
So it's Adelaide in Adelaide if the reports are correct about the venue!
Adelaide it is.
Venue should be in Adelaide.
Day should be Sunday.
TBC.
Bit of back story.
Round 1. Adelaide 1.11.17 to dogs 2.6.18 (reigning premiers)
This was Adelaides only loss for the year....and with kicking like that, it shouldn't have been close to a loss.
From R2 onwards,
- Not a single side got with 5 goals of Adelaide.
- Not a single side managed to kick 7 goals against them.
- Not a single side had managed to lead against them at any of the breaks during the game (1/4 time, half time, 3/4 time)
- Not a single side has managed to have a lead against them of 2 or more goals all year.
....that is....except us.
In R2 we lost by a mere 13 points.
We kicked ended up kicking 7 goals against them
We were leading against them at half time
We were leading by 17 points late in the 3rd quarter
.....and we did that in a game which we didn't have Tayla Harris in.
Yes, Crows are favourites...and by a long way.....but if anyone is a chance....
GF-Sunday 1pm AEDT (12:30pm local time) at Adelaide Oval.
https://www.carltonfc.com.au/news/2019-03-24/all-aboard-to-adelaide
Club site has the game as Sunday 21st March ??? so don't book tickets until 2021 ;D
Like your analysis Kruddler.
First Carlton Grand Final for 20 Years.
First Carlton Grand Final for 20 Years.
If you exclude pre-season comps and reserves, yes.
Do the girls get to go over early and have a run at Adelaide oval?
If not then the choice of venue is a disgrace, some of them might never have even walked on the turf before. Perhaps it should have been a neutral venue!
Backs: 9. Kerryn Harrington 36. Jayde Van Dyk
Half-backs: 21. Nicola Stevens 20. Charlott Wilson 6. Grabriella Pound
Centreline: 15. Chloe Dalton 1. Brianna Davey 12. Lauren Brazzale
Half-forwards: 14. Brooke Walker 16. Breann Moody 18. Tilly Lucas-Rodd
Forwards: 3. Darcy Vescio 7. Tayla Harris
Followers: 30. Alison Downie 4. Madison Prespakis 10. Sarah Hosking
Interchange from: 25. Jessica Edwards 19. Georgia Gee 24. Reni Hicks
11. Jess Hosking 2. Katie Loynes 8. Amelia Mullane
32. Natalie Plane
INTO extended squad.
Plane + Hicks
no outs as yet.
Do the girls get to go over early and have a run at Adelaide oval?
If not then the choice of venue is a disgrace, some of them might never have even walked on the turf before. Perhaps it should have been a neutral venue!
It's probably the best venue in the country.
It's probably the best venue in the country.
With the fanatical Crows supporters, they could get 30,000 to the game. Besides, it’s a bit embarrassment having games at Princes Park in the state it’s in.
Final side, unchanged from last week.
Hicks and Plane the emergencies.
With the fanatical Crows supporters, they could get 30,000 to the game. Besides, it’s a bit embarrassment having games at Princes Park in the state it’s in.
I have been to a couple of Port Adelaide Carlton games at Football Park and the crowd was about 30,000 and I would say a third were Carlton.
Not sure how many will turn up for the girls though.
Our attention should now turn to this game.
Hopefully our girls watched the match last night and realised that despite coming up against a fancied opponent, when playing your best footy, you can get into a winning position. Also, when you have lapses in concentration and/or effort, the game can quickly slip away from you.
With that being said, our girls are riding high on a wave currently. Going from strength to strength and building confidence in themselves and eachother with every outing.
Also looking pretty healthy with an unchanged lineup yet again.
Harrington appears to be ok and over whatever shoulder injury caused her grief last week.
Full bill of health elsewhere.
Adelaide are also relatively healthy, but Erin Phillips seems a little bit hampered by a quad injury at the moment...although unless that leg is amputated, it won't stop her.
Hopefully the weather holds out and we see a good contest and our girls do us proud.
The girls look lively and invested. They go in bloody hard as well. Crows do look good though.
Nearly double the I50's, but only 1/3 of the goals.
Come on girls.
Harris needs to lift big time.
A bit like the boys, entries into the 50 hurting us
Harris not fit or unwell, she's just walking around the field!
Crows pretty simple game plan, let your opponents take the football then tackle them!
Harris not even contesting, has the Crows mafia got something on her?
Erin Phillips has done her knee. Anything is possible now.
100-1 shot, but we only need it to be the 1.
Disappointing from the girls thus far.
Harris needs to lift. Yes, she has an injury of sorts, but there is no game next week so worry about it then.
Vescio needs to have a big term, lifted late in the 3rd.
Any chance?
Any chance?
3 minutes to go in the game, 8 goals down....
Looked promising in the first 5 minutes but then Adelaide’s class shone through. Was basically girls against women. Harris on one leg meant we were a woman down all game although they had 2 carried off. Have watched a fair bit of AFLW and the standard has improved markedly in 3 years. Pretty amazing to get over 50K. What other women’s domestic team competition pulls that sort of crowd?
That was definitely little girls against women. Very poor result. Huge crowd. Not very much more than that. It must be a Blues theme.
Disappointing end to a very good season. Crows have clearly been the standout team. The girls should be proud of turning things around so much in 12 months.
Hopefully 1 better next season.
Second qtr killed us.
Expected to be hammered but was hoping. Adelaide is a seriously good side.
Crows kicking skills are light years ahead of our girls.
They have a massive advantage being the only SA club, given the way the AFLW draft works. It will get worse next year as other teams get diluted further through expansion, but they will still be the only SA club so will get all the best young SA players
They have a massive advantage being the only SA club, given the way the AFLW draft works. It will get worse next year as other teams get diluted further through expansion, but they will still be the only SA club so will get all the best young SA players
And they get the pick of the crop from the NT!
End of the day, we must applaud the women's achievement and effort.
They rediscovered how to win (the men are yet to do that).
Not that it's a competition between the two!
And they get the pick of the crop from the NT!
...and North get Tassie.
Which are the 2 strongest teams in the comp? (Besides potentially us).
From wooden spoon to grand finalists, bravo all concerned. 2020.
Yes, a well done, but under the AFLW rules it'll be hard to keep most of that group together. There are already rumors of big names being approached to move.
Not the only issue but so many of our victories in the run to the GF revolved around Al Downie's ruckwork and the clearances that followed.
She was well beaten against Nth Melb and again today and we were well beaten as well.
They have a massive advantage being the only SA club, given the way the AFLW draft works. It will get worse next year as other teams get diluted further through expansion, but they will still be the only SA club so will get all the best young SA players
Yes. Things are set up for a multi year Crow Dynasty. Thanks a lot, AFL. (Wish there was a sarcasm emoji!)
Yes, a well done, but under the AFLW rules it'll be hard to keep most of that group together. There are already rumors of big names being approached to move.
That does not surprise me. The new clubs can steal from us a lot more easily than they can steal from Adelaide.
It was a great effort by the girls (and Harf) but Adelaide was far too good. I reckon they are 12 months ahead of us in terms of fitness, strength and skills.
It was sad to see the two girls go down with ACLs. I wonder if it will mean the end of Erin Phillips’ AFLW career. Apparently she’s off to the USA to continue her basketball coaching career but that shouldn’t hinder her rehab if she has the desire to play again.
It was a good decision to play the game in Adelaide; great stadium and plenty of fanatical fans, including the significant number of Carlton fans who made the trip.
Not the only issue but so many of our victories in the run to the GF revolved around Al Downie's ruckwork and the clearances that followed.
She was well beaten against Nth Melb and again today and we were well beaten as well.
A lot of our turn-around can be placed on Alison Downie's shoulders. She was good in the 1st season, but terrible last year. We so missed her influence and her smarts in 2018, Breann Moody did her best, but she is not a smart ruck yet. Downie really is.
I might have given Moody more time in the middle this time, as she jumps in hard and would not be as expected. But hindsight is ...
If Alison Downie can play like that again and Moody can develop, then our ruck options look good, even though Downie is well into her 30's.
The Adelaide ruck was a revelation this year and was a major reason in their victory. They have 3 good rucks on their list when some clubs don't have one. The luck of being South Australian.
Moody improved as the season went on and produced some great cameo performances. Her run from the wing to the 50 reminded me of Harry Madden’s momentous run :) Time will tell if she can can perform consistently.
They'll be fine, a lot of our girls are elite sporting converts, while the Crows are bringing the best seasoned female football talent out of SA and NT competitions.
One thing that may be difficult for Carlton fans to accept in coming seasons will be the diminished influence of Vesio. Her star shone brightly at the start simply off the back of her superior strength, skills, agility and mobility. But with more girls getting semi-professional training and exposer Darcy's natural advantages will evaporate. Even the girls coming from other elite sports realise now they have to go to another level to meet the demands of playing AFL at a high level.
You can't just be big or strong, fast, agile, smart or brave to be a star in AFL, you have to have it all!
Not the only issue but so many of our victories in the run to the GF revolved around Al Downie's ruckwork and the clearances that followed.
She was well beaten against Nth Melb and again today and we were well beaten as well.
I was very surprised to see so many people give Downie votes in the GF. I thought she tried well, but it was from the ruck that the crows won the game.
Downie has given us 1st service all year and helped Prespakis and co get us moving forward, but we couldn't get the same service in the granny and as a result, couldn't get our hands on the ball enough.
Downie will be top 5 in the B+F, but was far from top 5 in the GF IMO.
As for Moody, i hope it was a lack of pre-season that hurt her this year, because if it wasn't, i wouldn't even offer her a spot on the list! Can't kick, too slow and rubbish when the ball is on the deck. Traditionally, she's a dinosaur ruck.
I was very surprised to see so many people give Downie votes in the GF. I thought she tried well, but it was from the ruck that the crows won the game.
Downie has given us 1st service all year and helped Prespakis and co get us moving forward, but we couldn't get the same service in the granny and as a result, couldn't get our hands on the ball enough.
Downie will be top 5 in the B+F, but was far from top 5 in the GF IMO.
As for Moody, i hope it was a lack of pre-season that hurt her this year, because if it wasn't, i wouldn't even offer her a spot on the list! Can't kick, too slow and rubbish when the ball is on the deck. Traditionally, she's a dinosaur ruck.
I don't think Downie was beaten around the ground at all, if the only measure is the tap then perhaps but that is a very narrow focus, on 2nd efforts and around the ground she probably came out on top!
I suppose stating Downie was beaten is no different to claiming Phillips did well despite his direct opponents twice being rated by many as BoG. There is a bigger picture.
I think the better measure of a ruck is often what they do when they aren't winning the tap. It's also a good measure of the midfield, what they do when their ruck isn't dominant, I think it showed our midfield inexperience, and I'm not sure the clearances would have been much different even if we had a dominant ruck.
I don't think Downie was beaten around the ground at all, if the only measure is the tap then perhaps but that is a very narrow focus, on 2nd efforts and around the ground she probably came out on top!
I suppose stating Downie was beaten is no different to claiming Phillips did well despite his direct opponents twice being rated by many as BoG. There is a bigger picture.
I think the better measure of a ruck is often what they do when they aren't winning the tap. It's also a good measure of the midfield, what they do when their ruck isn't dominant, I think it showed our midfield inexperience, and I'm not sure the clearances would have been much different even if we had a dominant ruck.
I'm not doubting her effort around the ground. I was more disappointed with her lack of resilliance in the ruck.
She's been big enough and strong enough to stand there and push and shove and win the ruck most weeks. This wasn't working. Did she try a different tactic? She was a basketballer, she can jump, maybe try that for a change. Just go the old big punch forward every now and then ala Clark Keating.
Around the ground is why i think Moody is a very poor 2nd option by comparison. Downie dominated her in that area.
The girl that Downie was up against was as green as they come. She only joined the team 2 weeks before the season....or was turned into a ruckman 2 weeks before (or both). Gotta be smarter than that.
I'm not doubting her effort around the ground. I was more disappointed with her lack of resilliance in the ruck.
She's been big enough and strong enough to stand there and push and shove and win the ruck most weeks. This wasn't working. Did she try a different tactic? She was a basketballer, she can jump, maybe try that for a change. Just go the old big punch forward every now and then ala Clark Keating.
Around the ground is why i think Moody is a very poor 2nd option by comparison. Downie dominated her in that area.
The girl that Downie was up against was as green as they come. She only joined the team 2 weeks before the season....or was turned into a ruckman 2 weeks before (or both). Gotta be smarter than that.
No doubt Downie was being jumped over in the center square, maybe there was a reason for that, we may never know.
On a separate issue, I was interested to hear Harf explaining that Tayla was injured in the 3rd and so didn't return. I suspect she entered the game carrying an injury and we won't know about that either, but it was clear she was well off focus from the first bounce. She was certainly affected by something, I hope it wasn't something more sinister given recent events, yet it would not be a surprise given the nutters out in the real world!
No doubt Downie was being jumped over in the center square, maybe there was a reason for that, we may never know.
On a separate issue, I was interested to hear Harf explaining that Tayla was injured in the 3rd and so didn't return. I suspect she entered the game carrying an injury and we won't know about that either, but it was clear she was well off focus from the first bounce. She was certainly affected by something, I hope it wasn't something more sinister given recent events, yet it would not be a surprise given the nutters out in the real world!
Put your tinfoil hat away LP, no conspiracy with Tayla.
She was having a shocker early.
She was put into the midfield at the opening bounce of the 2nd half, and was getting the clearance before running into Davey, both hurt themselves. Tayla barely returned. Davey soldiered on like a true champ.
I've got a bit of a theory with Tayla. She is very much a confidence player and when things don't go her way, you'll struggle to turn her around in a game. Chelsea Randall flogged in the AFLW1.0 GF. I'm sure she was reminded of that fact.
Also, i don't think Tayla can play with injury. There is no bigger fan of Tayla than I, but i am starting to question her ability to play after getting a knock. She pulled out of the Crows game first time round with a shoulder injury (She played the week before and week after - how bad was it?) She got a knock in the GF and despite getting strapped up, wouldn't stay on the ground because she wasn't right.
Time may show that she had a legitimate injury from the GF, and maybe other times as well. But looking at how the Hoskings, Loynes and Davey go about it....i'm not sure Tayla has the same internal drive / hunger / belief in her own body.
Tayla is walking along behind play in our F50 zone looking exhausted just 90 seconds into the game!
Not normal at all for a player known for their pressure acts!
Tayla is walking along behind play in our F50 zone looking exhausted just 90 seconds into the game!
Not normal at all for a player known for their pressure acts!
Think of Tayla as Fev.
Fev could do the incredible when he was on. He had that magnificent run down tackle just outside 50 against the Saints i think. When he was on, he was on.
Alternatively, when the ball was just 2m away, he was too busy arguing with umpires and teammates to care.
He wasn't 'known' for his pressure acts, but when he was on, they were a sight to behold.
Similar with Tayla, when she is up and about, she will tackle with the best. She will fly through the air without a care for the world, she will kick goals from 50.
When she is not, she wil struggle to lift herself off the ground, miss goals from the goalsquare and feel sorry for herself.
Taylas state of mind dictates her effort.
Taylas body dictates her state of mind.
Whether she was injured or not already, her head wasn't in the game. Coming off such a huge week, its somewhat understandable....she is still very young after all.
Whether she was injured or not already, her head wasn't in the game. Coming off such a huge week, its somewhat understandable....she is still very young after all.
That's all I asserted earlier and you labelled it a conspiracy theory, have you abandoned your own stance?
That's all I asserted earlier and you labelled it a conspiracy theory, have you abandoned your own stance?
The conspiracy theory was in regards to this...
I hope it wasn't something more sinister given recent events, yet it would not be a surprise given the nutters out in the real world!
Without wanting to turn this into a genetics debate, there is a school of thought that Female athletes are more prone to waivering performances due to biological factors.
It could just simply be poor timing for the whole lot, and lets remember what they say about females in groups bonding and what happens to reproductive cycles.
Note: I state the above with the utmost repsect. Its well known in elite sports, that often medication is taken by tennis players to prevent this from being a factor. I particularly mean bloating, cramping etc. It is enough to result in a massive decrease in output.
The conspiracy theory was in regards to this...
That's no conspiracy theory, it's just a statement that the events of the recent past may have place a darker toll on Tayla's performance. It's dead easy to discuss what we see in the public forums in ignorance of all the stuff that Tayla either blocked or had moderated behind the scenes away from the general public.
Further, there are those who wouldn't hesitate at leveraging those events in the lead-up to the grand final, altruism does not live with fanatics so who knows what she had to put up with or her family for that matter in the days since the original story.
I also thought Harf made a rookie mistake in the presser when he allowed the media to press Tayla on the effects the events had on her family and friends. Something at her age and circumstance she may have not fully considered until the media so kindly proselytised those sinister effects! He should have chopped off that line of questioning and consigned it to private discussions not a public debate.
Ongoing this is something Tayla must now live with, at Carlton or any other future club or sport, no different to Adam Goodes getting accustomed to being booed!
Without wanting to turn this into a genetics debate, there is a school of thought that Female athletes are more prone to waivering performances due to biological factors.
Whatever the symptoms or circumstances it may well be issue, but from the girls I've talked to it is very much less so the higher the level of training, almost a non-event!