Another b***dy Thursday night game, much to my irritation.
Our line-up:
B: D.Vescio 3 C.Fitzgerald 36
HB: M.Hendrie 49 P.Scholz 7 H.Cordner 21
C: Y.Duursma 11 K.Sherar 25 D.Finn 17
HF: E.Fitzpatrick 19 M.Guerin 18 S.McKay 55
F: T.Bohanna 42 M.Austin 22
R: J.Good 12 M.Hill 10 A.McKay - C 5
Int: M.Robertson 15 K.Skepper 4 L.Goss 20 L.Keck 23 B.Harrington 16
Emerg: L.Field 33 A.Velardo 1 A.Reidy 13
Lots of newchums.
Their foes:
B: L.Cronin 27 L.Butler 23
HB: T.White 29 M.Atkinson 10 A.Schutte 21
C: A.Runnalls 36 A.Centra 16 G.Campbell 13
HF: K.Howarth 35 C.Remmos 30 V.Patterson 26
F: S.Frederick 1 M.Cann 25
Foll: I.Barnett 4 R.Schleicher - C 18 B.Bonnici 8
I/C: G.Clark 19 A.Lee 5 K.Hogan 24 M.Hyde 22 A.Porter 9
Emerg: E.James 2 G.Knight 12 S.Karlson 20
I have no idea if we should be favourites or not, but our line-up is very, very different.
Its going to be a long year if Hendrie is our key defender.
I think the keys will be Cordner and Scholz. Hendrie is there for run and carry out of defence.
Half Time:
Carlton 4 - 4 - 28
Collingwood: 3 - 1 - 19
Mimi Hill: 18 possessions to half time.
That means she has to kick.....and that means she needs to learn how to kick.
She has to keep her feet too. Drops to her knees too easily for someone her size.
Good comeback from the girls. To be down by 12 to up by 9 is pretty big in this lowscoring game....keeping the pies to 7 points in the process.
Mimi hill had 13 at 1/4 time. Next best for Carlton had 4. Best for the pies was 7.
She is a class above all.
Wow I am really impressed by the Carlton Women tonight 👏🏽 great skills, team work and endeavour!
Go Blues!
3/4 Time:
Carlton: 6 - 7 - 43
Collingwood: 3 - 1 - 19
A top quarter from the girls. Collingwood didn't score.
Mimi Hill: 27 possessions, 5 clearances
Keeley Sherar: 14 possessions. 6 clearances.
Came on to say the same thing.
I missed Q1 but very impressed with the ball movement and general system.
43 v 19 Q3 time
Keep your possessions. Fitzpatrick has been one of our hardest runners and better performers tonight.
Very impressed to see her.
Great result from a shaky start.
After about halfway through the 1st quarter, we scored 45-9.
Song getting sung with a bit of gusto too. Haven't seen enough of that.
Really enjoyable game to watch. They moved the ball with purpose and played as a team for each other.
Really impressive 👏🏽
Good win by the girls 👏
A hell of a lot to like about the way we played.
What about Sophie McKay for a confident first gamer?
And how about Erone Nic Giolla Phadraig? What a great return from her ACL!
Final Score:
Carlton: 6 - 9 - 45
Collingwood: 3 - 3 - 21
We kept them to 2 points after half time! Love it!
Mimi Hill: 32 possessions, 4 tackles, 6 clearances - she ran out of gas somewhat, but her first half was ridiculously dominant.
Keely Sherar: 17 possessions, 5 tackles and 6 clearances.
Abbie McKay: 15 possessions, 9 tackles and 5 clearances.
Hariet Cordner: 15 possessions, 4 tackles and 5 marks.
Erone Fitzpatrick: 12 possessions, 2 goals 1 and very dangerous as a small forward.
And we kept the #1 pick, Centra, to 3 disposals!
Our first win against the Meat Pies for years!
What a tonic for the club! Bravo gals, you did yourselves and the jumper proud. Just a wonderful game to watch, so disciplined and focussed. Relentless stuff.
And I don't think I've ever seen the club song sung with such exuberance, passion and pure joy. Had me out of my seat wanting to join in!!
Mimi Hill was sensational.
Best of the ground by a mile.
And Sophie Mackay did a couple of things that suggest she will be just as good as her sister.
Fitzpatrick has some zip, we are and whatever happened to our Irish lads, they are been shown up by the lasses!
The media clips are only showing the finish for her running goal, but she kicked off the play with a contested turnover closer to the HBF, how long since you've seen that from our lads? Maybe that says more about how bad the AFL has become!
btw. AFLW Executives, that is stuff people happily pay to watch.
"btw. AFLW Executives, that is stuff people happily pay to watch"
I agree, LP - while I only watched some of the game, it was a much higher standard from when I last watched AFLW - some good marking, good kicking and general play.
It's finally evolving into female footy, with suitable game style and tactics, instead of men's footy being played by a bunch of females.
In my opinion the AFLW made a huge mistake back in the day, when early on it listened to a very loud and vocal minority that wanted to play men's footy. They should have stuck with the smaller pill, the same footy used by teen age boys, and they should have cut the contested tackling crap and got the girls on the run and gun much much sooner. Yesterday's game was played to female strengths.
There are a couple of AFLW rules I'd like to see in the AFL;
- Bringing the boundary umpires in 10m for the throw ins.
- The last untouched kick rule outside 50m (Between the arcs.)
You've been banging on about this for years and you are just wrong.
The current rules they play by have been around for quite a while.
The number of players on the ground are different.
The game time is different
The rules are different.
The boundary throw ins are different.
The ball size is smaller than the mens, and always has been.
Nothing has changed in recent years in terms of how the game has played apart from simply the skill level of the players increasing.
Not sure where you get your theory from, but its wrong.
The problem wasn't in the rules at all, I never said they were, I have always talked about the tactics they adopt.
There was nothing about last nights game tactics that were copied from AFL and VFL, it was unique, as distinct from AFL as Netball is from Basketball.
This is the way the AFLW game has to evolve to be a true sporting spectacle.
I have to wonder how much influence our Irish brigade has had on our game style, in game style and play it was far more like Gaelic.
It also appeared to be umpired differently, even in areas that have similar rules, to some degree it helped improved the spectacle.
I don't care to argue the point again, but you've changed your tune. THats not what you said previously.
In any event, the skills are what has changed the most since the competition started and games are reflecting that.
No you are trying to change the narrative to suit your premature accusations.
I've always discussed the matter of girls trying to copy the men's game, it is pointless and cannot possible lead to a favourable comparison, I've been 100% consistent on this matter.
If anything, the AFLW needed further rule changes and umpiring that forced it into a different game style, that is why I rallied against the use of the full sized footy. But in the AFLW circles a minority complained very loudly, they used an argument that blamed the poor spectacle and bad use of the footy on the smaller sized pill, some even argued the small footy was blown off course by the wind! ;D Which is rubbish because teenage boys use the smaller footy fine and dob 50m+ goals with it, and hit targets galore.
I've also rallied against the equal pay rubbish not because it's not feasible in the long term, but because it's not an equal spectacle when the girls try to copy the men, they just fail as 2nd rate try hards at the men's style game. But there is nothing stopping them being top dollar earners if they play a game style suited to females.
I made a prediction a season or two back that the AFLW would eventually give up on trying to be a copy of the men's game, and we are finally starting to see it.
It seemed to me that the skill level demonstrated by both teams was better than what we have seen in previous seasons. The one grab contested marking was at another level.
It also seemed that Bucky has borrowed heavily from Vossy’s playbook; the forward handpasses, contested footy and driving the ball forward in waves was reminiscent of the men’s game. Of course, Bucky has modified the gameplan to take shorter kicks into account.
It was good to see the men’s team supporting the women. Hopefully, they’ve picked up a few tips on how to execute the game plan.
I must admit, I wasn't impressed with Hendrie last year, but she seems to have improved a lot. She did a good job on Frederick, who has killed us before and her disposal hit targets more often than Mimi Hill's did (and Hill was brilliant).
We've seen Nick Haynes and Frankie Evans come back after awful beginnings in 2025; maybe we might be seeing Hendrie improve as well.
Mimi Hill: about the only thing I can think that wasn't brilliant last night was her disposal efficiency. Mimi didn't hit many Blues with her kicks. Hopefully, she can work on this area, as it would make her a much more dangerous player.
Erone Fitzpatrick: what a return from an Irish lass who missed all last season and wasn't that impressive in her previous one. The way she read the ball, her chases and tackles, her workrate and her excellent disposal were really pleasing to see. I hope she can keep it up, as we've struggled with the small forward position to date.
Mia Austin is another who impressed me more yesterday than she has before. Her mobility has improved hugely and she is holding more marks. Still doesn't kick enough goals, but she is looking a lot more likely than she has before.
The other one that really pleased me was Jess Good. When she started, she got the tap and that was it: now she's getting a lot more ball. Although he kicking can look clumsy, most hit targets.
I'm a bit late to the party but I'll add my 2 cents worth.
- slow start against wooden spooners, followed by a convincing performance
- fitness, strength, skill, game plan and cohesion all solid
- seems like the mature-youth mix is about right
- mature girls holding their own, youth development impressive
- terrific debuts x 2🙌
- tackling impressive
- both Irish girls impressive on different sides of the ball
- overall a solid performance against old foe
Room for improvement no doubt. But there was a lot to like
Enjoyed Ratts presenting #7
Likewise, refreshing to see the men supporting the girls. Hopefully they found it energising
I thought the three guernsey presentations were great. Ratts seems to be making it a habit.
It’s good to see him looking a lot fitter and healthier than he was a couple of years ago.
Yep. Really pleasing to see Ratts engaged and healthy looking.
As an aside, wouldn't it be great if he was brought in as an assistant coach for next year and beyond?
I'd love to see him back at the club in any capacity. but he may be gun-shy ...