Round five of the AFLW season featured a record-breaking margin, Hawthorn wearing their Indigenous guernseys in sign of respect and lockout crowds. Here’s what we learnt.
A pioneer of women’s football says the massive gap between the best and worst AFLW teams, illustrated by Adelaide’s 96-point demolition of Greater Western Sydney on Sunday, should not be interpreted as a sign that the competition expanded too quickly.
Chyloe Kurdas, who was AFL Victoria’s first female development manager and commentates on AFLW, said the thrashing was a reminder of systemic inequalities.
The Giants scored just one point and were beaten by 96 points.Credit:Getty Images
While the Crows went into Sunday afternoon’s game against the Giants as favourites, no one could have predicted the absolute demolition that took place. The Giants only registered a single behind, while the Crows kicked away to 97-points and had a record-breaking victory. The score equals the lowest in competition history along with Fremantle, who were kept to just one point in round two by Geelong.
In season seven of AFLW all 18 clubs are represented for the first time. With Adelaide, Brisbane and Melbourne delivering one-sided beltings, questions are being posed about talent deficits and whether the AFL expanded too quickly. Kurdas said extreme margins were not unique to the women’s game.
“New South Wales is a non-traditional state. There’s not a lot of kids that grew up kicking the footy… It’s got three really strong football codes in there already. So, there are a lot of systemic inequalities that the women’s teams are having to, I guess, bear the brunt of.
“It’s not just W but the men’s game that really struggles as well to breed high performing footy talent. And while you’ve got a part-time system in place, it’s really hard to attract players from traditional football states.”
Kurdas also said the competition would be in worse shape with slower expansion, given time in the competition increases the quality of talent of those within the system. “I don’t think we expanded too fast. If we expanded any later, the gap between the foundation clubs and the new clubs would have been greater.
“Maybe from an infrastructure perspective you don’t want to grow too quickly, but the trade off was the deficit simply in conditioning, for instance; six seasons under their belt versus what they’re getting now.”
Hawthorn wear Indigenous guernseys in show of respect for First Nations people
Indigenous round is over but Hawthorn chose to wear their Indigenous jumpers on Friday night, when they notched their historic first win over fellow expansion side Sydney.
It was a sign of respect and solidarity after former club officials were faced will allegations of mistreatment of First Nations players during the club’s recent premiership era. Defender Akec Makur Chuot told Fox Footy the team wanted to send a message.
“The women are always pillars of every club and for us, as a new team, we wanted to show we respect, and we want to listen to our First Nations people,” she said. Hawthorn coach Bec Goddard added post-game the decision was driven by the players. “They wanted to wear their Indigenous jumpers because we’re the new face of the club, we’re a new part of football at Hawthorn. We are inclusive and diverse and we treat our job as role models as a privilege,” she said. Goddard delivered a fiery spray at quarter time after Sydney kicked away with four majors to one in the opening term and dominated both the territory and scoreboard pressure. But she was a picture of unbridled joy as the siren sounded and Hawthorn scraped a four-point win at Punt Road Oval.
Hawthorn’s Aileen Gilroy.Credit:AFL Photos / Getty Images
Heavy tackles in the spotlight
Geelong’s highest win in the AFLW, a 50-point demolition over St Kilda, was overshadowed by Cats star midfielder Georgie Prespakis’ heavy tackle on opposition player Erin McKinnon, which left the Saints ruck concussed after her head was slammed into the turf. McKinnon was pinned and driven into the ground by Prespakis during the third quarter and was motionless for about a minute before being helped from the field.
Despite the action appearing to be accidental, Prespakis will likely face a suspension given its impact and the league’s crackdown on head-high rough conduct. There have been several tackles in the spotlight this season. In round one, Richmond’s Beth Lynch thrust Geelong’s Rachel Kearns into the turf, which resulted in a high-grade left AC joint injury to the Cats player, who will miss the majority, if not all, of the remaining season. Also in the opening round, Collingwood’s Imogen Evans was penalised for a dangerous tackle on Carlton’s Daisy Walker and this weekend Essendon’s Daria Bannister was penalised for a sling tackle on Collingwood co-captain Steph Chiocci.
Tigers on a roll
Richmond had a huge upset win over the previously undefeated Brisbane, who last week looked unbeatable after putting flag-favourites Melbourne to bed by 15-points and the week before beat the Gold Coast Suns by 73 points. On Saturday at Swinburne Centre, the Tigers claimed a narrow 4-point victory, keeping their nerve against the powerhouse Lions in a low scoring thriller – 2.6 (18) to 1.8 (14) – in windy conditions. Richmond’s Gabby Seymour had the match-winning smother on Brisbane’s Dakota’s Davidson’s snap from the goal square, after the Lions chose to play on rather than lining up for a shot in the dying moments of the game. League best and fairest Emily Bates also had a chance in the last five minutes but her shot went right. Richmond’s Courtney Wakefield had two goals and Maddie Shevlin a game-high disposal count on 24, along with Lions’ Isabel Dawes. Richmond coach Ryan Ferguson said it was “by far” Richmond’s best ever win and a “breakthrough moment”. “To play against the best team in the competition and in our opinion, outright premiership favourites, it was the breakthrough we’d been looking for,” said Ferguson.
Richmond had an upset win over Brisbane.Credit:AFL Photos via Getty
Fans locked out of festival of footy
The AFLW enjoyed the festivities and crowds of the men’s grand final weekend, with the festival of football on Friday’s grand final eve public holiday seeing two sellout crowds at Punt Road Oval and a full house at AIA Centre. Both North Melbourne’s win over the Western Bulldogs and Hawthorn’s first AFLW victory over Sydney both reached capacity of just over 2000 spectators, with more fans lining the fence at Punt Road to watch from the outside. Around the corner, a crowd of 3,412 lined the boundary at AIA Centre in the drizzly conditions to see Collingwood get the first honours in rivalry with Essendon. While many praised the atmosphere of the games, including Fox Footy commentator Kelli Underwood who noted how “electric” the crowds were, some fans took to social media to bemoan the limited capacity and exposure to the elements.
