There’s just one round of the AFLW season left with plenty of teams still jockeying for finals positions.
Last week saw the inaugural Dreamtime in Darwin clash end in a thrilling draw, which included a nasty umpire incident in the final minute.
Here is the good, the bad and the ugly.
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The good
Drawn Dreamtime in Darwin
It was a dreamy night for the AFLW for their first ever Dreamtime in Darwin match between Essendon and Richmond. Over 4,400 fans attended the game in the Top End and they were treated to a wonderful display of culture, celebration and brilliant skills. With the ‘feels like’ temperature of 36 degrees thanks to the 71 per cent humidity, you could have forgiven the players for being fumbly or the game looking like a wet weather game, but that was absolutely not the case.
Essendon showed off their impressive kick-mark game, owning the ball and the uncontested game through the first three quarters. Despite the statistical dominance, the Tigers controlled the scoreboard for the most of the first half. There were no signs of Katie Brennan’s ankle injury that she raced against the clock to overcome, with Brennan kicking the Tigers’ first two majors of the game and moving well.
In the second half, the Bombers were able to get their connection in the forward half going with majors to Bonnie Toogood and Georgia Gee. Essendon led by six points going into the final change. It was a frenetic final term which was no surprise considering both teams needed a win to keep various opportunities alive for their season (the Tigers a top four finish and Essendon who are in the race for the final couple of spots inside the eight).
Ellie Mackenzie slotted the first goal (which actually ended up being the final goal of the game) of the fourth term in the fifth minute. Richmond rolled up the sleeves and hit a pressure factor of a whopping 242 and laid 18 tackles in the final quarter compared to Essendon’s pressure factor of 197 and nine tackles. After consecutive Bombers behinds, the ball was camped for the remainder of the game inside Richmond’s forward line, the Tigers had the last five inside 50s of the match. A soccer off the ground from Brennan just went the wrong side (if you’re a Tigers fan) of the post and ended up leveling the match, meaning both teams flew home, on the same flight and with the same amount of points from the game.
The only negatives from an otherwise incredible night were two serious injuries to important players for both teams. Essendon’s ruck Steph Wales has unfortunately suffered an ACL injury after her knee buckled in a ruck contest late in the fourth quarter and Sarah Hosking has suffered a bad injury to her hamstring. Hosking has already had surgery on the hamstring tendon on her right leg and appears to have re-injured the same side.
When speaking on Talking W on Monday afternoon, Laura Kane said the Dreamtime game was a huge success and that it would be “hard to say no” to the fixture not returning next year. You can imagine that some other clubs may have been watching and would be keen to put their hands up to take part in the fixture next season.
The bad
Eight out, 10 still standing
Incredibly, in the final home and away round of the season, eight of the final nine matches are still alive and have major implications for the final standings on the ladder. Ten teams are still in the hunt to play finals.
The teams who can already start planning their end of season festivities are: St. Kilda, West Coast, Western Bulldogs, Carlton, Sydney, GWS, Gold Coast and Collingwood. After losing to the Dogs by a point on Sunday in Ballarat, the Saints have been unable to make their first finals campaign, which would be disappointing for a team who was sitting in 8th as late as the conclusion of Round 7.
For the remaining 10 sides, there is everything still to play for. Whether it is the race to make it into the eight (Melbourne and Geelong) or a race for the minor premiership (North Melbourne and Hawthorn), almost every result will have an impact on the final ladder.
For Essendon it is as simple as “win and you’re in” for their battle on Saturday night at Ikon Park. If they lose however, and Melbourne and/or Geelong win, they could find themselves missing the eight altogether.
The most exciting story away from the top eight race is the race for the McClelland Trophy. If Hawthorn defeat the Tigers, the $1m jackpot is theirs. Should they lose and Brisbane defeat the Saints, Brisbane will claim the prize. No matter what, the Hawks have secured their first finals berth in the club’s AFLW history and they have also locked in a double chance as they are guaranteed to finish in the top four.
The ugly
Sheerin shove leads to a trip to the Tribunal
Richmond dual All-Australian Eilish Sheerin has been sent directly to the tribunal for making contact with an umpire, despite her not making direct contact.
Sheerin was referred straight to the tribunal for the incident that occurred at a stoppage in the fourth quarter. Sheerin made body contact with her direct opponent, Georgia Nanscawen and pushed her into the path of the umpire who had just completed the ball up and was backing-out of the stoppage.
In the lead up to this incident, it can be seen that Sheerin was trying to work Nanscawen to the other side of the umpire as a tactic to lose her opponent at stoppage and create space. Sheerin had done this on the two previous stoppages, however the tactic didn’t work out the same way the third time when Nanscawen lost balance and made direct contact to the umpire. The umpire fell over but was quickly to their feet luckily.
The MRO graded the charge as “intentional” as it was deemed to be a deliberate tactic. This means it is a direct to tribunal case, rather than being a fine if it was graded as careless.
It is something we have seen used in both men’s and women’s football recently, with players attempting to use the officials as “blocks” particularly when being tagged. There have been many fines issued to players this year through the MRO for contact with umpires.
Sheerin was one of the best players on the ground for the Tigers with 23 disposals, 15 contested possessions, 562 metres gained and a goal in the Dreamtime clash with the Bombers.
Richmond will be hoping Sheerin is available to play for their clash on Sunday against Hawthorn at Punt Road. It is a must-win game for the Tigers to have any mathematical chance of making the top four, after locking in a finals berth after their drawn match in Round 10.
