AFLW R2 2024: St Kilda v Sydney Swans 3.05pm EST Sun 8 Sept RSEA Park

[Meg]

After recovering from the excitement of the Swans men playing (and we hope winning) their QF, we can turn our support to the Swans women’s team in their second match for season.

We play St Kilda at their home ground in Moorabbin in Melbourne on Sunday afternoon. Some showers expected but temperature of 19* bit more playable than heat last week in Sydney.

For Sydney:
In: Lara Hausegger (AFLW debut), Julie Sullivan
Out: Maddy Collier (concussion), Kiara Hillier (omitted)

Lara Hausegger is a defender who was selected with pick 33 in the 2023 AFLW Draft. She previously played three games in the VFLW with Collingwood and was a premiership winning captain with the Oakleigh Chargers.

There is a lovely video on Swans site of Lara calling her father to tell him she is debuting. Very emotional (made me teary watching it). I love hearing how excited parents are when daughters (and sons) get their AFL chance. And I particularly love hearing the joy expressed by fathers for their daughters, It more than offsets the negativity from some blokes about women’s football that I read elsewhere.

[dejavoodoo44]

Interesting early season test. We were very good at times against Collingwood, while the Saints dominated the Suns in the opening round. I feel reasonably confident, because this side has been passing tests since the start of last season.

[Meg]

Oh no! Chloe Molloy ruptured an ACL at training and is out for rest of the season.

That is horrible news: for Chloe; for the Swans; and for the AFLW as a whole. She is a star of the comp and a showpiece for how good women’s footy can be.

[Meg]

Very windy at Moorabbin. Play a bit scrappy at the moment.

[neilfws]

Oh no! Chloe Molloy ruptured an ACL at training and is out for rest of the season.

Just saw discussion of this on Twitter. Awful news indeed, big loss to the team and the competition. All the best for her recovery.

[stevoswan]

Oh no! Chloe Molloy ruptured an ACL at training and is out for rest of the season.

That is horrible news: for Chloe; for the Swans; and for the AFLW as a whole. She is a star of the comp and a showpiece for how good women’s footy can be.

Yep, shocking news and really sad for Chloe. Puts a dent in our season but the girls just have to refocus and go harder to make up for her loss.

[Ruck'n'Roll]

The team opted for man-on-man (person-on-person just sounds crap) in the final quarter, and they seemed to do much better. Megs' favourite forward, Breana Tarrant was our best I thought, but our disposal was horrendous.

[Meg]

Megs' favourite forward, Breana Tarrant was our best I thought, but our disposal was horrendous.

Lol, yeah I thought Brenna was terrific. Score would have been more damning without her.

The conditions were difficult, very blustery wind and quite a lot of rain, so some excuse for poor disposal. The team looked disorganised for three quarters which I put down to the big hole Chloe’s absence left (both as a player and as a leader). But I also agree we looked much better in the last quarter when Gowans sent them out to play one-on-one. And in fact we won the last quarter, kicking three goals to the Saints one.

[dejavoodoo44]

Terrible news regarding Chloe Molloy, as I thought she made a huge difference to the side last season. In our first season, we not only struggled to get the ball into forward 50, but also often failed to convert once it was there. Which seemed quite demoralising, since they were rarely able to exert scoreboard pressure. But when Chloe arrived, she was able to turn half chances into goals, and consequently, it seemed to give the team a much more positive mindset. Hopefully a player or two can step up.

[Meg]

Laura Gardiner and Sofia Hurley in tbe coaches’ votes despite loss to St Kilda.

Votes Player (Club)

9 Tyanna Smith (STK)
5 Nicola Stevens (STK)
4 Laura Gardiner (SYD)
4 Jaimee Lambert (STK)
4 Sofia Hurley (SYD)
3 Molly McDonald (STK)
1 Paige Trudgeon (STK)