AFLW Round 7: North Melbourne. Sunday 13 October, 1:05 PM. North Hobart Oval

[Ruck'n'Roll]

North in Tassie are a daunting prospect, and now Laura Gardiner has joined Chloe Molloy and Ally Morphett in the Swans-All-Australian-Out-for-the-Season club.

Trying to be positive, hopefully this will give some youngster the opportunity to shine. Perhaps CynthiaH will get some more midfield time?

[dejavoodoo44]

North in Tassie are a daunting prospect, and now Laura Gardiner has joined Chloe Molloy and Ally Morphett in the Swans-All-Australian-Out-for-the-Season club.

Trying to be positive, hopefully this will give some youngster the opportunity to shine. Perhaps CynthiaH will get some more midfield time?

Ugghh! If I had to pick the three players that I'd most hate to be out, it would be Molloy, Morphett and Gardiner. But hey, at least Ham is likely to be back. Still, I can't really see us getting close to North in the form that they're in.

[Ruck'n'Roll]

Hopefully their management of Ham doesn't end the way the management of Morphet did. We realy don't need lightning to strike twice in that regard.

[Thunder Shaker]

Sydney's women's team has played North Melbourne once, in 2022 when Sydney did not win a game in their first season. The score was North Melbourne 9.13 (67) to Sydney 0.1 (1). This is Sydney's lowest score.

I'm hoping it's much closer this time, but North Melbourne are in very good form this year and the Swans have good players out to injuries. So I'm not optimistic.

[Ruck'n'Roll]

Ham beck from her rest. Hausegger simply dropped.
Bullus back to try to cover Gardiner.
Beruldson back after possibly having to do penance for indiscipline, with Grunden getting a rest.

[liz]

Ham beck from her rest. Hausegger simply dropped.
Bullus back to try to cover Gardiner.
Beruldson back after having done her penance for indiscipline, with Grunden getting a rest.

It might be adding two and two to get five to presume that Beruldson was paying penance. It might simply have been that she'd played every game this season, including the midweek game, and needed a break.

I wonder whether they've thought about giving Hurley a break. Probably not now, given that we're back to weekly matches. And the loss of Gardiner - I suspect for the rest of the season - makes her even more critical just to remain vaguely competitive with the likes of North and Brisbane.

[Ruck'n'Roll]

It might be adding two and two to get five to presume that Beruldson was paying penance. It might simply have been that she'd played every game this season, including the midweek game, and needed a break.

It could be either, but I've amended my post,
If we win this game it would rate as the biggest AFLW upset I've ever heard of.

[dejavoodoo44]

Could have done without the late couple of goals, but quite an entertaining first quarter. Hurley is becoming a star, Kennedy is letting the North mids know that they're in a scrap, Ham looked pretty sharp and it's handy that Lexy Hamilton is kicking goals.

[liz]

That may be the best 60 point thrashing I've witnessed. Sure, there was a huge gulf in the ability to defend and to move the ball with purpose into the forward line. But our women didn't stop tackling and scrapping.

I was delighted they were rewarded with the late Hamilton goal. The least they deserved.

[Meg]

That may be the best 60 point thrashing I've witnessed. Sure, there was a huge gulf in the ability to defend and to move the ball with purpose into the forward line. But our women didn't stop tackling and scrapping.

I was delighted they were rewarded with the late Hamilton goal. The least they deserved.

I thought exactly the same. Unlike another recent 60 point thrashing we witnessed ….

And their determination and never-give-up attitude while missing their three all-Australian players (Molloy, Morphett and Gardiner) made it even more impressive.

As Gowans said post-game, it is good and necessary experience to play on the best to learn. And North Melbourne are the best (or if not, very close to it).

[Ruck'n'Roll]

Ditto for me

Just to pick a single example. Alice Mitchell came up against Tahlia Randall, and she was given a beating, her opponent regularly got the better of her and in the physical punishment she absorbed. But she kept at it all game.
So too the whole team, clearly they were compeletely outclassed, but gave it their best, and did not fold. Strange to feel pride after a 10 goal flogging - and yet I do.

Is anyone else of the opinion that Ham could be a truly epic centre-half-forward?

[liz]

Is anyone else of the opinion that Ham could be a truly epic centre-half-forward?

Depends on her feet. As in their health/resilience, rather than what she does with them out on the ground.

One thing I've been a bit disappointed in this year is the team's tackling effort. We know we lack the class to compete with most teams, but - as the cliche goes - tackling doesn't require talent, just intent. That's one reason I was so impressed with yesterday. Around the middle of the ground, and especially in the forward line, they really dug in with the pressure. Defence was a different matter. There were some pretty poor attempts to defend, even allowing for the class and skill of North.

My favourite moment of the game (sadly) came in the first few minutes, when Hurley broke through traffic with her pace and, slightly off balance, weighted a kick perfectly to Ham, who was actually leading up at the ball. That's what the good teams do. Hopefully, in the not too distant future, we'll be able to do it more than once a game.

[Ruck'n'Roll]

I wonder whether Hurley will included in AA discussions?