AFLW 2025 Rnd 4 v Fremantle/Walyalup

[Thunder Shaker]

Sydney's opponent for Indigenous round this week is Fremantle, who are going by the Indigenous name Walyalup.

Fremantle's form:
Round 1 vs Port Adelaide: won 46 to 22. (Port's form: 1 win 2 losses with their win being against the Suns).
Round 2 vs Brisbane: lost 35 to 105.
Round 3 vs North Melbourne: lost 14 to 114.

Their unfortunate fixture saw them get smashed by the two teams that have played in the last two Grand Finals. While it is tempting to imagine that they have been tenderised nicely by two consecutive maulings by these top teams, that's not how football works.

I was amused recently by a photograph of a quartet of Fremantle fans holding up big polystyrene letters to spell out "FREO" but they were photographed when the letters spelt "FERO", link. (reddit.com)

[bandwagon]

Thanks TS.
I watched Freo's match last week - it was morbidly fascinating watching North Melbourne beat a finalist from last year by 100+ points. Not sure anything can be learnt that is relevant for our game. Mim Strom is a really good ruck, but once the ball got out of the contest Freo's midfield was cut to ribbons. Their forward line never saw the ball, and their defense didn't completely give up (North were just that good).
So I expect to win this one, but maybe by 4-5 goals.

[bandwagon]

Team changes: IN - Privitelli, A. Hamilton, Grunden
OUT - Hurley (inj), Reid, Martin

The INs should improve us up forward and second ruck. Losing Hurley is a blow - especially after her BOG performance last week - but Grunden should allow Ham and Molloy to spend more time in the mids.

[dejavoodoo44]

I just went to the AFL site, presuming that I could stream some sort of radio coverage of this game. That doesn't appear to be the case. Grrrr!

[bandwagon]

QT: 3.1 v 3.0
Freo were fired up early - lots of pressure and get it forward at all costs, could have been worse if not for Tarrant. We took half a quarter to start to match it lead by Montana Ham and Gardiner, and a moment of magic for Zippy's first goal.

[bandwagon]

That goal from Molloy was unreal

[mcs]

This is proving a very good game of footy to watch. Lots of spectacular goals! Great contest.

[bandwagon]

I really do NOT like the new holding the ball interpretation - even when the Swans are the beneficiary.

[bandwagon]

HT: 5.2 v 4.5
Another very entertaining quarter - a real hot contest. We were in control for the first part then momentum swung and we had to really on our excellent defence to absorb a lot of pressure.

[mcs]

I really do NOT like the new holding the ball interpretation - even when the Swans are the beneficiary.

You can safely assume the AFLM is using the AFLW to test the interpretation, before thinking about what changes they might want in the men's game. I don't like it either - it is super harsh.

[bandwagon]

3QT: 9.6 v 4.5 A completely dominant quarter. Finally started to show some ascendancy around clearances lead by Gardiner and Morphett and were able to take advantage of the breeze.
Saw the free kick numbers - Freo would be fuming, but cant say I noticed, however I'm not a neutral observer.

[Sandridge]

Have only just started watching the game. Looks like a very strong crowd!

[Thunder Shaker]

I just went to the AFL site, presuming that I could stream some sort of radio coverage of this game. That doesn't appear to be the case. Grrrr!

This annoyed me as well. Two matches this week have no free to air coverage of any kind: Sydney vs Fremantle/Walyalup and West Coast/Waalitj Marawar vs Port Adelaide/Yartapuulti. Essendon vs Geelong is on free to air TV and has radio coverage, same with Adelaide vs Brisbane, and North Melbourne vs Collingwood has FOUR radio broadcasts. If the AFL wants to grow the women's game, this unbalanced coverage needs to be fixed.

[mcs]

The bizarre part of this wild HTB rule is they still miss blatantly obvious ones, like the run down then.

[mcs]

Another great performance from the ladies - while there is no doubt that we need to improve on disposal efficiency and use of the ball if we are to challenge the top teams (noting that is probably an unlikely outcome this season anyway), we are making huge strides, and really think we can be at the top of that 2nd tier of teams in the comp. Love the style of footy we are trying to play too - making for a good watch, and another good crowd there today again.