AFLW Round 9 vs Carlton

[Thunder Shaker]

This week's home game is against Carlton. The Blues have been in good form, winning four of their last five. Their only loss in that time has been against North Melbourne. The teams they have beaten in that time are Bulldogs, Gold Coast, Fremantle and Geelong.

Team selection

For Sydney, Moloney, Sargent-Wilson and Van Loon have been added to the team that lost to North Melbourne last week. Players going out of the team are Hurley (injured), Martin (omitted) and Steele-Park (omitted). Hurley is a significant injury.

Carlton's inclusions are Austin, Duursma and Reidy, replacing Bohanna (foot), Hill (calf) and Robertson (omitted).

This game must be won to make a late run to the finals. After this week, the remaining games are against Melbourne, West Coast and Essendon. Melbourne is very hard to beat (they're my tip to lose to North Melbourne in the Grand Final), but the games against West Coast and Essendon should be winnable. 7 wins and 5 losses with a decent percentage will be needed to make the finals.

[bandwagon]

Q1: 4.5 v 1.1 fantastic quarter - lets see how much the breeze is an influence next

[bandwagon]

HT: 8.5 v 2.3 another 4 goal quarter, and absorbed the Carlton pressure even though they had the breeze
The usual suspects have been really influential - Kennedy, Ham, Morphett, Gardiner - but also impressed by Pullar's game on the wing, stopping Carlton's outside game and contributing offensively

[Sandridge]

Keep it up, Swannies! Need to get back on the winner's list!

[bandwagon]

3QT: 10.7 v 5.5 Carlton fired up and scored the first three goals but we were able to wrestle back control. Good defensive effort to change the momentum.

[Sandridge]

Strong performance against an in-form team!

GO BLOODS!!

[dejavoodoo44]

3QT: 10.7 v 5.5 Carlton fired up and scored the first three goals but we were able to wrestle back control. Good defensive effort to change the momentum.

Nice to get a win and hopefully there'll be a few more. Didn't see or hear any of the game, but going by the stats, it seems that Gardiner, Kennedy, Morphett and Ham had big games.

[Thunder Shaker]

A solid win against a team that had better recent form.

Here's hoping we can go on with it and win enough games to make the finals.

[bandwagon]

Nice to get a win and hopefully there'll be a few more. Didn't see or hear any of the game, but going by the stats, it seems that Gardiner, Kennedy, Morphett and Ham had big games.

You'll appreciate the replay. A very impressive performance given how Carlton have been playing and that a loss would effectively kick us out of finals.
The big 4 had excellent games and Fish was super composed, Pullar had her best game that I can remember, and also Hausegger blanketed the dangerous Fitzpatrick. Even team performance, but for me -
3 Votes - Ham
2 - Kennedy
1 - Gardiner
Just couldn't fit Morphett in, but she was dominant.

[dejavoodoo44]

You'll appreciate the replay. A very impressive performance given how Carlton have been playing and that a loss would effectively kick us out of finals.
The big 4 had excellent games and Fish was super composed, Pullar had her best game that I can remember, and also Hausegger blanketed the dangerous Fitzpatrick. Even team performance, but for me -
3 Votes - Ham
2 - Kennedy
1 - Gardiner
Just couldn't fit Morphett in, but she was dominant.

Going on the highlights, Ham looked really impressive running through the midfield. Though of course, it would've been even more impressive, if she had kicked four or five goals, instead of 2.3. Hopefully she can play in a similar fashion against Melbourne next week. Which seems an important game.

[Thunder Shaker]

Now that the round is over, it's time to look in depth at the implications.
* Sydney is still ninth, but with West Coast losing yesterday, the gap to eighth is much smaller. Sydney is out of eighth by percentage and the percentage gap is less than one point.
* Melbourne lost to Fremantle by 5 points. Melbourne had their usual high number of inside 50s, but had poor finishing in front of goal.

Rest of the season
* The top three appear certain to make finals with three games to go.
* The gap between Brisbane in fourth and Sydney in ninth is one win and percentage amounting to about 100 points.
* Geelong and Fremantle are one game further back.

The fixture for these eight teams is as follows:
* Brisbane (6 wins): Essendon (A), Melbourne (H), Collingwood (A).
* Adelaide (6 wins): North Melbourne (A), Port Adelaide (H), Fremantle (H).
* Carlton (6 wins): St Kilda (H), GWS (H), West Coast (A).
* St Kilda (6 wins): Carlton (A), North Melbourne (A), Bulldogs (H).
* West Coast (5 wins): Geelong (H), Sydney (A), Carlton (H).
* Sydney (5 wins): Melbourne (A), West Coast (H), Essendon (H).
* Geelong (4 wins): West Coast (A), Bulldogs (A), Melbourne (H).
* Fremantle (4 wins): GWS (A), Richmond (H), Adelaide (A).

The last few finals places will not be settled until the final day of the home and away season.

[Thunder Shaker]

You'll appreciate the replay. A very impressive performance given how Carlton have been playing and that a loss would effectively kick us out of finals.
The big 4 had excellent games and Fish was super composed, Pullar had her best game that I can remember, and also Hausegger blanketed the dangerous Fitzpatrick. Even team performance, but for me -
3 Votes - Ham
2 - Kennedy
1 - Gardiner
Just couldn't fit Morphett in, but she was dominant.

Coaches' votes:

9 Montana Ham SYD
8 Laura Gardiner SYD
5 Tanya Kennedy SYD
5 Ally Morphett SYD
3 Zippy Fish SYD

[bandwagon]

Coaches' votes:

9 Montana Ham SYD
8 Laura Gardiner SYD
5 Tanya Kennedy SYD
5 Ally Morphett SYD
3 Zippy Fish SYD

Zippy Fish is amazing. This is the 6th game she has polled votes in, she has to be nailed on for the Rising Star (what is the AFLW equivalent?). Could be a chance for AA as well.