AFLW 2024 captains - clubs outdoing each other with bad choices

[Teen Wolf]

A real new age approach from several clubs this year. Once upon a time, your club captain was expected to be one of the team's best players, if not the best. But now you don't even have to be best 21!

Fremantle
After three seasons at the helm, the captaincy was ripped away from 28yo Hayley Miller. She is coming off a poor season so it's perhaps justified. Two weird things about the decision that may hint Freo's AFLW program is all over the shop: 1) she was replaced by 27yo Ange Stannett who won't even be playing this year due to injury (not a secret when votes were cast), meaning 2) Miller, now co-vice-captain, will probably be expected to fill in as captain anyway!

Port Adelaide
It's been injury after injury for Janelle Cuthbertson, who takes the number 1 jumper from the retired Erin Phillips. 1 is also the number of full seasons Cuthbertson's managed to get through from five attempts, so it's probably optimistic to think her body will be in better nick at age 34. Gemma Houghton is literally known as "Aunty" because of how she looks out for teammates, and yet has never been in the frame for captaincy across two clubs now--which isn't to point a finger only at the Dockers and Port. League B&F winners Ally Anderson and Madison Prespakis have also never even been vice-captains at a club. Some (including myself) would say this could possibly be because these particular indigenous players don't want to be captains, which only suggests an even bigger and more serious issue. Terrible look for football.

Melbourne
Kate Hore (who certainly is one of Melbourne's best players) takes on the role for the second year running. If she continues to be selfish in front of goal and soft at the contest, I'll continue to criticise her leadership and won't be dissuaded by claims I simply "don't like her" personally, which is the kind of response I'd expect from an 8-year-old.

West Coast
Not a big surprise to see Emma Swanson named again. The dubious choice by the Eagles is Jess Hosking being included in the leadership group. Hasn't done much to suggest she's a great leader: followed her sister (who's a better player) to Richmond, got in trouble for having mean words written on shoulder strapping, got in trouble for drink driving on a jet ski, has usually struggled to get a kick, was delisted and then thrown a lifeline by the new West Coast coach. Well, my dear Daisy is a proven great leader, however she has shown clouded judgment when it comes to old buddies (example: clearly responsible for getting Darebin stablemate Melissa Hickey the 2nd inaugural marquee spot at Melbourne, rather than MUWFC's Ellie Blackburn).

Western Bulldogs
Speaking of Ellie Blackburn... hasn't missed a game in 8 seasons, top 2 in the club B&F every time, has stayed loyal despite huuuuge offers from heaps of clubs, took the team to a flag. Yeah nah, that's not leadership material. It's being reported Blackburn was "overlooked" for the captaincy, rather than initiating a changeover. Her replacement is Deanna Berry, who's made the top 10 of a club B&F once (7th in 2022 S7) in her AFLW career to date.

Who else?
At this rate I'm expecting Emma King (or another player who crumbles under pressure--Tahlia Randall?) to take over from Emma Kearney. Sarah Allan has always seemingly been the favourite as Chelsea Randall's successor which, while not egregious, is still odd when you've got Ebony Marinoff as an option. Brea Moody should've been Carlton's captain for the last 4 or 5 seasons... don't think that's going to be belatedly corrected. Tara Bohanna was very poor last year but might retain the role by virute of the exodus of other senior Gold Coast players.

Collingwood is a club to watch with a new coach, and Bri Davey's on-field unreliability. Katie Brennan making way for Monique Conti must be at least a 50-50 chance. Alicia Eva has stepped aside at GWS, surely for Alyce Parker? Nina Morrison might take over at Geelong, or maybe Meg McDonald will hold on like Hannah Priest somehow has at St Kilda.

Some of these decisions may have already been announced, and I've just missed them. Perhaps the truth about the Blackburn and Miller stories have been misreported too (not to my knowledge, and as of right now I wish nothing but bad things on Fremantle and the Bulldogs for these disrespectful moves).

 

[Headless]

Examples of where Hore has been selfish or soft?

 

[Teen Wolf]

Examples of where Hore has been selfish or soft?

You can find plenty in last year's finals series. But here are a couple specific examples I criticised prior to that:

Going for glory on her extremely weak left foot with 3 players in better position.
View attachment KateHore3b.mp4

Hears footsteps, squibs a chest mark and goes down like she's been shot.
View attachment 1744590-6525c139f4c132ba19e5f788e889a1f6.mp4

Max Gawn would be torn apart on every footy show for those sort of things. SA radio announcers would still be talking down Daisy Pearce. Perhaps a lower-profile player like Tyla Hanks might get away with it... but she'd never take the soft/selfish option anyway.

 

[gordo2016]

A real new age approach from several clubs this year. Once upon a time, your club captain was expected to be one of the team's best players, if not the best. But now you don't even have to be best 21!

Fremantle
After three seasons at the helm, the captaincy was ripped away from 28yo Hayley Miller. She is coming off a poor season so it's perhaps justified. Two weird things about the decision that may hint Freo's AFLW program is all over the shop: 1) she was replaced by 27yo Ange Stannett who won't even be playing this year due to injury (not a secret when votes were cast), meaning 2) Miller, now co-vice-captain, will probably be expected to fill in as captain anyway!

Port Adelaide
It's been injury after injury for Janelle Cuthbertson, who takes the number 1 jumper from the retired Erin Phillips. 1 is also the number of full seasons Cuthbertson's managed to get through from five attempts, so it's probably optimistic to think her body will be in better nick at age 34. Gemma Houghton is literally known as "Aunty" because of how she looks out for teammates, and yet has never been in the frame for captaincy across two clubs now--which isn't to point a finger only at the Dockers and Port. League B&F winners Ally Anderson and Madison Prespakis have also never even been vice-captains at a club. Some (including myself) would say this could possibly be because these particular indigenous players don't want to be captains, which only suggests an even bigger and more serious issue. Terrible look for football.

Melbourne
Kate Hore (who certainly is one of Melbourne's best players) takes on the role for the second year running. If she continues to be selfish in front of goal and soft at the contest, I'll continue to criticise her leadership and won't be dissuaded by claims I simply "don't like her" personally, which is the kind of response I'd expect from an 8-year-old.

West Coast
Not a big surprise to see Emma Swanson named again. The dubious choice by the Eagles is Jess Hosking being included in the leadership group. Hasn't done much to suggest she's a great leader: followed her sister (who's a better player) to Richmond, got in trouble for having mean words written on shoulder strapping, got in trouble for drink driving on a jet ski, has usually struggled to get a kick, was delisted and then thrown a lifeline by the new West Coast coach. Well, my dear Daisy is a proven great leader, however she has shown clouded judgment when it comes to old buddies (example: clearly responsible for getting Darebin stablemate Melissa Hickey the 2nd inaugural marquee spot at Melbourne, rather than MUWFC's Ellie Blackburn).

Western Bulldogs
Speaking of Ellie Blackburn... hasn't missed a game in 8 seasons, top 2 in the club B&F every time, has stayed loyal despite huuuuge offers from heaps of clubs, took the team to a flag. Yeah nah, that's not leadership material. It's being reported Blackburn was "overlooked" for the captaincy, rather than initiating a changeover. Her replacement is Deanna Berry, who's made the top 10 of a club B&F once (7th in 2022 S7) in her AFLW career to date.

Who else?
At this rate I'm expecting Emma King (or another player who crumbles under pressure--Tahlia Randall?) to take over from Emma Kearney. Sarah Allan has always seemingly been the favourite as Chelsea Randall's successor which, while not egregious, is still odd when you've got Ebony Marinoff as an option. Brea Moody should've been Carlton's captain for the last 4 or 5 seasons... don't think that's going to be belatedly corrected. Tara Bohanna was very poor last year but might retain the role by virute of the exodus of other senior Gold Coast players.

Collingwood is a club to watch with a new coach, and Bri Davey's on-field unreliability. Katie Brennan making way for Monique Conti must be at least a 50-50 chance. Alicia Eva has stepped aside at GWS, surely for Alyce Parker? Nina Morrison might take over at Geelong, or maybe Meg McDonald will hold on like Hannah Priest somehow has at St Kilda.

Some of these decisions may have already been announced, and I've just missed them. Perhaps the truth about the Blackburn and Miller stories have been misreported too (not to my knowledge, and as of right now I wish nothing but bad things on Fremantle and the Bulldogs for these disrespectful moves).

You can find plenty in last year's finals series. But here are a couple specific examples I criticised prior to that:

Going for glory on her extremely weak left foot with 3 players in better position.
View attachment 2056704

Hears footsteps, squibs a chest mark and goes down like she's been shot.
View attachment 2056705

Max Gawn would be torn apart on every footy show for those sort of things. SA radio announcers would still be talking down Daisy Pearce. Perhaps a lower-profile player like Tyla Hanks might get away with it... but she'd never take the soft/selfish option anyway.

Both of them were skill errors Wolfy. You don't know she was going for goal, there were two players clear and she was most likely trying to kick it to the advantage of one of them. Everyone drops a mark from time to time, she tried to milk a free kick and took a dive but every player would be guilty of that at some time. Saying she is selfish and questioning her courage based on those two passages of play is laughable.

 

[Teen Wolf]

Both of them were skill errors Wolfy. You don't know she was going for goal, there were two players clear and she was most likely trying to kick it to the advantage of one of them. Everyone drops a mark from time to time, she tried to milk a free kick and took a dive but every player would be guilty of that at some time. Saying she is selfish and questioning her courage based on those two passages of play is laughable.

Yeah, very soft skill errors which directly burned teammates. Sort of thing she should've got out of her game by now, but certainly hasn't yet (I could provide 2 examples per match).

And I'm judging her by the same standard which led me to criticise Emma King and Tahlia Randall, who noticeably aren't being defended by you and the Melbourne supporter.

There's also the matter of finals, which you've sidestepped. A player who goes from averaging 14.5 disposals and 1.4 goals in H&A matches (2020 onwards) down to 11 and 0.3 in finals (10 matches, so a decent sample size)... it's not even slightly controversial to question that player's leadership. A captain in her prime (on a six-figure salary) should not have such a steep drop off.

 

[RobbyRoy]

Not personally fussed by the Hore one, but the rest definitely raised my eyebrows. Interesting comment re Anderson and Prespakis, which is perhaps an issue found across both the women's and men's game.

 

[Teen Wolf]

Interesting comment re Anderson and Prespakis, which is perhaps an issue found across both the women's and men's game.

It's definitely a topic that has had its own threads on the main board regarding the men's. Largely turns into a debate about which clubs are overtly racist, which of course misses the point.

Other diversions include "but Lance Franklin was a party boy", and equating Matt Priddis to the 10x better Gavin Wanganeen (i.e. "the white Brownlow medallist was never a genuine captain--must mean reverse racism").

 

[slopply joes]

I guess Gold Coast has a couple of options, they can stick with Bohanna or make Stanton captain. With the latter being the better option!

 

[Teen Wolf]

Bohanna was 1 of 2 captains last year not to finish top 10 in club B&F voting (the other being Kerryn Peterson, who only played 4 games). So I'd be a little surprised if the Suns don't make a change after bombing out vs the Swans in a home final.

Stanton as the replacement would surprise me too though, since a) she's been at the club longer and has already been passed over repeatedly, and b) she didn't finish top 10 last year either. If I had to guess, I'd say Dupuy is the biggest chance to take over, and maybe Whitfort elevated to vice captain from the leadership group.

On the topic of VCs, I can recall commenting on how poorly Katherine Smith was playing last year. The numbers aren't great to look at either:


Beeson as captain seemed like a bit of a gamble in my head, but after checking the stats, it was just the b2b seasons in 2022 when she missed all those games. Been very reliable outside of that horror year, and obviously highly underrated leaguewide. But Smith ahead of Parker... wild choice.

 

[slopply joes]

Bohanna was 1 of 2 captains last year not to finish top 10 in club B&F voting (the other being Kerryn Peterson, who only played 4 games). So I'd be a little surprised if the Suns don't make a change after bombing out vs the Swans in a home final.

Stanton as the replacement would surprise me too though, since a) she's been at the club longer and has already been passed over repeatedly, and b) she didn't finish top 10 last year either. If I had to guess, I'd say Dupuy is the biggest chance to take over, and maybe Whitfort elevated to vice captain from the leadership group.

On the topic of VCs, I can recall commenting on how poorly Katherine Smith was playing last year. The numbers aren't great to look at either:
View attachment 2058521

Beeson as captain seemed like a bit of a gamble in my head, but after checking the stats, it was just the b2b seasons in 2022 when she missed all those games. Been very reliable outside of that horror year, and obviously highly underrated leaguewide. But Smith ahead of Parker... wild choice.

Good point! Giants leadership team this season coming up is one of them decisions that kinda confuses me as well. It would be interesting to see who Adelaide will appoint to replace Randell.

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

I'm not sure why Bree Moody should have been captain the last 4 or 5 years. Kerry Peterson has been a great leader. She has 3 AA's and is a future coaching prospect.

Is this is a personal opinion about who the better player is, rather than leader?

 

[Teen Wolf]

Lauren Morecroft is also a future (and current) coaching prospect. Just not for Carlton, buuuuut anywayyyyy...

I've previously described on-field things I've seen from 5-10 metres away where Peterson left younger teammates hanging out to dry with neither physical nor vocal support. Wouldn't be an honest assessment if I just ignored or omitted such observations.

And I wouldn't say playing loose in defence and racking up inconsequential possessions is the epitome of leadership, even if it's rewarded with AA jumpers (but notably not any B&Fs). Clearly this is not a view shared across the entirety of football history.

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

Lauren Morecroft is also a future (and current) coaching prospect. Just not for Carlton, buuuuut anywayyyyy...

I've previously described on-field things I've seen from 5-10 metres away where Peterson left younger teammates hanging out to dry with neither physical nor vocal support. Wouldn't be an honest assessment if I just ignored or omitted such observations.

And I wouldn't say playing loose in defence and racking up inconsequential possessions is the epitome of leadership, even if it's rewarded with AA jumpers (but notably not any B&Fs). Clearly this is not a view shared across the entirety of football history.

Peterson has been playing midfield for much of the last 2 years. I haven't really noticed the things you talk about, but I do think that many of our players have looked after their own games at times, Moody included.

I like Moody, but I haven't seen her lead on field. I'd trust that the players voting for Peterson and the coaches have a better handle on this than some sideline observations.

 

[Teen Wolf]

No big surprises in the last few days. Bohanna probably the diciest call. The Allan-Marinoff co-captaincy makes more sense than Essendon's and Sydney's choices (we all know who the real captains are there), but I'm still not a huge fan of it. Collingwood with 3 vice-captains and 3 more in the leadership group is pretty dumb.

Looks like just North Melbourne and Carlton are yet to announce their decisions. Hopefully the Blues stick to what has worked so well for their wonderfully run AFLW program to date.

By season's end, let's revive this thread and evaluate all these choices. I respect premiership captains, and that won't change if any of Melbourne/St Kilda/Gold Coast/Port Adelaide/Footscray win the flag... rather, it would probably mean their captains have improved in aspects previously identified, making them all the more worthy of success!

 

[petits]

On the topic of VCs, I can recall commenting on how poorly Katherine Smith was playing last year. The numbers aren't great to look at either:

Beeson as captain seemed like a bit of a gamble in my head, but after checking the stats, it was just the b2b seasons in 2022 when she missed all those games. Been very reliable outside of that horror year, and obviously highly underrated leaguewide. But Smith ahead of Parker... wild choice.

Some of us have long thought Smith must be absurdly popular inside the club and to look very good at training to have even hung on in the team for so long. It really doesn't bode well for me.