AFLW AFLW/VFLW 2024 - General Discussion

[Testekill]

Indeed, though the silver lining is that a draft pick we got for her (pick 16) was used to recruit Pritchard.

That draft was pretty handy for us; Pritchard, Fitzgerald and Hartwig. If that was an AFL draft with comparable performers then we'd be very happy with that haul.

It was really 2019 that killed us; we lost Brennan, Conti, Birch to poaching and also lost Ernst to Gold Coast who was a handy ruck but she was moving to QLD for work anyways. Then in the top end of the draft we got Newton (gone, good run with us but didn't seem like she'd take the next step to be elite with us), Morris-Dalton (gone, wasn't great for us), Gemma Lagoia (gone, never clicked) and Elisabeth Georgostathis who has been a good player for us.

Newton probably suffered from us being so Blackburn focused.


The big blame I'd say is that early on we put too much stock in draft picks instead of chasing replacement players ready to go. Conti and Birch in particular hurt because they are literally just in their physical prime as footballers.

 

[Bulldogs85]

The Western Bulldogs have informed Keely Coyne, Elizabeth Snell, Aurora Smith and Jorja Borg that they will not be offered AFLW contracts next season.

Coyne was drafted with Pick 29 in 2022, but spent this season on the sidelines continuing to recover from an ACL rupture sustained in 2023.

Snell, taken with Pick 27 in 2021, did not play a senior game this year, while Smith (Pick 25 in 2021 from Murray Bushrangers) played two games this season.

Borg arrived via the most recent Draft, playing six games before an ACL injury ended her season. The Club will continue to support her rehabilitation into 2025.

“We thank Keely, Elizabeth, Aurora and Jorja for their contributions to the red, white and blue both on and off the field,” AFLW List Manager Dan Fisher said.

“We wish them all the best for the future.”

 

[Testekill]

That sucks with Borg, she showed some great signs. I hope that we're committed to bringing her back after she heals up.

 

[geoffjennings79]

That draft was pretty handy for us; Pritchard, Fitzgerald and Hartwig. If that was an AFL draft with comparable performers then we'd be very happy with that haul.

It was really 2019 that killed us; we lost Brennan, Conti, Birch to poaching and also lost Ernst to Gold Coast who was a handy ruck but she was moving to QLD for work anyways. Then in the top end of the draft we got Newton (gone, good run with us but didn't seem like she'd take the next step to be elite with us), Morris-Dalton (gone, wasn't great for us), Gemma Lagoia (gone, never clicked) and Elisabeth Georgostathis who has been a good player for us.

Newton probably suffered from us being so Blackburn focused.

Morris-Dalton was Pies leading goalkicker last year. Did she play at all this year?

 

[weltschmerz]

Morris-Dalton was Pies leading goalkicker last year. Did she play at all this year?

Out with a back injury.

 

[geoffjennings79]

Out with a back injury.

Thanks. She's another one I thought worth persevering with as a forward.

 

[Prince Imperial]

Our three 2021 draft picks (Ling, Smith and Snell) all now delisted after just three years.

Disappointing given they were all picks in the 20s but perhaps not surprising given the lack of football in the two COVID affected years which must have made selections even more of a lottery.

 

[weltschmerz]

Our three 2021 draft picks (Ling, Smith and Snell) all now delisted after just three years.

Disappointing given they were all picks in the 20s but perhaps not surprising given the lack of football in the two COVID affected years which must have made selections even more of a lottery.

Looking at the draft pool, we couldn't have done that much better with our hand and the Victorian pool. Better off in 2022, Wilcox and Woodley are great, and Coyne had plenty going for her until injury happened.

 

[MYOB]

The is disappointing for Borg. I thought she was doing very well, before she got injured.

 

[Testekill]

Our three 2021 draft picks (Ling, Smith and Snell) all now delisted after just three years.

Disappointing given they were all picks in the 20s but perhaps not surprising given the lack of football in the two COVID affected years which must have made selections even more of a lottery.

We split picks to get the picks for Ling and Smith too. An absolute disaster of a year in the draft. We did add Bennett via trade that year though

 

[Prince Imperial]

We split picks to get the picks for Ling and Smith too. An absolute disaster of a year in the draft. We did add Bennett via trade that year though

Yep, we originally had pick 11 which Carlton used on Keeley Sherar who is a gun. Not guaranteed that we would picked her but it makes it even worse.

We didn't accept North's offer of 28 for Rennie and we ended up with nothing for losing her.

A horror show really

 

[Bulldogs85]

 

[Oliver G]

I'm absolutely shocked by the Borg delisting. We could've easily put her on the inactive list and signed a replacement player but to delist someone a little over a month after doing their ACL is not only cold-hearted but extremely tone-deaf by the club. She had played every game up to doing her ACL and was our VFLW B&F last season, more than enough credentials to retain her and put her on the inactive list, in my opinion.

Not only a terrible look for the club but how does this in any way help us attract or retain any talent? “Please come to the Dogs, but if you do your ACL, you’re gonna be delisted no matter what.”

I would’ve thought we had learnt our lesson regarding handling delistings and overall player management, sadly it looks like we haven't. This doesn't provide me much confidence looking ahead to the trade and draft.

 

[gordo2016]

Piss off Mc Carthy. It is irrelevant whether she done a reco or not, the club isn't a charity. Good on her for being very coachable and a great team player, but that is what they are meant to be.

 

[maddog37]

 

[geoffjennings79]

Can't wait for Borg to go elsewhere and develop further. ☹

 

[Bulldogs85]

Piss off Mc Carthy. It is irrelevant whether she done a record or not, the club isn't a charity. Good on her for being very coachable and a great team player, but that is what they are meant to be.

I think it’s harsh that they delisted Borg

 

[Testekill]

I think it’s harsh that they delisted Borg

Since next season is a write off for her and we're committed to helping her through her rehab, hopefully there's an agreement that we'd give another look at her when she's healthy.

 

[gordo2016]

I think it’s harsh that they delisted Borg

My post was more directed at Mc Carthys poor choice of words. If she deserves another contract, tell us why instead of spinning BS about a player having a reco, being a great team player and coachable. Those two things are what are expected of you when you play professional sport in a team. It may be harsh, but not for the reasons Mc Carthy said.

 

[Oliver G]

Can't wait for Borg to go elsewhere and develop further. ☹

If you want a depressing exercise, noted AFL/AFLW analyst Emlyn Breese has created an AFLW movement dashboard where you can track each club's ins and outs over the history of the competition...

Graphing AFLW Player movement (v2) — Credit to Du Bois

I’d previously done a post on charting AFLW player movement . Since then I’ve learned some new techniques and tools so thought it was time for an update. In the below PowerBI dashboard you can filter by which teams players have left or joined, seasons, and whether you want to look at movements t

credittodubois.com

Yes, we all know that we've lost lots of players over the journey, but it is just mind-boggling when you put them all on one list. You could just about make an AFLW team out of our ex-players still playing and I reckon they would easily make the top 8.

The below table should be stapled to a whiteboard at Whitten Oval, as I've often said we were always going to lose some players to expansion but we did next to nothing to try and entice some of those players to remain at the club, and let's not forget every player from the 2022B season onwards left has been at their request.

I'm confident that Blackburn and Edmonds will remain at the club but how it’s even a question that one of them, let alone both could be out of the door is a serious indictment on the club and today has nothing to fill me with confidence that club knows what it's doing.

Left The Bulldogs


Arrived At The Bulldogs

 

[geoffjennings79]

If you want a depressing exercise, noted AFL/AFLW analyst Emlyn Breese has created an AFLW movement dashboard where you can track each club's ins and outs over the history of the competition...

Graphing AFLW Player movement (v2) — Credit to Du Bois

I’d previously done a post on charting AFLW player movement . Since then I’ve learned some new techniques and tools so thought it was time for an update. In the below PowerBI dashboard you can filter by which teams players have left or joined, seasons, and whether you want to look at movements t

credittodubois.com

Yes, we all know that we've lost lots of players over the journey, but it is just mind-boggling when you put them all on one list. You could just about make an AFLW team out of our ex-players still playing and I reckon they would easily make the top 8.

The below table should be stapled to a whiteboard at Whitten Oval, as I've often said we were always going to lose some players to expansion but we did next to nothing to try and entice some of those players to remain at the club, and let's not forget every player from the 2022B season onwards left has been at their request.

I'm confident that Blackburn and Edmonds will remain at the club but how it’s even a question that one of them, let alone both could be out of the door is a serious indictment on the club and today has nothing to fill me with confidence that club knows what it's doing.

Left The Bulldogs
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Arrived At The Bulldogs
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I could name most of those departures off the top of my head. The arrivals on the other hand...
Berry, Edmonds, Cranston and Lynch the only real standouts.

Losing Kearney, Bannister and Bruton all to North, then Brennan and Conti at the same time to Richmond, amongst other losses both those years is an indictment on the club. Some like Kearney and Toogood were probably inevitable, but lots of others should never have been in a position to want out. Very depressing.

 

[Oliver G]

I could name most of those departures off the top of my head. The arrivals on the other hand...
Berry, Edmonds, Cranston and Lynch the only real standouts.

Losing Kearney, Bannister and Bruton all to North, then Brennan and Conti at the same time to Richmond, amongst other losses both those years is an indictment on the club. Some like Kearney and Toogood were probably inevitable, but lots of others should never have been in a position to want out. Very depressing.

Exactly, in my books losing Bannister, Kearney, Munyard and Toogood were all likely given their background.

We got unlucky with Ernst, Huntington and Utri, but how we didn't manage to keep one of Birch, Brennan, Bruton, Conti and McCarthy during the expansion period was unacceptable. We definitely could've pushed harder.

Add to that last year with Lamb, Lynch, Moody and Newton all REQUESTING out, not poached. Moody I could understand, she wasn't getting a regular game with us, but if Lamb, Lynch and Moody all had issues with the coaching and football department, surely we could've let them know that the plan was to completely turnover the department.

After winning 4 of our last 7 games we should be in a great position to retain and attract talent and yet here we are with multiple reports of players who already have long-term contracts who are now considering their future. Again I'm confident that Blackburn and Edmonds will stay, but it does look like some people aren't happy with the way the women's department is currently being run.

If clubs are asking about Blackburn and Edmonds, there is a very good chance they are also asking about the likes of Fitzgerald, Georgostathis and Pritchard.

 

[W W Biscuit]

Of the players delisted, I always thought that Aurora Smith would develop into a good player. Not sure what happened there.

 

[Shacf501]

Piss off Mc Carthy. It is irrelevant whether she done a reco or not, the club isn't a charity. Good on her for being very coachable and a great team player, but that is what they are meant to be.

professional sport is cut throat unfortunately. Sorry, but this is how the mens game has worked for years!

 

[Thunderoad]

professional sport is cut throat unfortunately. Sorry, but this is how the mens game has worked for years!

I think what makes Borg's delisting so jarring is that traditionally that's not how the men's game has worked.

There are plenty of instances where male players have injured ACLs or sustained other long term injuries and clubs have them provided with contract extensions.

This is one recent example - https://www.nmfc.com.au/news/1591261/two-more-for-george

Of course, these acts of 'generosity' on the clubs behalf do depend on the calibre of player and their ability to rehab and return from injury as a good player but I would argue that Borg fits into that category.