Women's Footy Grand Final, 2023 - North Melbourne vs. Brisbane Lions

[Tom14]

We struggled to move the ball effectively and couldn't win clearances for large parts of the game but because we kept up our intensity for the whole game we eventually just wore them down and they had nothing left in the last.

An amazing side that hates losing and finds a way regardless of the cattle we have out on the park.

The mens team could learn a lot from the womens team in terms of consistency of defensive effort, application and work rate.

Given the amount of turnover in the last few seasons you'd forgive the girls for falling back to the pack and struggling to maintain that intensity. That they've kept it up is a credit to them and to Starce of course.

 

[ZoBlitz]

Dakota was clearly the slowest doing the lap of honour as well, spending plenty of time with every fan along the fence.

 

[AFLQLD]

Just a reflection on Tahlia Hickie. She did a huge amount of work this season in the ruck and kept on going despite being blocked out of the contest by so many opposition rucks who knew she could out jump them. Decent umpiring would have put a stop to that.

Really impressive the work she did each week. She is such an improved player.

 

[MSB ROYS]

Open the tweet for a view of the whole team.

 

[rye]

pretty big testament to the coaching group and players to have this as the result with how much talent we lost since the last season. superb season.

 

[The Flying Belgian]

Just a reflection on Tahlia Hickie. She did a huge amount of work this season in the ruck and kept on going despite being blocked out of the contest by so many opposition rucks who knew she could out jump them. Decent umpiring would have put a stop to that.

Really impressive the work she did each week. She is such an improved player.

She's a bit of a fave of mine, but she's still got a bit of work to do. I thought Smith's ruckwork showed her up at times.

 

[Elixuh]

Just a reflection on Tahlia Hickie. She did a huge amount of work this season in the ruck and kept on going despite being blocked out of the contest by so many opposition rucks who knew she could out jump them. Decent umpiring would have put a stop to that.

Really impressive the work she did each week. She is such an improved player.

I’ve been banging on about this for 2 seasons.

The only time she got a free in the ruck was when the Norf forward took the ruck contest and didn’t even bother looking at the ball and charged hickie. Needs to be looked at for next season.

 

[Johnny Bananas]

Loved the intensity I saw today from the girls, deserved flag win. Koenen was immense.

 

[BuntonRules]

She's a bit of a fave of mine, but she's still got a bit of work to do. I thought Smith's ruckwork showed her up at times.

Taylor Smith's pack mark, and set up of Dakota. was a match winning moment. So many highlights

 

[Elixuh]

She's a bit of a fave of mine, but she's still got a bit of work to do. I thought Smith's ruckwork showed her up at times.

She is pretty good so far as aflw rucks go. The issue is her strength is taken away by ruck infringements which aren’t ever called. If the ruck was officiated fairly she would be dominant.

 

[The Flying Belgian]

She is pretty good so far as aflw rucks go. The issue is her strength is taken away by ruck infringements which aren’t ever called. If the ruck was officiated fairly she would be dominant.

I think she's got the ability to work her opponents over by jumping into them.

 

[Lazza16]

That win, and the whole season, was pure grit. We get absolutely pillaged every year and we aren’t the best skilled side because of it. But to find a way like they did in the last was unbelievable. Really hard to not love this group. I’m sure McCarthy has gotten what she wanted out of her move but seeing her as an original to head to Vic and doing the interviewing at the cost of success made me smile.

The club needs to put Dakota front and centre from a marketing perspective. She’s one of the best personalities at the club and wears her heart on sleeve. Probably our most reliable kick for goal male or female too.

They should make a movie about this team titled .....?

 

[lionraven]

I love how North are tauted as some defensive juggernaught. We got a full taste of exactly who they are defensively this game. They spent so much of their time holding and scragging off the ball that simply goes unpunished by the umpires. Their own defensive 'tactics' backfired on them tremendously when two of them were too busy holding Dakota and let the ball bounce through for our first goal. Then they were too busy three v oneing Dakota they left Hampson unmarked for her first mark and goal. They couldnt match Dakota in a 1v1 in the 4th. So much for their defensive prowess. Meanwhile down at the other end each defender was largely able to match their opponent. Tahlia Randall only managed one mark (and did her trademark McSpray routine).

I feel sorry for Bates. She could have easily been known as one of the all time Lions greats with 100+ games, at least 2 premierships etc. The midfeild was always Bates + Anderson. Now Anderson gets to rightly enjoy the sunlight by herself. She will probably be remembered as the Simon Black of Lions AFLW. Bates will not get that same legacy now.

 

[Ad Astra]

I think Starc’s true quality lies in the fact that he doesn’t coach women who play AFL, he coaches AFLW, an important distinction. He understands the different nature of the game better than other coaches. It is congested and tight in lots of contests so tackling and pressure are critical. The ball will go to ground a lot.

Getting players to each contest, then either winning the ball or negating an opposition win are just so important, contest to contest to contest. Strategically, outlasting the opposition in that situation is really critical, as effort and concentration fall away I think he has trained our girls to maintain higher intensity for longer. It flattens out the advantage that taller, stronger, even more skilled teams might have. And it takes a huge amount of training and belief which he has given the girls.

It is why someone like Dawes is purpose built for contested AFLW footy. You can see it in Mullins, Grider, Koenen, Hodder, so many of them. Starc has really made it part of the team DNA. Get to a contest, don’t outright lose too many, win some, and clear to space ready for the next contest. The chances will come.

We won each of our finals by just doing that better.

Well said. Starc is totally realistic about the nature of the women’s game. Sometimes we look great with ball movement but our real strength is fitness and hardness. We are prepared to play rugby in order to win a game.

 

[Ad Astra]

They should make a movie about this team titled .....?

True Grit

 

[dlanod]

They should make a movie about this team titled .....?

If Anyone Can, Jerry Can.

 

[MSB ROYS]

Looks like a big night!

 

[dlanod]

The Lion Queens - 2023 AFLW Premiers - The Mongrel Punt

The Brisbane Lions reign again, snagging their second AFLW flag over the Kangaroos. The Doc has all the details.

themongrelpunt.com

Found this bit especially interesting:

Both sides went into this game, averaging over 70 tackles per game. By halftime, both sides were well on track to better it – 49 tackles to 46 to the good of Brisbane.

However, only one team in the second half continued to push and drive that defensive edge towards the contest, and it resulted in their opposition to turn the ball over a fair bit, and in a sense, was vital in the fourth quarter, which saw them run all over them.

Brisbane laid 109 tackles –overtaking Sydney’s previous league record in the first week of finals. North Melbourne finished with 75.

 

[kittypurry]

Congrats on the flag!

It was so satisfying to watch after so many of your players were poached and also the VIC media acting like Brisbane didn't stand a chance.

 

[dlanod]

Five quick hits: Lions silence the doubters as AFLW's best stands up on grand final day

The Brisbane Lions have had to do it the hard way, but they are AFLW champions again. Here are five quick hits from a grand final win over North Melbourne to remember.

www.abc.net.au

 

[WheildonTheAxe]

Live at the game, the amount of pressure we applied was so epic, especially by the forward unit (inc Daks when she could not impact air). Would love to see the AFL team match it.

We definitely felt out played in the air - other than Koenen and Grider. North made it really hard for Davidson to get any 1-1s.

 

[BuntonRules]

September does not feel quite so bad now.

 

[Lazza16]

I think the ineqaulites of the draw makes it difficult for AA selectors but Bre n Nat proved a point to them on the weekend with both featuring in the voting for the most important game of the season.....the GF BoG votes.

 

[dlanod]

https://fb.watch/oJmXNBnVsm/?mibextid=Nif5oz

Just fun to watch!

 

[Ad Astra]

Watched the last quarter again just now.
North were cooked. Umpires hurt us for three quarters but boy we got very lucky in the last. I reckon they missed about four frees to north. Our goals were all legit though. If belle had got a goal instead of bre, reckon she’d have got bog. Anderson whole game terrific. Gave it everything in the last. Ditto, Orla. Underrated game , probs the player of the finals? Lily was really good in the last. Grider was phenomenal. Her possessions and marks are usually under pressure and crucial wins.
Courtney was just a machine. By the last quarter she was laying a ridiculous number of effective tackles. She basically defined the game. No free flowing showcase footy today.
If you hadn’t watched the season you might have thought the game had regressed but much of it has been great. With north’s talls, we had to negate , close it down and make the most of few opportunities . Which is what we did with aplomb.
I love how starce patched together a team team this year that just plays to its unconventional strengths. A few still kick awkwardly , not really tall, sloppy against middling sides, these girls just will themselves to the line when it counts. They beat slicker teams by giving them nothing. They’re very fit and it showed in the last quarter. And they’ve got so much enthusiasm. At half time they ran off in a bunch while north trundled . They looked like “ yep, we’ve got this. “
Many of us thought nup, not this year. Looked early as if they might be plodders. They’ve amazed me. They’re amazing. Just love ‘em.