Women's Footy Grand Final, 2024 - North Melbourne vs. Brisbane Lions

[LionsMaw]

Interesting slight backhander to the men's team from their women's team captain lol

Lol! Saw that and thought, 'She's taking the piss'

 

[Perrip]

Honestly can't be too mad. North were simply the better team tonight and across the whole season.

To make 6 GFs since the inception of the league after expansion sides taking our talent, we've done remarkably well to keep contending. Further, it's a great time to be a Brisbane fan considering our success in the AFL (Premiership) and VFL (prelim) in recent years.

 

[Lazza16]

Need a bit of polish n composure. So many blind kicks. Too much handball on a wet surface. North more organised. Could only give votes to 3...Anderson, Izzie n Jenn.

 

[Zacs_Magic_Tooth]

Not really wanting to pick on her because the effort is usually there, but tonight showed the next step in skill level has been taken in the women’s game. If you want to be premier going forward (which means beating a North side rungs above all others), players like Conway can’t be in your setup. Pure athleticism is no longer a substitute for skill and intuition.

Congrats to North, just a much better team unfortunately

 

[McLuggages]

Just got home from the game. I don't think there was an issue with effort - we tried hard all night. Pressure was top notch from both sides.

The fumbles and dropped marks killed us.

Norths defense smashed our forwards, and their forwards took their chances well.

 

[Liam Boy]

Something like "... and maybe we'll see some of this success from the men's side next year.

Or maybe not."

No, she was talking about the night grand final being adopted in the mens'. (sorry to intrude, commiserations)

 

[Mr Ripper]

Think I’ve found old mate from last week’s tweeter account

 

[Sherrinator]

Not really wanting to pick on her because the effort is usually there, but tonight showed the next step in skill level has been taken in the women’s game. If you want to be premier going forward (which means beating a North side rungs above all others), players like Conway can’t be in your setup. Pure athleticism is no longer a substitute for skill and intuition.

Congrats to North, just a much better team unfortunately

Issue is, I think we have maybe a handful of natural field kicks on our team - Koenen and Davidson? Who else is decent?

 

[Section 5]

North the better side tonight and during the year.
A well-deserved premiership. Very hard to go undefeated for the season.

Our ladies did us proud to make another grand final

With 10 minutes remaining in the game my daughter decided to look up accommodation for the men's GF should they make it.
She got a Black Friday sale for 2 days at the same place we stayed in this year. Olovo South Yarra.
$300 each for two nights 2 rooms. It was $600 each for 2 nights 2 rooms last year.
The free cancellation date is again after the preliminary final.
So, something good for us may come out of the night.

 

[Zacs_Magic_Tooth]

Issue is, I think we have maybe a handful of natural field kicks on our team - Koenen and Davidson? Who else is decent?

I agree. Our list build was perfect for a fledgling competition and our rejuvenation after numerous pilferings was as well. But watching tonight I became super aware of the difference on each stat line that mattered. I think we might’ve been lucky to snatch another flag last year before the game got past us in all honesty. We’re still the best of the rest but skills are going to increase rapidly over the next few seasons so hopefully we get onto that

 

[Nathan Barley]

I agree. Our list build was perfect for a fledgling competition and our rejuvenation after numerous pilferings was as well. But watching tonight I became super aware of the difference on each stat line that mattered. I think we might’ve been lucky to snatch another flag last year before the game got past us in all honesty. We’re still the best of the rest but skills are going to increase rapidly over the next few seasons so hopefully we get onto that

Only 1 team has gone past us so far but we're not introducing much new talent into the team

 

[BuntonRules]

A bit like our men this year, no one was going to take that off of North. Congrats on an amazing season.

 

[Ceebee]

Think I’ve found old mate from last week’s tweeter account

Poor bitter little person , needs some therapy

 

[dlanod]

Think I’ve found old mate from last week’s tweeter account

"Adelaide still has 3 flags more than any other"?

He either needs to check his maths or his grammar.

 

[McLuggages]

I agree. Our list build was perfect for a fledgling competition and our rejuvenation after numerous pilferings was as well. But watching tonight I became super aware of the difference on each stat line that mattered. I think we might’ve been lucky to snatch another flag last year before the game got past us in all honesty. We’re still the best of the rest but skills are going to increase rapidly over the next few seasons so hopefully we get onto that

I actually thought the same at half time of last year's granny when north were on top. I think our team is predominantly excellent athletes with average skills (minus a few) whilst North is a team of footballers.

I don't want to name names but the lack of skill by hand around the contest, and also kicking was pretty evident tonight.

 

[Chadwiko]

Congratulations on a great season, Lions fans.

Your team has set the standard for years now in the AFLW, and I'm glad when we won our first it was against incredible opposition like your girls.

 

[Perrip]

CODE Sports - AFLW Grand Final: Brisbane coach praises Kangaroos for ‘best ever’ footy

Brisbane coach Craig Starcevich says the Lions will be driven by closing the gap on North Melbourne next season as he praised the premiers for playing “the best footy I’ve ever seen”.
The inaugural Lions coach was proud of his side for making it back to the decider for the sixth time in nine seasons, but conceded it would be a “long, hard road” to return as the competition had become noticeably more even in 2024.
Starcevich will enter the 10th and final year of his contract next season, and suggested he was eager to stay on long-term as he still took a great sense of enjoyment from the role.
He called for an increase to the league soft cap to allow more AFLW staff to become full-time club employees, which he said would fast-track the improvement of the competition.
“What I saw in the first half today was the best footy I’ve ever seen in AFLW,” Starcevich said after his side’s 30-point loss to the Kangaroos.
“We were on the receiving end, trying to just keep our heads above water to be competitive, but they were awesome, the Kangas.
“Their pressure and their quick-decision ball-use was phenomenal, so it was very difficult to hang on.”
Starcevich said his team was continuing to evolve and had shown it could bounce back from disappointment before, but acknowledged the challenge of staying in touch with a North Melbourne side which powered through the season unbeaten.
“We start every pre-season campaign with the aim of winning a flag, but before you win a flag you’ve got to get to a grand final,” Starcevich said.
“To actually get there the amount of times we have is enormous for our program and our club and the character of our players.
“But it’s a bitter one to have to swallow and it’s such a long, hard road to get (back) there now.
“I think our competition is batting pretty deep now, when you consider a couple of teams that didn’t make the finals this year … it’s going to be harder and harder to win, so we just have to keep getting better.”
“But we’ll get to work, we’ll close the gap and get hungry, competitive and want to win it again.”
Starcevich suggested the Lions would be among the more active players in the AFLW trade period, which begins on Thursday and runs for seven days until December 11.
But he did not want to identify any particular parts of the ground the Lions would target, to avoid adding to the hurt of any of his players after the tough defeat.
“We’re still a club that players looking from the outside are inquisitive about joining, so I think that’s a good thing for us – we never really had that in the early part of our existence,” he said.
“We’re getting more and more inquiries from different players around the league as to ‘what are the possibilities?’ But that doesn’t mean they’re all coming in one big hit, because we’re pretty happy with the list that we’ve got as well.
“We have to be astute about what we need to keep getting better with, what type of player, and the needs that we need to fill.”

 

[Ceebee]

Certainly felt a lot better winning a grand final than losing .

Girls would be feeling pretty crap today I would imagine .

 

[Kernel Kurtz]

That was hard to watch.
Only lasted to half time and watched a movie.
Mostly said already, skills like handball , kicking is still not up to a decent level.
The appauling bit is our general play of blind kicks , that's why I couldn't watch it.
Funny how we called this out in our mens side this year, and previous years when we were focused on territory footy .
It's not unrectifyable, cause we fixed that.
no reason why the girls team can't be more focussed on finding a target in space.

North were a standout with the ball .

For mind the womens game should of been where players have to stay in their zones, spread the game out.
The congestion is not attractive .
But they had to be like the mens game of course.
Anyone else got any thoughts on this.

The girls tried hard , still proud of them , just not a great fan of the comp tbh unless they go to zones.

 

[M Malice]

That was hard to watch.
Only lasted to half time and watched a movie.
Mostly said already, skills like handball , kicking is still not up to a decent level.
The appauling bit is our general play of blind kicks , that's why I couldn't watch it.
Funny how we called this out in our mens side this year, and previous years when we were focused on territory footy .
It's not unrectifyable, cause we fixed that.
no reason why the girls team can't be more focussed on finding a target in space.

North were a standout with the ball .

For mind the womens game should of been where players have to stay in their zones, spread the game out.
The congestion is not attractive .
But they had to be like the mens game of course.
Anyone else got any thoughts on this.

The girls tried hard , still proud of them , just not a great fan of the comp tbh unless they go to zones.

I rarely post in AFLW threads but seeing you asked the question, I see the main problem as being unsolvable in the short to medium term.

The AFL expanded the competition far too rapidly, 18 teams is way too many and distributes the talent too thin, I haven't watched any games the last couple of seasons but when I do happen on some highlights the overall standard of play is still atrocious.... they should have went with 8 teams to start with for a decade and then slowly worked up the number of teams to a dozen over the next 10-15 years or so.

I did not watch the GF but I have seen reports that the Kangaroos are the best team ever in the AFLW, hopefully that is a sign that I am wrong and the overall skill level will improve quicker than I suspect.

I have zero criticism of their intensity, desire and willingness to contest the ball and opposition, that was evident from the start.

 

[Elixuh]

I rarely post in AFLW threads but seeing you asked the question, I see the main problem as being unsolvable in the short to medium term.

The AFL expanded the competition far too rapidly, 18 teams is way too many and distributes the talent too thin, I haven't watched any games the last couple of seasons but when I do happen on some highlights the overall standard of play is still atrocious.... they should have went with 8 teams to start with for a decade and then slowly worked up the number of teams to a dozen over the next 10-15 years or so.

I did not watch the GF but I have seen reports that the Kangaroos are the best team ever in the AFLW, hopefully that is a sign that I am wrong and the overall skill level will improve quicker than I suspect.

I have zero criticism of their intensity, desire and willingness to contest the ball and opposition, that was evident from the start.

The skill level is improving rapidly. The biggest thing holding the look and feel of the AFLW back in the short term is coaches. They need to work out rules to prevent coaches from running these dogshit defensive gameplans. Especially the ones who put 1-3 players behind the ball so no one can score. It is the biggest detractor from the product.

Anyone can play that gamestyle to achieve no scoring. They all need to agree to just play a more attacking and open gamestyle for the good of the game and to help it grow.

 

[Kernel Kurtz]

The skill level is improving rapidly. The biggest thing holding the look and feel of the AFLW back in the short term is coaches. They need to work out rules to prevent coaches from running these dogshit defensive gameplans. Especially the ones who put 1-3 players behind the ball so no one can score. It is the biggest detractor from the product.

Anyone can play that gamestyle to achieve no scoring. They all need to agree to just play a more attacking and open gamestyle for the good of the game and to help it grow.

They should make the rules so you can't get back in defence if you are a forward and vice a verser.
I'd go as far as players staying in your quarter of the field unless you are a follower .
I used to play it this way in grade 7 and it worked just fine.
There would certainly be room for some modification , but the concept of playing zones of some description could work.

 

[rwan566]

Issue is, I think we have maybe a handful of natural field kicks on our team - Koenen and Davidson? Who else is decent?

Couple of other decent kicks in Evie long, Aly Hampson, belle dawes, Campbell, and sometimes Cathy Svarc . The rest are pretty much kick and hope

 

[MSB ROYS]

The skill level is improving rapidly. The biggest thing holding the look and feel of the AFLW back in the short term is coaches. They need to work out rules to prevent coaches from running these dogshit defensive gameplans. Especially the ones who put 1-3 players behind the ball so no one can score. It is the biggest detractor from the product.

Anyone can play that gamestyle to achieve no scoring. They all need to agree to just play a more attacking and open gamestyle for the good of the game and to help it grow.

Hypothetical question: if the full forward and forward pockets go past the middle of the ground and even further to clog up their forward 50 and some of their defenders stay back, is that putting players behind the ball?

Our men's team kept some players in the forward line during the finals series and it paid dividends, especially in the GF.

 

[Section 5]

They should make the rules so you can't get back in defence if you are a forward and vice a verser.
I'd go as far as players staying in your quarter of the field unless you are a follower .
I used to play it this way in grade 7 and it worked just fine.
There would certainly be room for some modification , but the concept of playing zones of some description could work.

According to this article there are 3 zones used in junior games up to under 10. Full field under 11 and upwards.
Not dated so not sure how up to date it is.

Football (Australian rules)

Football Australian Rules playing field dimensions

www.dlgsc.wa.gov.au

My suggestion for AFLW footy from under 11 upwards. Players would be changing from 3 zones to 2 not 3 zones to none.
Player restrictions in 2 zones would be fairly easy to implement in my opinion.
Al line from the center ending at the boundary. White or a different color (say yellow).
At present player numbers, six players (men) 5 players (women) from both sides must be in one half of the ground at all times
This won't stop players changing positions, but some caution needed to avoid a free kick.
Monitored by the boundary umpire, there is 4 at senior level but any umpire can police it. Needs sorting but should not be too hard.

The woman's game can get too congested, but i would like to see them play with 18 players + 4 on the bench + 1 sub.
In other words, whatever the men's team playing list numbers/positions are under the rules, the womans should now be the same.
Two extra players get regular games at the higher level each week and that can only improve AFLW skill level across the country

With a total of 4 extra players on the field i don't believe it would make it worse and could in fact make it less congested.

Could also increase scoring with 1 extra forward for each side.