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AFLW 2024 - Round 3 - Chat, game threads, injury lists, team lineups and more.
Senior Will Ashcroft (2022-)
- Thread starter dlanod
- Start date
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ZoBlitz
The Ghost Who Walks
- Moderator
- #52
Lions get cooking as brutal Bailey sets up classy Ashcroft
Zac Bailey breaks through a tackle and hands it off to Will Ashcroft who snaps superbly
ZoBlitz
The Ghost Who Walks
- Moderator
- #53
Ashcroft effortlessly streams through for mega major
Will Ashcroft is rewarded for his effort after this workhorse effort ends in a goal
“Hopefully, I can continue to build for the rest of the year. “The speed of the game, you just can’t replicate it at training. We do a bit of match sim at training for 10-15 minutes but everyone is going at half pace. “From the get-go adapting to that again, making sure I am making the right decisions and the fitness, you can do all the running in the world, but there’s nothing like game fitness.
Will Ashcroft says he will only get better with more games under his belt. Picture: Matt Roberts/AFL Photos/via Getty Images
“I am starting to feel better in that sense as well now.”
Ashcroft, whose role within the side is to “be tough at the contest but also have some flair and drive on the outside”, said staying patient had been difficult upon his return.
But the slow build back is why he is so assured he can add more to the new premiership favourites.
“It is hard because I played 18 games in my first year and there’s going to be development there naturally without the injury,” he said.
“I am looking forward to improving and having a big impact.
“I know within myself and guys around me and in my inner circle know that I have a lot more to give.
“So sticking to the process and having the confidence in myself to come out every week, get better, better and better – that’s what I will continue to do.”
ZoBlitz
The Ghost Who Walks
- Moderator
- #56
Ashcroft Awaits Finals Berth
So sadly denied a place in the 2023 finals campaign, Will Ashcroft will get one up on his famous footballing father with his belated finals debut on Saturday night.
Ashcroft Jnr, nine games into his comeback from a knee reconstruction, will get his first taste of September action in his 28th game against Carlton in Saturday night’s elimination final at the Gabba.
The silky-skilled 20-year-old, who has quickly and unobtrusively worked his way into top form, will take a 20-7 win/loss record into his first finals outing.
It will come 29 years and three days after his father Marcus Ashcroft made his finals debut in his 127th game after an apprenticeship which had dealt him a taxing 36-1-89 record.
Ironically, Ashcroft Snr’s first final was also against Carlton. It was the then Brisbane Bears’ first AFL final in 1995 and came after they won six of their last seven home-and-away games to sneak into eighth spot only to run into a hot Blues side.
After a nervous start they pushed Carlton to 13 points in a 1 v 8 qualifying final, proving themselves the second-best side in September as Carlton thumped North Melbourne by 62 points and Geelong by 61 points to win the flag.
Ashcroft Jnr has snuck under the radar in his return to football, and the last three games he had 85 possessions from hauls of 29-26-30. Of his teammates only Lachie Neale, with 24-22-40, has had more. One more.
