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Thanks to The Deadly Hume for providing a fantastic framework to build off from last year An explanation of the title which leaves only more questions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQivDKanDSY  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle posted:I know something about football for I played Rugby for the Edinburgh University and soccer with the Hampshire team. I have also seen the best American football. I consider the Australian game is magnificent, and from the spectacular point of view it is probably the best of them all. The Western Bulldogs are the reigning premiers. The Western Bulldogs are the reigning premiers? Huh. The dogs did what no-one saw coming, after bowing out in the first round of the previous finals series, most people saw either gradual improvement or a temporary dip. Given the injuries sustained to key players no one could have blamed them for narrowly missing the finals or making it a short stay in September. What actually happened was probably the greatest premiership story in footy history. The dogs first grand final appearance in 55 years, their first flag in 62 years, the lowest team on the ladder to make the grand final, the only team to win the flag from four years. The only people unhappy with the result on the day could have been Sydney supporters, but having previously held and broken the longest premiership drought in VFL/AFL history even they may have had a soft spot for long suffering dogs fans. Other notable events: Former and current Essendon players served a 12 month suspension for doping violations, it needs to be mentioned in the context of the season but let’s not dwell on it when it’s dominated everything for so loving long. Jarryd Roughead had his cancer re-surface, but has since recovered and seems likely to make a fit return to football. Hawthorn dumped their top 2 Best and Fairest finishers in a fit of rage at not winning the flag. West Coast’s Sam Mitchell and Richmond’s Trent Cotchin were awarded brownlow medals after Jobe Watson was stripped of his. Jack Watts is an honest to god footballer. Loyal family man and all around good bloke Patrick Dangerfield won the brownlow. Brad Scott decided the best way to motivate his team for the finals was to tell five of his most experienced players they were getting the boot next year, including the AFL games record holder. WHAT THE gently caress IS AFL? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMZYZcoAcU0 Australian rules is a high contact, high action code of football. The AFL is the governing body, and its major competition, the AFL Premiership runs with a home-and-away season from late March through to August, which each of the 18 clubs playing 22 games over 23 rounds. They are ranked according to "premiership points" (4 for a win and 2 for a draw - overtime only applies for finals) and then a "percentage" of points scored over points conceded. Last year's ladder ended up like this.  The eight best teams contest a finals series over four weeks in September, culminating in the Grand Final, usually in the last Saturday of September but sometimes the first week of October. As of the 2016 season, there is a gap week between the end of the regular season and the finals, this is controversial because reasons.  And the highlights of last year's grand final https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9KnrQkkq4I WATCHING THE GAME All games are broadcast live in Australia, with three each round telecast on Seven which is free-to-air, and the remainder on Foxtel. There's also radio coverage which is very handy if you're going to a game in person. Radio coverage will get you a far better quality of commentary, especially given the retirement of one of the few TV commentators capable of forming complete sentences,  DennisFortunately for overseas fans (and locals with a VPN), AFL has set up a streaming service so you can watch whatever. http://watchafl.afl.com.au/ WatchAFL generally has a free trial during the pre-season competition, so you can test out your chosen VPN solution before ponying up the cash for a season pass. I believe certain cable/satellite services also have live coverage on particular channels. GOING TO THE GAME  The MCG is pretty damned big, with a capacity of 100,000, and usually fills up for the Grand Final. (And of course tickets are pretty hard to come by for that event - it is Australia's equivalent of the Superbowl or the FA Cup.) Docklands Stadium (usually named after some airline or bank) is also in Melbourne with a capacity of 55,000 and in some ways is a better viewing experience. Likewise, there are stadiums all around the country, games at Subiaco in Perth or Adelaide Oval are usually have sell-out crowds, due to the strong support there. The bigger contests through the season can attract upwards of 70-80 thousand at the MCG, but during the winter months it's pretty easy to find a game in Melbourne on a whim as general admission (or outer) tickets are readily available for less than AUD25, although if you're visiting and want to see a game you should ask the thread for advice about which ones to see; you might even get someone to go with you. THE PLAYING AREA The size of the oval varies across the competition, for example the MCG is 165m long and 135m wide. Most of the grounds are also used for cricket during the summer (sometimes causing encroachment issues since the AFL would probably like the season to begin earlier in March). Compared to many other professional sports, AFL is played on a loving gigantic field http://i.imgur.com/OOSZEAH.gifv SCORING Scoring is in the form of goals and behinds. There are sets of four upright posts at each end. Goals, or main eggs, are worth 6 points. Goals can only be scored by kicking the ball between the middle posts, without touching them. The goal does not have to go through on the full but cannot have been touched by any player. After each goal the ball returns to the centre to be bounced up again. This sets it apart from many sports which mandate a swap of possession after a major score, thus it can be easier to get a big run on in AFL. Behinds, or side eggs, are worth 1 point. These are scored any other time a ball passes between any of the posts (including the outer posts), unless it is a goal. The defending team gets to kick the ball out of the goals to restart play. Although if they been deemed to have rushed the ball over for a behind deliberately the attacking team gets a free kick at the goal square. https://fat.gfycat.com/AntiqueSpotlessBeaver.webm The average score for the 2016 season was 88.1 (so about 13 goals plus the usual number of behinds), the highest score being 177 and the lowest 23. Scoring depends on weather, the relative quality of the teams, voodoo, and how much the commentators jinx things. TEAMS Each club has a list of about 46, from which it selects 22 for each game: 18 players starting on the ground, plus 4 on the bench who can be swapped on and off at any time, with the number of interchanges restricted to 80 for the game. The line-ups are traditionally listed in five rows of three, plus another three followers who "follow" the ball around. That is, three each of full forwards, half forwards, centres, half backs, and full backs, plus three followers, a ruck, a rover, and a ruck-rover. In modern football, it maybe more accurate to describe each team as having a key forward, a key defender, and the other 32 players follow the ball around. Teams can either zone off their players across the field according to a particular plan or let them play man-to-man. In this brave new world we see new designations like inside midfield which is the guy who grabs the ball from the middle of the pack and gives it to the outside midfield, who scarpers off like buggery up the field looking to kick it to a lead from a full forward (at least this hasn't changed) but if his marking attempt is punched away by a spoiling defender it may be the job of the small forward to pick up the crumbs (that is, the loose ball) and kick the goal. Try not to worry about this too much, watch a few games and you'll start to get the hang of it. There are basically forwards, midfields, backs and followers. THE RULES (YES WE HAVE A FEW OF THOSE) A match is contested over four quarters of 20 minutes, with the clock paused at ball stoppages, quarters usually go for about 30-35 minutes, meaning a whole match takes just under 3 hours including quarter time and half time breaks. The ball can be legally moved in a number of ways: - by kicking - by handpassing (the ball is held in one hand and punched with the other with a clenched fist) - by running with the ball - in this case, the ball needs to be bounced every 15 metres. Kicks and handballs are referred to as disposals or posessions, or "touches". Marks are awarded for catching the ball on the full from a kick of over 15m, this allows the player to dispose of the ball without interference. Marking is probably the most identifiable aspect of the sport. http://i.imgur.com/FNIOF3h.gifv Where a ball is in dispute at a stoppage, the umpire will usually throw the ball up in a "ball up" (the etymology of the term "ball up" is a bit of a mystery), which the ruckmen will contest and attempt to knock it into the path of one of their team mates. If a player commits an infringement, a free kick is handed to the opposing side which can be passed on via kick or handball. The typical causes are: - holding the ball (when the player is tackled with the ball after having had ample opportunity to get rid of it) - ANY tackle usually gets the crowd to bellow BALLLLL but only some tackles result in free kicks. Sometimes the tackler fucks up and gives away a free kick themselves. - high/low tackle (legal tackles must be executed between the knees and shoulders). The AFL are supposedly going to change their interpretation of this rule to discourage the ball carrier creating head contact from an initially legal tackle, but who the gently caress would even know what they're doing. - holding the man (when a tackler impedes a guy after they've disposed of the ball) - kicking out of bounds on the full - deliberate out of bounds (most cases of the ball going out of bounds will result in the boundary umpire throwing the ball back into play, similar to a ball up) - throwing the ball (i.e. not punching the ball out of the other hand) - the ball must be handpassed to dispose of the ball when possession has been taken. If a player is being a total cock the umpire will also impose an extra 50 metre penalty towards goal. Usually this only happens a few times a match. 2017 Rule Changes Due to their need to justify a laws of the game committee, every year the AFL will change the rules of the game in some way. Here are the latest additions: High Contact – If a tackle is reasonable, was initially applied legally, and high contact is made as a result of the action of the ball carrier, play on will be called. Deliberate Rushed Behind – Greater onus on a defending player to keep the ball in play, umpire will consider: whether the defender had prior opportunity to dispose of the ball, their distance from the goal line, the degree of pressure applied to them. Third man up: Only the nominated ruckmen will be allowed to contest a throw-in or ball-up. A QUICK HISTORY -323192012042385041 or whenever: The Big Bang 1858: Melbourne Football Club formed, ostensibly to keep the cricket club's players fit in winter. Geelong forms a year later after Melbourne get bored with playing with themselves. 1877: The Victorian Football Association (VFA) and SAFA competitions form - the latter is renamed the SANFL in 1907) 1885: The WAFA forms with clubs from around Perth and Fremantle - now the WAFL. 1897: Victorian Football League forms with eight clubs, breaking away from the VFA 1908: Richmond and (Melbourne) University join the VFL 1913: University drops out (they continue to compete in the Victorian Amateur leagues) 1915-1918: A number of clubs go into recess during the "Great War". 1925: Footscray, North Melbourne and Hawthorn join the VFL from the VFA to take the number up to 12 1942-1943: Geelong stands out of the competition due to wartime travel restrictions Bladabladablad, stuff happened. At some point (1968) the season extended to 22 home-and-away rounds, allowing all 12 clubs to play each other twice. 1981: South Melbourne (aka the Swans) move to Sydney 1987: VFL expands with West Coast Eagles (in Perth) and Brisbane Bears (in Gold Coast) 1989: The VFL attempt a merger between Fitzroy and Footscray, which fails after a community campaign. 1990: The VFL changes its name to the Australian Football League, with the introduction of the Adelaide Crows. The Crows were a joint SANFL side that was quickly organised after Port Adelaide announced they were breaking away from the SANFL to join the VFL in their own right. 1993: Brisbane Bears move up the road to actually start playing in Brisbane. 1995: Fremantle Dockers join. They have lovely purple, white, green and red jumpers. The number of teams is a neat 16. 1996: At the end of the season, Fitzroy, which have struggled for years, is merged with the Brisbane Bears, after another plan to merge with North Melbourne is scuttled by the other clubs because the new club would be too strong. (The new Brisbane Lions win three flags in a row a few short years laters) Melbourne and Hawthorn also come close to a merger, but this doesn't eventuate. 1997: Port Adelaide finally enter a team in their own right, called the Power as they can't use their SANFL nickname of the Magpies. Everything is nice and stable for a little while. 2011-2012: The AFL announce new teams for Queensland and NSW to expand the league to 18 clubs; the Gold Coast Suns, which begin competing in 2011, and Greater Western Sydney, who join in 2012. Considered a bit of a punt, since interestin Aussie rules in those two states is fairly muted compared with the rest of the country, but part of the rationale is to bolster the TV deal to have more games of interest for those states. BEYOND THE AFL Tasmania is football mad but is also poor as gently caress, plus its population base is split almost evenly between the north and south coasts so they have to deal with that rivalry. Currently Hawthorn play four of their home games a year at Launceston in the north and North Melbourne play two at Hobart, the state's capital in the south. Below the AFL national level there are a number of state leagues, the SANFL, WAFL, VFL (which is what the VFA became sometime in the 1990s), the TFL in Tasmania, and the NEAFL which covers NSW, ACT, Queensland and the Northern Territory. There are also under 18s competitions around the land tied to the above state leagues and the best young players from these nominate for the annual AFL draft in early November. The third tiers, I guess, is the numerous suburban and country leagues, which go from semi-pro to just a bunch of mates who want to have a kick around and get blotto afterwards. The idea of the Barassi Line has long been used to demonstrate which areas are considered Australian Football dominated, and which areas are dominated by the Rugby codes. The areas South-West of this line are considered traditional Australian football areas. 
Solemn Sloth fucked around with this message at 22:55 on Jan 17, 2017 |
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THE CLUBS(I) This map gives a rough idea of the distribution of clubs. Why are half the clubs in a national league within walking distance of each other? Schlesische posted:The only analogy would be if say... New York set up a Football league. Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Minnesota and Seattle eventually form their own leagues out of a sense of state pride (and distance, costs etc.) and they come to be really proud of their players and their teams. Eventually New York, which is the biggest and richest city of the above works out that instead of trying to make its teams better by developing the slowly straining player pool, it can just buy the best players from all those other leagues and make its league the best by far. This decimates the other leagues, and eventually the rise of TV rights and the concept of "nationally televised" means that New York - flush with money and talent - can start putting teams in direct competition with those leagues, most of which throw up the white flag and agree to effectively "buy-in" to the new "National League".  Adelaide Nickname: Crows Home colours: Navy, red and gold hoops First AFL season: 1991 Premierships: 2 - 1997, 1998 2016 finish - 5th - 16-6-0 64pts 2016 finals: Won elimination final against North Melbourne, Lost semi-final against Sydney. Coach: Don Pyke Players to watch if they join a Victorian team: Eddie “EDDIEBETTS” Betts, Rory Sloane, Daniel Talia, Josh Jenkins, Charlie Cameron  Adelaide performed above many people’s expectations in 2016, some sort of dip was predicted after losing one of the best players in the game Patrick Dangerfield to homesickness / high treason. The midfield is the big question for the Crows, Rory Sloane put in great work but needs help and after a failed bid for Bryce Gibbs it doesn’t appear they have addressed this in the off season. Even with a shallow midfield the Crows won’t be completely out of many games due to the potency of their forward line which combines traditional power forwards, small forwards and athletic talls.  Brisbane Lions Nickname: Lions Home colours: Royal blue yoke on maroon with gold lion. First AFL season: 1997 (merger of Fitzroy Lions and Brisbane Bears) Premierships: 3 - 2001, 2002, 2003 (8 as Fitzroy - 1898, 1899, 1904, 1905, 1913, 1916, 1922, 1944) 2016 finish - 17th: 3-19-0 12pts Coach: Chris Fagan Players to watch: Dayne Beams, Tom Rockliff, Josh Schache https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlxvJHpwr48 I don’t loving know Brisbane’s 2016 season was truly awful. They managed to avoid the wooden spoon by hovering 0.6% above a team with most of its best 22 suspended for the year. Justin Leppitsch threw his team under the bus at multiple press conferences, although the team did the same to him many times during matches. His replacement, Chris Fagan, will look first to bolster the Lions’ defence, as they conceded 500 points more than the next worst team, nearly 4 goals a game. Brisbane have talent on their list, and getting more experience into the younger players and actually getting some of their more mature players onto the park will help, but it’s hard to imagine any other team dropping below them this year, definitely hot favourites for last place. They seem to have largely stemmed the tide of players leaving, the next task is developing them.  Carlton Nickname: Blues, very occasionally Bluebags Home colours: Dark navy blue with white CFC monogram First VFL season: 1897 - foundation club Premierships: 16 - 1906, 1907, 1908, 1914, 1915, 1938, 1945, 1947, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1987, 1995 2016 finish - 14th: 7-15-0 28pts Coach: Brendon Bolton Players to watch: Bryce Gibbs, Patrick Cripps, Jacob Weitering, Marc Murphy  Carlton started 2016 as many people expected them to: four straight losses. Then something weird happened, they got six wins from the next seven games, losing only to the then undefeated North Melbourne. Carlton were up and about and there were thoughts that Brendan Bolton may be this year’s Luke Beveridge (turns out Luke Beveridge was this year’s Luke Beveridge). The long winter set in with a loss to St Kilda and they managed only one win in the back half of the season, ending Melbourne's faint finals aspirations in round 22. More games into young stars like Cripps and Weitering should help the Blues this year, but it’s hard to see them moving out of the bottom half of the ladder just yet.  Collingwood Nickname: Magpies, or just "Pies" Home colours: Black and white stripes First VFL season: 1897 - foundation club Premierships: 15 - 1902, 1903, 1910, 1917, 1919, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1935, 1936, 1953, 1958, 1990, 2010 2016 finish: 12th - 9-13-0 36pts Coach: Nathan Buckley Players to watch: Scott Pendlebury, Darcy Moore, Adam Treloar http://i.imgur.com/mjWZDwO.gifv After losing more and more games each season since taking over, Nathan Buckley took the unusual step of putting himself on notice, saying he should be fired if they don’t make the finals this year. Collingwood is one of the teams for whom predictions vary the most. Many people are tipping them to make good on the promise of apparent talent on their list, others think they’re going to fall flat once again. Its doubtful many coaches would have survived as long as Buckley has without the dogged support of his number one fan and club President Eddie McGuire, and somehow after five full seasons in charge the jury seems to still out on whether he can actually coach at all.  Essendon Nickname: Bombers, Dons Home colours: Black with red sash First VFL season: 1897 - foundation club Premierships: 16 - 1897, 1901, 1911, 1912, 1923, 1924, 1942, 1946, 1949, 1950, 1962, 1965, 1984, 1985, 1993, 2000 2016 Ladder Position: 18th - 3-19-0 12pts Coach: John Worsfold Players to watch: Dyson Heppel, Zach Merrett, Michael Hurley, Joe Daniher, Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti  A march in support of drug decriminalization Due to having most of their senior players suspended, some people tipped Essendon to go winless in 2016, forgetting two important things: Just how bad a team would have to be to go winless, and that there is no team so bad that Melbourne can’t lose to it. It’s barely worth making a prediction for Essendon other than they’re not going to finish last or win the flag, anything else is pure speculation due to us having no idea how the two Essendon sides will mesh together after spending a year apart.  Fremantle Nicknames: Dockers, Freo, the Purples Home colours: Purple with white chevrons. It's a very respectable and manly purple, though. First AFL season: 1995 Premierships: none - best finish is 2013 runners-up 2016 ladder position: 16th - 4-18-0 16pts Coach: Ross Lyon Players to watch:  Cow Dude , Lachie Neale, Aaron Sandilands, Alex Pearce A stunning fall from grace for Fremantle, finishing on top of the ladder with 17 wins in 2015 to 16th with 4 wins in 2016. Part of this can be explained by injuries, the two key components of their midfield Nat Fyfe and Aaron Sandilands playing 10 games between them, but a significant part was them just being bad. This season also saw the retirement of club legend Matthew Pavlich who was convinced to see out the season by Ross Lyon after considering an early retirement to make way for developing youth. Freo will be hoping that one of the project key forwards they have picked up can start to fill his role, after failing to attract a big name replacement for Pavlich for half a decade. Fyfe and Sandilands staying healthy should mean the Dockers are at least in contention for a spot towards the bottom of the top 8. "Cow Dude"? [quote="”tnimark”" post="”444505961”"] A friend of mine texted me about Nat Fyfe and it somehow autocorrected to 'Cow Dude' so that's his name now fyi.  [/quote] And then there's this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Xk8qgcbPLY  Geelong Nickname: Cats, very occasionally the Hoops, historically Pivotonians or even Pivots although everyone will look at you funny if you refer them as that. Home colours: Navy and white hoops Home ground: Kardinia Park, Geelong (aka First VFL season: 1897 - foundation club Premierships: 9 - 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011 2016 ladder: 2nd - 17-5-0 68pts Coach: Chris Scott Players to watch: Patrick Dangerfield, Nakia Cockatoo, Daniel Menzel, Tom Hawkins  Turns out one player can make a pretty big difference to a team. Geelong dropped out of the finals in 2015, but returned last year in second place and a significant part of that is due to star recruit Patrick Dangerfield. Dangerfield rocketed from obscurity to win the Brownlow medal and establish a strong claim to being the best player in the league, although his main contender was out injured most of the season. The Cats lost a big chunk of experience at the end of the year, with Jimmy Bartel and Corey Enright retiring, they are legends of the club and replacing them will be difficult as they were still playing good footy to the end. Nakia Cockatoo has shown promise, and Cats fans will be hoping he takes the next step. If Daniel Menzel has put his four knee reconstructions (  ) behind him and gets more continuity he can provide a big boost to their scoring power. Geelong are unlikely to miss finals but don’t be surprised by a small step backwards as they adjust to a post Bartel and Enright world. Gold Coast Nickname: Suns Home colours: Red with gold side trim and a silly logo. The Suns' Club colours also include royal blue and white which are featured on their clash guernseys. First AFL season: 2011 Premierships: none - best finish was 12th in 2014 2016 ladder: 15th 6-16- 24pts Coach: Rodney Eade Players to Watch: Tom Lynch, Gary Ablett, David Swallow  Another disappointing year for the Suns, they have been in the league for six years and never placed in the top half of the ladder. Last year wasn’t entirely their fault as they were plagued by injuries from the get go, so if they can stay healthy there will be some natural improvement there. They lost two of their theoretically best players in Dion Prestia and Jaeger O’Maera, Prestia is definitely a loss, but O’Maera hadn’t played a game in two years so their recent performance won’t change for losing him. Tom Lynch is making a strong case for himself as one of the best key forwards in the game, especially given the quality and quantity of delivery he is often getting. With Peter Wright alongside him they will seriously stretch a number of defences for years to come. It was revealed that Gary Ablett had sought to come home to Geelong during the off season, and it’s likely that this story will dominate much of the Suns narrative for 2017. Similar to Essendon, the Suns were missing their best team for so much of 2016 that it’s hard to place where they will be if they can get continuity, safest bet is probably around the top half of the bottom ten.  Greater Western Sydney (or GWS for short) Nickname: Giants, while the Orange Crush seems to becoming a thing Home colours: Orange and charcoal, with a white stylised G. First AFL season: 2012 Premierships: none - best finish was 4th in 2016 2016 ladder: 4th 16-6-0 64pts 2016 Finals: Beat Sydney in Qualifying Final, Lost to Western Bulldogs in Preliminary Final Coach: Leon Cameron Players to watch: Jeremy Cameron (no relation), Phil Davis, Stephen Coniglio, Heath Shaw  The Giants looked set to make their finals debut half-way through 2015 before an injury to their ruck and least replaceable player, Shane Mumford, saw them stumble in the back half. In 2016 they made up for lost time though, storming into 4th place and finding themselves one kick short of the Grand Final. GWS will enter season 2017 as on average one of the most experienced and oldest teams, but nearly all of that comes from a huge chunk of players in the mid-20s sweet spot. If they can keep the group together under the salary cap they are going to be in the premiership equation consistently for the next 6+ years. Anything less than making the grand final would be seen as a disappointing finish given their potential. Solemn Sloth fucked around with this message at 02:55 on Jan 18, 2017 |
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THE CLUBS (II) Hawthorn Nicknames: Hawks - historically Mayblooms, haters have all sorts of highly creative names like Poos and Wees but gently caress'em. Home colours: Brown and gold stripes. First AFL season: 1925 Premierships: 13 - 1961, 1971, 1976, 1978, 1983, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 2008, 2013, 2014, 2015 2016 ladder: 3rd 17-5-0 68pts 2016 Finals: Lost Qualifying Final to Geelong, Lost Semi Final to Western Bulldogs Coach: Alastair Clarkson Players to watch: Cyril Rioli, Luke Hodge (particularly if you’re driving home), Jarryd Roughead, Liam Shiels  THANK loving CHRIST. Hawthorn had won three premierships in a row leading into 2016, and people despaired that it was going to be another year of the same old poo poo. Hawthorn play football that is good to watch, they are an undeniably talented team and there is a huge amount to admire them for, but not many people wanted to see the streak continue especially given the gigantic army of bandwagon supporters which had crawled out from under a rock. Hawthorn, more than any other current team, put everything into winning flags. They added mature players when they were still in the premiership window, but having bowed out in the 2016 final series recognised they needed to change something up or decline further. They traded out two champions of the club’s current era, Sam Mitchell and Jordan Lewis, who finished 1st and 2nd in the club’s best and fairest. They have also taken a gamble by picking up Jaeger O’Maera, a young midfielder with a lot of promise but who hasn’t played a game in two years due to injury at the Suns. If JOM comes in firing, and Jarryd Roughead returns in good form from his battle with cancer, the Hawks could be right back at the top. If not, it’s possible that they’d fall to somewhere around 7th-10th.  Melbourne Nicknames: Demons, Dees, very occasionally called the Redlegs. Home colours: Navy with red vee yoke First VFL season: 1897 - foundation club Premierships: 10 - 1900, 1926, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1948, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1959, 1960, 1964 2016 Ladder: 11th - 10-12-0 40pts Coach: Simon Goodwin Players to watch: Max Gawn, Jesse Hogan, Jack Viney, Jack Watts  2016 was very much a season of two steps forward, one step back for the Demons. They played with the youngest team across the league more rounds than not so some inconsistency may be expected, but they would be bitterly disappointed by bad losses to Essendon in Round 2 and Carlton when finals were still in play, as well as an uncompetitive effort to finish off the year against Geelong. They have a reasonably favourable fixture for next year, but cannot rely on natural improvement alone to make finals as there is a serious pack forming for the bottom of the 8. They play two matches against St Kilda who will likely be competing for a similar position on the ladder, but the Saints have won the last 300 matches between the two clubs so there is no reason to think something different would happen this year. Add that to having to transition to a new coach and my guess is they’ll just miss out on finals. Having gone heavily into the draft for a number of years (over half a decade now), Melbourne will now add experienced hands to their list for 2017 in Jordan Lewis from the Hawks, and the Essendon pair Michael Hibberd and Jake Melksham.  North Melbourne Nicknames: Kangaroos, usually just Roos; Shinboners Home colours: White and royal blue stripes First VFL season: 1925 Premierships: 4 - 1975, 1977, 1996, 1999 2016 Ladder: 8th - 12-10-0 48pts Finals: Lost Elimination Final to Adelaide Coach: Brad "Bad" Scott Players to watch: Todd Goldstein, Ben Brown, Majak Daw http://i.imgur.com/j9FgqdI.gifv North Melbourne towards the end of 2016 were like a car teetering on the edge of a cliff. They had continually topped up their list with more and more mature age recruits since Free Agency began. Then on the eve of finals, their coach Brad Scott decided to give the car an extra push, telling five of his most senior players they would not be required next year, including AFL games record holder Brent Harvey. To everyone’s surprise, this didn’t work as a motivational tactic and they lost in Week 1 by ten goals. The car is currently in freefall and now all that remains to be seen is if it will hit anything on the way down to slow their fall.  Port Adelaide Nickname: Power, which is dumb, so they usually get called Port, which annoys Port fans for some reason. It's not too late to find a better name! Home colours: Black with teal and white vees First AFL season: 1997 Premierships: 1 - 2004 2016 Ladder: 10th 10-12-0 40pts Coach: Ken Hinkley Players to watch: Chad Wingard, Robbie Gray, Ollie Wines  It’s appearing more and more likely that Port’s breakout 2014 season was an aberration as they have failed to make the finals in the two years since. Adding Patrick Ryder back into the squad will be a bonus as the ruck was their weakest position during 2016, but there are still pretty big holes in their defence, and they lack a dominant key forward. The club itself however seemingly believes in their current playing group, without much action at the trade table it will be hoping that natural improvement can carry them up the ladder. Port will play Gold Coast in the first AFL match for premiership points in China during 2017, the Power will hope they can attract a new supporter base given what happened the last time they went through a lean period on-field.  Richmond Nickname: Tigers Home colours: Black with yellow sash First VFL season: 1908 Premierships: 1 - 1920, 1921, 1932, 1934, 1943, 1967, 1969, 1973, 1974, 1980 2015 Ladder: 13th 8-14-0 32pts Coach: Damien Hardwick Players to watch: Alex Rance, Jack Riewoldt, Dustin Martin, Dion Prestia https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1cWHvyyC3o Richmond fans are hard to fathom, each year they seem utterly convinced the promised land is imminent no matter the evidence to the contrary. This means the inevitable disappointment is all the more entertaining to watch from the outside. Damian Hardwick has had enough to build his own team and be judged on it, and the word I would most use to describe them are shallow. Too often when their big names failed to fire the entire team went missing. The Tigers have added two promising players in Josh Caddy and Dion Prestia, but they have lost ruck/forward Tyrone Vickery and more importantly Brett Deledio. In the past two seasons Richmond has gone 20-9 when Deledio was in the side, but 3-12 when he was missing. Maybe they can return to finals this year, and maybe even win one, but I wouldn’t bet my microwave on it.  St Kilda Nickname: Saints Home colours: Red, white and black columns on front, black on rear. First VFL season: 1897 - foundation club Premierships: 1 - 1966 2016 Ladder: 9th 12-10-0 48pts Coach: Alan Richardson Players to watch: Jack Billings, Jack Lonie, Jack Newnes, Jack Sinclair, Jack Steele, Jack Steven, Jack Daniels  Having missed the finals on percentage in 2016, the Saints are positioned as the team most likely to move into the top 8. They have an exciting young list: A solid backline strengthened by former Bomber Jake Carlisle moving into the team after serving his doping suspension, a dangerous forward line assembled from the draft and hand me downs, and a serviceable midfield although one probably in need of a star to top it off. The Saints have spent some time down the bottom of the ladder in a traditional rebuild and it looks like it should start paying off this year.  Sydney Nickname: Swans, Bloods Home colours: White with red yoke incorporating Sydney Opera House silhouette. First VFL season: 1897 - foundation club (as South Melbourne) Premierships: 5 - 1909, 1918, 1933, 2005, 2012 2016 Ladder: 1st 17-5-0 68pts 2016 Finals: Lost Qualifying Final to GWS, Beat Adelaide in Semi Final, Beat Geelong in Preliminary Final, Lost Grand Final to Bulldogs Coach: John Longmire Players to Watch: Lance "Buddy" Franklin, Josh Kennedy, Luke Parker, Isaac Heeney  Sydney finished the regular season on top of the ladder, and were eventual runners up losing the grand final to the Bulldogs. Sydney really don’t do the whole ‘bad’ thing, having made finals 13 of the past 14 years including two premierships, and they appear ready for more sustained success with some serious homegrown talent emerging from the academy system.  West Coast Nickname: Eagles Home colours: Navy with gold wingtips and eagle logo. First VFL season: 1987 Premierships: 3 - 1992, 1994, 2006 2016 Ladder: 6th 16-6-0 64pts 2016 Finals: Lost Elimination Final to Western Bulldogs Coach: Adam Simpson Players to watch: Nic Natanui, Matt Priddis, Josh Kennedy, Jeremy McGovern  West Coast had a pretty inconsistent year after being runners up in 2015. In the off-season they added Sam Mitchell and his class will help their midfield. Nic Natanui, West Coast’s ruck and one of their most important players, underwent surgery on his ACL late in the 2016 season so the biggest challenge will be attempting to cover for him until he returns. They’ve got a decent draw and one of the game’s best key forwards in Josh Kennedy, so assuming their midfield functions reasonably without ruck dominance they will do well.  Western Bulldogs - actually, it's Footscray Nickname: Bulldogs (duh), Doggies, occasionally Scraggers. Home colours: Royal blue with red and white bands First VFL season: 1925 Premierships: 2 – 1954, 2016 2016 Ladder: 7th 15-7-0 60 pts 2016 Finals: Beat West Coast in Elimination Final, Beat Hawthorn in Semi Final, Beat GWS in Preliminary Final, Beat Sydney in Grand Final Coach: Luke Beveridge Players to watch: Marcus Bontempelli, Robert Murphy, Jake Stringer, Tom Boyd  And just quietly, if you're dipping your toe into watching AFL and need a team to follow this year, you could do worse than follow these guys. The Doggies were the breakout act of the year, and the feelgood moment at that. After making the finals ahead of schedule in 2015, they shocked the league by winning their first premiership in over sixty years. The dogs play a high paced style of football, emphasising a lot of players running through their midfield, good rebound off the backline, and multiple targets in the forward line. Tom Boyd was much maligned due to how much he was paid without having shown much more than potential, but the finals series was a real coming of age for him, and many of the Dogs other young stars. Given the youth of much of their side, it’s hard to see the dogs not featuring in many finals to come.
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Jan 17, 2017 12:45
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AFL WOMEN’S   The only people the AFL pay less than female footballers are graphic designers  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkWMFOEAx6w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWWxl-lu3sU In 2017, the AFL will launch a national women’s league, the first of its kind. Eight clubs have been given licenses to compete in the inaugural season, four Victorian teams and one each from South Australia, Western Australia, New South Wales and Queensland. The idea of a women’s league has been pushed for primarily by Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs (at an AFL level, there has been considerable efforts outside the league itself) through a series of exhibition matches. The AFL initially significantly lowballed pay and conditions for women, but have since afforded such exorbitant luxuries as health cover and income protection for injuries sustained while playing. An entire women’s squad of 27 will receive around $320,000 over a 22 week contract, while the average male player receives around $300,000 per year. The season will consist of a 7 week round robin, with each team playing each other team once, at the end of which the two top ranked teams will play in the grand final during Round 1 of the men’s season. Lists consist of marquee players, priority selections, rookies, draftees and free agents. Each club signed two marquee players, and then were enabled to sign a number of priority selections. Carlton, Collingwood, Fremantle, Melbourne and Western Bulldogs were able to sign one player with an existing connection to their club as a priority selection. Adelaide and Brisbane were allowed two priority selections, while Greater Western Sydney were allowed four. Due to injuries to their marquee players, Fremantle and GWS were permitted one additional priority selection each. In order to help attract talent from other sports, each club was then able to sign two rookies, which must be players either new to football or who have not played in a registered competition in the last three years. A draft was then held, with order determined randomly. The draft was held in snake format, eg. 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1-1. Following the draft, clubs were allowed to sign two free agents who had not been selected in the draft. Women’s matches will be played with reduced numbers on field (16 instead of 18), and 6 on the bench (4 in the men’s game). A slightly smaller ball is used than in the men’s game, with quarters reduced to 15 minutes in length and increased breaks between them, partly due to the fact that the competition is held during summer rather than from autumn-spring. club write-ups taken from Chyloe Kurdas of ESPN Player information I’ve collated from a whole bunch of different sources, players with age listed normally is based on their date of birth and age is as of Round 1 of the 2017 AFLW season, players with an asterisk I haven’t found a date of birth so may be out a year depending on when their birthday falls in the year.  ADELAIDE CROWS Adelaide, balancing speed and endurance, expect to be a contender at every contest. But the Crows boast few players with exhibition match experience, making them vulnerable under expected AFLW pressure. The injection of Western Australian stars Chelsea Randall and Kellie Gibson will bolster their homegrown talents. Adelaide's exciting youngsters such as Ebony Marinoff and emerging ruck Sarah Allan are promising but will need support if the team is have a chance at the flag. pre:# Name Position Age Former Club Draft # Other Sports 1 Abbey Holmes FWD 26 Waratah NT 103 2 Kellie Gibson FWD 20 Swan Districts WA MARQUEE Rugby 3 Angela Foley MID 28 Waratah NT PRIORITY 4 Georgia Bevan MID 23 Morphetville Park SA 42 Softball 5 Jenna McCormick MID 22 Coorparoo QLD 23 Soccer 6 Talia Radan DEF 28 Belconnen ACT 58 7 Rachael Killian FWD 22 West Adelaide SA 71 Tennis 8 Sally Riley UTILITY 26 Tracey Village NT 39 Netball 9 Deni Varnhagen MID 24 Morphetville Park SA 26 Soccer 10 Ebony Marinoff MID 19 Morphetville Park SA 7 11 Rhiannon Metcalfe RUCK 25 Gungahlin Jets ACT 74 12 Jasmine Anderson MID 25 Darwin Buffaloes NT ROOKIE Soccer 13 Erin Phillips UTILITY 31 N/A ROOKIE Basketball 14 Stevie-Lee Thompson MID 24 Wanderers NT 106 Touch 15 Tayla Thorn UTILITY 18 St Mary's NT 90 16 Sophie Armstead MID/DEF 22 Wanderers NT 55 Rugby 17 Jessica Sedunary MID 25 Morphetville Park SA 119 18 Monique Hollick MID 18 Uni of NSW NSW 136 Running 19 Heather Anderson DEF 22 Waratah NT 10 21 Lauren O'Shea D/RUCK 32 Waratah NT FREE AGENT Netball, Basketball, Rowing, Running 22 Courtney Cramey MID 28 Morphetville Park SA PRIORITY 23 Justine Mules MID 22 Morphetville Park SA 133 26 Chelsea Randall FWD 25 Swan Districts WA MARQUEE 28 Sarah Perkins KPF 23 Eastern Devils Vic FREE AGENT 31 Dayna Cox MID 23 Morphetville Park SA FREE AGENT 33 Anne Hatchard DEF 18 Morphetville Park SA 87 39 Sarah Allan KPP 19 Salisbury SA 122 A Centre-Half Forward from WA, Chelsea Randall has been playing against women since the age of 14 due to a lack of available junior pathways. She collected Best on Ground in her second outing for Melbourne in the exhibition games with a hard hitting and pack crashing display. BRISBANE LIONS With few players older than 25, fearless forward Tayla Harris, agile small Shaleise Law, versatile tall Tahlia Randall and reliable defender Emily Bates will form Brisbane's nucleus for many years. Imports Katelyn Ashmore (Victoria) and Jess Wueschtner (WA) add speed and skill, and Sabrina Frederick Traub (WA) will stretch opposition defences in size and strength. Victorian defender Nicole Hildebrand might be the star pick with her courageous ball-winning ability. The performances of older Queensland stateswomen such as Emma Zielke and Leah Kaslar will be vital if the Lions are to be in the premiership hunt. pre:# Name Position Age Former Club Draft # Other Sports 1 Emily Bates MID/HB 23* Yeronga South Brisbane QLD 2 2 Shaleise Law SML FWD 18* Zillmere Eagles QLD 95 3 Breanna Koenen HB/MID 21* Uni. of Queensland QLD 50 4 Sharni Webb KPP 25* Uni. of Queensland QLD 111 5 Samantha Virgo FWD/SML D 29* Yeronga South Brisbane QLD 66 6 Megan Hunt HF/MID 20* Uni. of Queensland QLD 63 7 Tayla Harris KPF 19* Zillmere QLD MARQUEE 8 Emma Zielke MID/FWD 28* Uni. of Queensland QLD PRIORITY 9 Kate McCarthy MID 23* Yeronga South Brisbane QLD 82 Touch 10 Kaitlyn Ashmore WING/HB 25* Melbourne University VIC PRIORITY Javelin 11 Leah Kaslar KPD/RUCK 31* Coolangatta Tweed QLD 31 Basketball 12 Kate Deegan DEF Coorparoo QLD ROOKIE Soccer 13 Kate Lutkins UTILITY 28* Wilston Grange QLD 79 Futsal 14 Sabrina Frederick-Traub KPF 20* South Fremantle WA MARQUEE Soccer 15 Jade Ransfield MED FWD 19* Yeronga South Brisbane QLD 129 16 Tahlia Randall UTILITY 18* Wilston Grange QLD 15 17 Jamie Stanton MID 20* Coolangatta Tweed QLD 33* Soccer 18 Alexandra Anderson INSIDE MID 22* Zillmere Eagles QLD 47 19 Selina Goodman WING/HB 26* Coolangatta Tweed QLD 98 20 Shannon Campbell MED DEF 20* Wilston Grange QLD FREE AGENT Soccer 21 Caitlin Collins MED DEF 21* Yeronga QLD FREE AGENT 22 Nicole Hildebrand MED DEF 22* Melbourne University VIC 18 23 Jessica Wuetschner SML FWD/MID 24* East Fremantle WA 34 24 Nikki Wallace INS MID/SML FWD 22* Coolangatta Tweed QLD 114 25 Brittany Gibson MID/FWD 24* Burnie Dockers TAS 141 26 Delissa Kimmince DEF 28 Yeronga South Brisbane QLD ROOKIE Cricket 27 Jordan Membrey UTILITY 20* Coolangatta QLD FREE AGENT  Tayla Harris is an athletic, young, tall forward signed to the Brisbane Lions as their first marquee player. Tayla debuted for Melbourne in exhibition games at the age of 17, has a great set of hands and a literally textbook kicking style. Her combination of talent and looks ensures she will be one of the faces of women’s football going forward.  CARLTON BLUES There is no pattern to Carlton's list other than they've got depth everywhere and have a little of everything needed to cope with any situation. Darcy Vescio and Brianna Davey, Australia's most versatile players, will smash you on the scoreboard then intercept across half back on the next play. And the rest of the squad? Talls. Smalls. Insiders. Outsiders. Attackers. Shut down players. Carlton will be able to cover whatever their rivals throw at them, making them a likely contender for the AFLW premiership. pre:# Name Position Age Former Club Draft # Other Sports 1 Brianna Davey DEF/MID 22 St Kilda Sharks VIC MARQUEE Soccer 2 Katie Loynes MID 30 Diamond Creek VIC 110 3 Darcy Vescio FWD 23 Darebin Falcons VIC MARQUEE 4 Madeline Keryk MID 21 Melbourne University VIC 115 5 Kate Gillespie-Jones UTILITY 25 Seaford Tigerettes VIC 14 6 Gabriella Pound FWD 22 Melbourne University VIC 30 7 Sarah Last DEF 20 Bendigo VIC 94 Netball, Basketball 8 Kate Darby FWD/DEF 26 N/A VIC 126 Tennis, Basketball, Cricket 9 Rebecca Privitelli DEF 22 Eastern Devils VIC 142 10 Sarah Hosking MID 21 Seaford VIC 19 Netball 11 Jessica Hosking MID 21 Seaford VIC 78 12 Lauren Brazzale MID 23 Diamond Creek VIC 62 13 Lauren Arnell MID 29 Darebin Falcons VIC PRIORITY Basketball 14 Laura Attard DEF 30 Diamond Creek VIC 140 15 Nat Exon MID 24 Darebin Falcons VIC ROOKIE Soccer, Running 16 Breann Moody RUCK 19 Cranbourne VIC 67 18 Tilly Lucas-Rodd MID 20 St Kilda Sharks VIC 99 22 Bella Ayre FWD 18 Bendigo Thunder VIC 51 23 Jessica Kennedy MID 26 Bendigo Thunder VIC FREE AGENT 25 Kate Shierlaw RUCK/FWD 27 Wimbledon Hawks UK ROOKIE Basketball, Javelin 26 Shae Audley MID 28 Diamond Creek VIC 46 27 Alison Brown MID 19 St Kilda Sharks VIC FREE AGENT 30 Alison Downie RUCK 32 Diamond Creek VIC 129 31 Danielle Hardiman DEF 22 Cranbourne VIC 35 32 Natalie Plane MID 20 Seaford VIC 83 Cricket 33 Hayley Trevean FWD 28 Bendigo Thunder VIC FREE AGENT 35 Bianca Jakobsson FWD 23 Cranbourne VIC 3 Another player from the Darebin Falcons Footy Factory (tm), Darcy Vescio is a full forward with great hands, a good leap, and dangerous goal sense. She has represented the Bulldogs in exhibition games before being signed by the Blues, and has used her graphic design background to help design the Carlton women's guernsey.  COLLINGWOOD MAGPIES Collingwood boast five of AFLW's most dangerous forwards - Moana Hope, Sarah D'Arcy, Jessica Cameron, Jasmine Garner and Lauren Tesorerio, who can debilitate the best defender. Their defence runs just as deep, with none better than Nicola Stevens, AFLW's best defensive pressure kick and a rare contested mark. Defenders Steph Chiocci and Penny Cula Reid's execution will hurt teams on the rebound. The Pies' shallow inside midfield depth will see them scrap at stoppages but their outside runners are quality and ruck Emma King is brilliant. If offence wins games and defence wins championships, then Collingwood could be two thirds of their way to the premiership. pre:# Name Position Age Former Club Draft # Other Sports 1 Caitlyn Edwards HB 20* East Fremantle WA 43 2 Alicia Eva HF/MID 25* Melbourne University VIC 54 3 Penny Cula-Reid DEF 28* St Kilda Sharks VIC 102 4 Sarah D'Arcy HF 25* Eastern Devils VIC 22 5 Emma Grant UTILITY 27* Bendigo VIC 91 Netball 6 Christina Bernardi WING/HF 26* Diamond Creek VIC 132 7 Lauren Tesoriero MID/HF 29* Eastern Devils VIC 107 8 Brittany Bonnici MID 19* St Kilda Sharks VIC 27 9 Melissa Kuys MID 29* Knox VIC 118 10 Kendra Heil FWD/MID 28* Eastern Devils VIC FREE AGENT Rugby 11 Helen Roden FWD 30* VU Western Spurs VIC ROOKIE Basketball 12 Stacey Livingstone KD 28* Port Melbourne Colts VIC 70 17 Stephanie Chiocci HB 27* Diamond Creek VIC 11 18 Ruby Schleicher UTILITY 18* East Fremantle WA 137 Basketball 19 Louise Wotton RUCK 32* Eastern Devils VIC FREE AGENT Triathlon 20 Cecilia McIntosh DEF 37* Melbourne University VIC 123 Javelin, Bobsled 21 Nicola Stevens KD 23* Melbourne University VIC 6 22 Sophie Casey HF Eastern Devils VIC FREE AGENT 23 Moana Hope KF 28 St Kilda Sharks VIC MARQUEE 24 Kate Sheahan 34* N/A ROOKIE Tennis 25 Meg Hutchins DEF 31* Eastern Devils VIC PRIORITY Rowing 26 Tara Morgan KD 27* South Fremantle WA 144 27 Jessica Cameron FWD 27* Diamond Creek VIC 75 Cricket 33 Bree White MID 24* VU Western Spurs VIC 38 38 Amelia Barden MID 23* Diamond Valley VIC 59 43 Jasmine Gardner KF 22* St Kilda Sharks VIC 86 60 Emma King RUCK 22* Coastal Titans WA MARQUEE Moana Hope is every bit the prototype full forward, strong hands, willing to hurt any defenders who are guarding space in front of her, and a good kick. She left the game for a number of years, but the challenge of a national league was too tempting to resist. She is one of thirteen children, and is a full-time carer for a disabled younger sister. Her most recent game was a dominant performance for the Western Bulldogs in their first Hampson-Hardeman Cup win against Melbourne. She was signed by Collingwood as their first marquee player.  FREMANTLE DOCKERS If stemming the talent flow to other states was Fremantle's first challenge, enticing coach Michelle Cowan from the Demons was their first win. The Dockers will be dangerous by foot through Kara Donnellan and the sublime Kirby Bentley, who fans will adore. Their young defence featuring Ebony Antonio and Hayley Miller is elite, but losing key forwards interstate has left them vulnerable. Goal kicker Amy Lavell's return to the game is a positive while forward Kira Phillips' rare talent will need consistency. Balancing elite athleticism and skill make Fremantle one of the competition's most hunted teams. pre:# Name Position Age Former Club Draft # Other Sports 1 Ashley Sharp HF/WING 19 Swan Districts WA 20 2 Kiara Bowers MID 25 Coastal Titans WA MARQUEE 3 Brianna Green MID 20 East Fremantle WA 13 4 Lara Filocamo MID 26 Coastal Titans WA 29 5 Tayla Bresland KPD 20 Peel Thunderbirds WA 52 6 Tiah Haynes MID/HB 23 Coastal Titans WA 36 7 Amy Lavell FWD 29 Coastal Titans WA 61 8 Taryn Priestly MID 27 Swan Districts WA FREE AGENT Basketball 9 Taylah Angel INS MID 25 Swan Districts WA 93 10 Stacey Barr HF 24 Swan Districts WA 68 Basketball 11 Tarni Golisano HB 20 Coastal Titans WA Free Agent 12 Ebony Antonio DEF 26 Swan Districts WA PRIORITY 13 Kira Phillips KPF 21 Peel Thunderbirds WA 45 14 Akec Makur Chuot RUCK/DEF 24 Swan Districts WA 139 15 Kara Donnellan MID 24 Swan Districts WA MARQUEE 16 Demi Okely MID/SML FWD 19 Peel Thunderbirds WA 125 17 Dana Hooker MID 26 Coastal Titans WA 130 18 Belinda Smith HB 21 East Fremantle WA 100 19 Hayley Miller MID/HB 21 Coastal Titans WA 4 20 Stephanie Cain MID/HB 20 Swan Districts WA 109 Soccer 21 Emily Bonser MID/HB 21 Swan Districts WA FREE AGENT 22 Gabby O'Sullivan MID 22 East Fremantle WA ROOKIE Basketball 23 Kirby Bentley MID 30 Swan Districts WA PRIORITY 24 Melissa Caulfield FWD/MID 28 East Fremantle WA 77 25 Kelly Clinch RUCK/DEF 33 Coastal Titans WA 116 27 Gemma Houghton HB 23 N/A FREE AGENT Basketball 32 Kim Mickle FWD 32 N/A ROOKIE Javelin, Bobsled 33 Cassie Davidson MID/HBF 20 East Fremantle WA 84  Kara Donnellan was given the nickname "Juddy" by Deb Lee, one of the giants of women's football, and it's not hard to see why. An explosive outside midfielder who can score a goal, she has played representative footy six times, three for Victoria and three for WA.  GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY GIANTS Greater Western Sydney plugged their experience gap by recruiting nine interstate players. Emma Swanson (WA) and Jessica Dal Pos (Victoria) will support midfielders Nicola Barr and Maddie Collier. Victorians Phoebe McWilliams and Louise Stephenson will add much-needed height and forward strength. The Giants harvested the ample junior NSW talent now flowing upwards. Erin McKinnon, 18 in December and the AFLW's youngest player, will shoulder the Giants' ruck work. Forward Kate Stanton, 18, will also impress. The Giants need their local senior talent to stand up if they are going to be in the mix. pre:# Name Position Age Former Club Draft # Other Sports Aimee Schmidt FWD/RUCK 23* Coastal Titans WA 17 Alex Saundry KPD 25* Melbourne University VIC FREE AGENT Alex Williams KPD 24* East Fremantle WA PRIORITY Amanda Farrugia UTILITY 31* Maquarie U. Warriors NSW 64 Ashleigh Guest UTILITY 26* VU Western Spurs VIC 16 Britt Tully INS MID 23* Gungahlin Jets ACT 80 Clare Lawton UTILITY 22* Australian Def. Force NSW 97 Codie Briggs Newtown Breakaways NSW FREE AGENT Ella Ross INS MID 24* Quenbeayan Tigers ACT 112 Ellie Brush 28 N/A ROOKIE Soccer Emma Swanson 22* East Fremantle WA MARQUEE Erin McKinnon RUCK 18 Sydney University NSW 48 Hannah Wallett FWD 26 Belconnen Magpies ACT FREE AGENT Isabella Rudolph FWD 21* Sydney U. Bombers NSW FREE AGENT Jacinda Barclay UTILITY 25* UNSW-ES Stingrays NSW 65 Gridiron, Baseball Jessica Bibby 37 N/A ROOKIE Basketball Jessica Dal Pos UTILITY 23 Darebin Falcons Vic PRIORITY Kate Stanton FWD 18* Wollongong Saints NSW 33 Kirsty De Pellegrini KPD 26* Southern Power NSW 81 Louise Stephenson RUCK/FWD 21* Melbourne University VIC PRIORITY Maddy Collier 21* UNSW-ES Stingrays NSW PRIORITY Mai Nguyen HB/MID 26* UNSW-ES Stingrays NSW 49 Nicola Barr MID 20* Sydney U. Bombers NSW 1 Phoebe McWilliams KPP 31 St Kilda Sharks VIC PRIORITY Rebecca Beeson HF 19* UNSW-ES Stingrays NSW 32 Renee Forth 30* Coastal Titans WA MARQUEE Renee Tomkins KPD 30* Penrith Ramettes NSW 96 Soccer,Futsal Stephanie Walker MID/SML FWD 32* Sydney U. Bombers NSW 113  A native West Australian, Emma Swanson is a tall midfielder with good strength and leap, which allows her to transition between half-forward and the midfield to frustrate opposing coaches.  MELBOURNE DEMONS Pre-signing the experienced Daisy Pearce, Karen Paxman, Elise O'Dea and Melissa Hickey bode well for Melbourne. On draft day they deviated from experience however, recruiting 18 players who have played no more than one year of VFL football. All-Australian 18-year-olds Deanna Berry, Katherine Smith, Lily Mithen, and their junior state team peer, Jasmine Grierson, will be stars of the future, as will Jess Anderson. But have Melbourne gone too young, too soon? The Demons' coach, former TAC Cup premiership coach Michael Stinear, whose ability to get immediate results with young players is revered, may be the key ingredient to their AFLW success. pre:# Name Position Age Former Club Draft # Other Sports 2 Meg Downie DEF 28 St Kilda Sharks VIC FREE AGENT 3 Emma Humphries MID 21 Burnie Dockers TAS 57 4 Karen Paxman HB 28 Darebin Falcons VIC PRIORITY 5 Elise O'Dea MID 25 Darebin Falcons VIC 8 6 Daisy Pearce MID 28 Darebin Falcons VIC MARQUEE 7 Deanna Berry DEF 18 Montmorency/Melb. U. VIC 9 8 Sarah Lampard MID 19 VU Western Spurs VIC 134 9 Alyssa Mifsud MID/FWD 22 VU Western Spurs VIC 40 Basketball 10 Sarah Jolly FWD/MID 25 Gippsland Galaxy VIC 145 11 Laura Duryea DEF/RUCK 33 Diamond Creek VIC FREE AGENT 12 Shelley Scott UTILITY 28 VU Western Spurs VIC 41 Netball 13 Katherine Smith DEF 19 Blackburn/E. Devils VIC 56 14 Lily Mithen UTILITY 18 North Geelong VIC 73 15 Brooke Patterson MID/DEF 27 Darebin Falcons VIC 104 15 Lauren Pearce RUCK/KPP 24 Darebin Falcons VIC 25 Basketball 16 Aliesha Newman 21 N/A FREE AGENT Soccer/Athletics 18 Melissa Hickey DEF 32 Darebin Falcons VIC MARQUEE 19 Jasmine Grierson 18 Cranbourne VIC 135 20 Pepa Randall MID 20 Eastern Devils VIC 121 Athletics 21 Harriet Cordner 24 N/A ROOKIE Athletics, Soccer 23 Stephanie De Bortoli DEF 23 Diamond Creek VIC 72 25 Madeline Boyd RUCK/KPP 23 North Geelong Magpies VIC 120 28 Jessica Anderson FWD 19 Melbourne University VIC 105 30 Richelle Cranston UTILITY 27 Geelong Magpies VIC 24 Gridiron 35 Cat Phillips CHF/WING 25 Melbourne University VIC ROOKIE Ultimate Frisbee 36 Ainslie Kemp FWD 19 VU Western Spurs VIC 88 44 Mia-Rae Clifford DEF 30 St Kilda Sharks VIC 89  Daisy Pearce is widely regarded as one of the best women footballers in the country, and through her role captaining the Melbourne Football Club has been the face of women’s football during the push for a league. She’s a hardnosed mid on the field and a tireless and charming ambassador off it. If people know one female footballer, it’s likely going to be Daisy.  WESTERN BULLDOGS The Western Bulldogs might be a premiership contender due to their long list of midfielders. With stoppages the critical feature of coach Paul Groves' success, it was no surprise they made emerging midfielder Jamie Lambert their first draft pick. Add hard-hitting Hayley Wildes and Hannah Scott to elite runners, Ellie Blackburn and Emma Kearney, and the Dogs should own the inside football. Katie Brennan will play a greater running role than her previous forward days too, while the recruitment of four genuine rucks in Tiarna Ernst, Lauren Spark, Courtney Clarkson and Aasta O'Connor will well serve Groves' game plan. pre:# Name Position Age Former Club Draft # Other Sports 1 Brooke Lochland INS MID 25 Melbourne University VIC 53 Speed Skating 2 Ellie Blackburn INS MID 22 Melbourne University VIC MARQUEE 3 Katie Brennan KPF 24 Darebin Falcons VIC MARQUEE 4 Aasta O'Connor DEF/RUCK 25* Darebin Falcons VIC 12 5 Emma Kearney INS MID 27 Melbourne University VIC PRIORITY Cricket 6 Kirsten McLeod SML FWD Cranbourne VIC 28 7 Jaimee Lambert INS MID 22 Eastern Devils VIC 5 8 Kate Tyndall OUT MID Darebin Falcons VIC 117 9 Lisa Williams OUT MID 25 Diamond Creek VIC 92 10 Nicole Callinan OUT MID/SML DEF 34 Darebin Falcons VIC 85 Indoor Cricket 11 Lauren Spark KPD 31 Melbourne University VIC 76 Beach Volleyball 12 Kimberley Ebb OUT MID/RUN DEF 29 Seaford VIC 37 13 Laura Bailey RUN DEF St Kilda Sharks VIC 143 14 Ellyse Gamble RUCK 19 Burnie Dockers TAS 69 15 Meghan McDonald N/A FREE AGENT 17 Hayley Wildes DEF 26 Cranbourne VIC 44 18 Libby Birch DEF Darebin Falcons VIC ROOKIE Netball 19 Tiana Ernst RUCK 29 Diamond Creek VIC 108 20 Rommy Timmins INS MID Berwick Hawks VIC 53 21 Bailey Hunt KPD Melbourne University VIC 60 22 Hannah Scott INS MID 26 Eastern Devils VIC 21 23 Lauren Moorcroft KPD 29 Diamond Creek VIC 101 24 Courtney Clarkson KPF 25* Cranbourne VIC 124 25 Bec Neaves N/A FREE AGENT 27 Jess Gardner UTILITY St Kilda Sharks VIC 131 27 Kirsty Lamb INS MID 22 Melbourne University VIC 53 Cricket 36 Angelica Gogos N/A FREE AGENT Katie Brennan is used to success, winning 11 straight premierships while transitioning from junior footy to senior footy with the Darebin Falcons. She won the inaugural women's best and fairest award at the Bulldogs in 2015, a rare feat for a key forward.
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Jan 17, 2017 12:46
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THE LAST POST Goon Fantasy / Tipping Leagues The Deadly Hume posted:Just to get this on the first page, of course we'll have our usual tipping competition (that half the field ragequits after the fourth round). If you were in it last year, you'll be rolled over into the new season. Otherwise, you can sign up at News Sites https://www.afl.com.au – the official media outlet http://www.girlsplayfooty.com/ Was a good source for information about women’s footy, currently undergoing a site redesign to get ready for the inaugural AFLW season but hopefully the quality of content will remain high https://www.theage.com.au/afl/ - the less tabloidy of the two Melbourne newspapers, you can get around their 30 articles per month limit by using incognito mode/private browsing https://www.superfooty.com.au – Rupert murdoch’s rag, if you really want to read something on here type the article headline into google and follow the link from there and it should get around the paywall https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl – Another Murdoch jam, actually has some pretty decent coverage though https://www.titusoreily.com – a humorous take on footy, a few updates per week generally, well liked in the thread, a long suffering Melbourne supporter (is there any other kind?) https://www.espn.com.au/afl Podcasts http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/superfooty-podcast If you like listening to the same three teams discussed every week with a good dose of conservative talking points, this is the podcast for you. http://www.abc.net.au/news/sport/programs/afl/ My pick for AFL audio, the ABC actually tend to talk about some football. The show is hosted by Gerard Whately, who is for my money the best broadcast journalist going round in footy. http://www.afl.com.au/news/afl-exchange-podcast Podcast from the official AFL site, hosted by a couple of AFL media people as well as a player (previously have had Alex Rance and Adam Treloar, can’t remember who it was prior to that). Generally pretty good. https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/fox-footy-open-mike/id1100082809?mt=2 Open Mike – Hosted by Mike Sheahan, a mostly retired AFL journalist. In depth interviews with players and prominent figures from the footy world, tends to focus on older guests. https://player.fm/series/coodabeens-footy-show-podcast The Coodabeens - Some old guys talking poo poo for a few hours and singing bad football related lyrics to cover existing songs. It is tangential to footy but you’re not really going to find out anything about footy by listening to it. https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/junktime-afl-podcast-adam/id837646341?mt=2 Junktime AFL – Two comedians talking footy, I haven’t actually listened to this one but have heard some decent things about it http://titusoreily.com/category/podcast/ Titus and Sergio’s Variety Hour – Hosted by Titus O’Reily, it’s a general sports podcast but generally leans pretty heavily on footy during the season. http://www.tofop.com/tag/2-guys-1-cup-afl-podcast/ 2 Guys 1 Cup – Another comedian hosted footy podcast General Information https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Football_League - The wikipedia article actually has a lot of good stuff, including things like stadium sizes, historical data of club membership numbers etc. Stats and other nerd poo poo The Deadly Hume posted:EDIT: Actually, since this seems to be my thing now, here's a few more links to look out if you're into analysis, datavis and other statistical voodoo  Idiots to come Rogues Gallery https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2RXP1ZCddw http://i.imgur.com/EkmYHeX.gifv http://i.imgur.com/WUEgIqI.gifv https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cLU7zByZc8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KolGtJaAL9c http://i.imgur.com/vwzjsfv.gifv http://i.imgur.com/jZnfuvE.gifv http://i.imgur.com/XiEiDDO.gifv https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8NeervCS2U http://i.imgur.com/sQXp4Su.gifv   http://i.imgur.com/fuhDdew.gifv http://i.imgur.com/RVfdgPa.gifv http://i.imgur.com/OLrwKL7.gifv   http://i.imgur.com/QbdukGs.gifv http://i.imgur.com/CfpICeT.gifv http://i.imgur.com/q9OtGKu.gifv Solemn Sloth fucked around with this message at 13:57 on Jan 17, 2017 |
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Jan 17, 2017 12:46
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Placeholder just in case
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Jan 17, 2017 12:47
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Excellent OP! Just to get this on the first page, of course we'll have our usual tipping competition (that half the field ragequits after the fourth round). If you were in it last year, you'll be rolled over into the new season. Otherwise, you can sign up at http://www.footytips.com.au/comps/SASTips The password is goons. EDIT: Actually, since this seems to be my thing now, here's a few more links to look out if you're into analysis, datavis and other statistical voodoo https://www.championdata.com/ - the official statistics partner of the AFL, but they don't give too much away, and their method for "official player ratings" isn't exactly transparent. They're pretty stingy with the public data too. The off-Broadway scene is a bit more vibrant. http://www.matterofstats.com/ - Matter of Stats http://footymaths.blogspot.com/ - Footy Maths Institute https://hurlingpeoplenow.wordpress.com/ - Hurling People Now https://thearcfooty.com/ - The Arc - did some very interesting datavis in 2016, also getting into the rating game this year. https://figuringfooty.com/ - Figuring Footy http://afltables.com/ - very good repository of historical data and stats http://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/ - good as a supplement to the above. http://graft.grudnuk.com/ - My own little thing. I started posting about my rating system for form tracking with some probability stuff on the footy threads and went a little more public with it last year. I still try a lot of my weird ideas here first. The Deadly Hume fucked around with this message at 13:29 on Jan 17, 2017 |
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Jan 17, 2017 13:03
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ESPN has been working on improving their AFL coverage, and they're a familiar face to our American visitors http://www.espn.com.au/afl/  EDDIEBETTS
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Jan 17, 2017 13:21
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The Deadly Hume posted:Excellent OP! NTRabbit posted:ESPN has been working on improving their AFL coverage, and they're a familiar face to our American visitors Added these to the OP
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Jan 17, 2017 13:25
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Awesome OP! Go west coast etc. As the winner of footy tipping last year (loving lol), I say y'all should get on board
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Jan 17, 2017 13:29
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Holy poo poo, excellent OP. Although I'm pretty sure Carlton didn't finish with the wooden spoon last year. I'm calling it now, Carlton will finish in the 8 in 2017. Also, even though the team post is long, maybe slip this map into the end of the post, it gives Fake Edit: Hell, the wikipedia page is pretty decent too if you want to get even more information about some things, handy links to team pages and stadium information etc: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Football_League drunkill fucked around with this message at 13:53 on Jan 17, 2017 |
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Jan 17, 2017 13:33
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An OP worthy of the best sport in the world. I hope we get lots of newcomers this year. I always really enjoy them asking questions (especially about free kicks that even we are confused by) and picking a team for the first time. When are we doing the fantasy footy thing (I forget what it's called)? Last year was my first go at it and I enjoyed it way too much.
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Jan 17, 2017 13:36
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drunkill posted:Holy poo poo, excellent OP. Whoops! have fixed it, added that map, a link to the wiki, a map of the Barassi Line, and Hume's stat/nerd links
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Jan 17, 2017 13:58
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Hawfouroutoffive sounds terrible, so they're just going to have win four more the old fashioned way Excellent OP. drunkill posted:Also, even though the team post is long, maybe slip this map into the end of the post, it gives The only analogy would be if say... New York set up a Football league. Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Minnesota and Seattle eventually form their own leagues out of a sense of state pride (and distance, costs etc.) and they come to be really proud of their players and their teams. Eventually New York, which is the biggest and richest city of the above works out that instead of trying to make its teams better by developing the slowly straining player pool, it can just buy the best players from all those other leagues and make its league the best by far. This decimates the other leagues, and eventually the rise of TV rights and the concept of "nationally televised" means that New York - flush with money and talent - can start putting teams in direct competition with those leagues, most of which throw up the white flag and agree to effectively "buy-in" to the new "National League". That's how the AFL formed, and it's a clunky analogy, but it does a decent job of explaining how something like half the teams in the Modern AFL come from Victoria and are over 100 years old. This doesn't explain Port (that's a fun story), and we'll just pretend the entire south decided to play something super dog fucky instead (the story behind the NRL is somewhat similar to the AFL's, but it's somehow an even more wonderfully perplexing story that is mostly "gently caress you, we're Sydney and we're better than you fucks" with a little "I'm Rupert Murdoch, and I'm richer than all you fucks" thrown in for good measure. Also "QUEENSLANDERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR").
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Jan 17, 2017 13:58
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Good op, go Crows, I hope Charlie Cameron, who is the best and my favourite, kicks all the goals and wins the Coleman medal and stuff. Also go the other Crows, I hope Chelsea Randall does the same thing with the kicking of all the goals, because I decided preseason that she was my favourite.
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Jan 17, 2017 15:29
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 star OP. Always fun to read the team summaries! Hoping for good surprises this year in the comp or at least as exciting a finals season as we had last year.
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Jan 17, 2017 16:08
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Brilliant OP Gough! Thanks for taking the time to put that together. Only thing missing and I'll see if I can have a look for it later but is probably my favourite picture from the last few OP's which is the Norf fans in the crowd flipping the double birds at whoever is in their line of sight.
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Jan 17, 2017 16:54
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Not to be nit picky, but Carlton's 6 game streak was ended by St Kilda (50,000 carlton supporters turned up to watch it too lol) not Norf. I am hoping Jack Daniels casks off his previous average form and really moonshines this year.
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Jan 17, 2017 19:20
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That OP. Just one thing, and it's nitpicky but might confuse someone new: It's South-West of the Barassi Line, not South-East.
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Jan 17, 2017 20:00
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noice
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Jan 17, 2017 20:58
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This is the good poo poo. Good revisions. Carlton will rise and fall on the girth of Paddy Cripps. Not sure where this will leave us. Can't wait to go to the Carl v Coll alfw match in a fortnight.
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Jan 17, 2017 21:36
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Thanks everyone, keep corrections coming as you see them, it's hard to proof read your own stuff especially when it's mixed up with BBCode so it's much appreciated.
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Jan 17, 2017 23:01
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Nice OP, MUYB
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Jan 17, 2017 23:29
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Great OP, one edit:Solemn Sloth posted:Thanks everyone, keep corrections coming as you see them, it's hard to proof read your own stuff especially when it's mixed up with BBCode so it's much appreciated. Solemn Sloth posted:Greater Western Sydney (or GWS for short) Best finish was 2016  Also you list the Lions as a merger of Fitzroy and Brisbane Lions when it should be Bears.
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Jan 18, 2017 01:48
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EDDIEBETTS has signed a 3 year contract extension! 
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Jan 18, 2017 05:21
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Solemn Sloth posted:Players to watch: Luke Hodge (particularly if you’re driving home) nice i cant wait for season 2017, my weekends are so boring in the off season
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Jan 18, 2017 05:52
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Is there audio of someone, BT maybe, saying EDDIEBETTS to give people an idea of how it is said?
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Jan 18, 2017 06:09
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pkid posted:Is there audio of someone, BT maybe, saying EDDIEBETTS to give people an idea of how it is said? Huddo commentating the 2016 goal of the year: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYzbYN0Bsjg
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Jan 18, 2017 06:18
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https://youtu.be/eg9J-SJd0ew
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Jan 18, 2017 06:23
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0ZWrBqsAtM
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Jan 18, 2017 06:28
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Up the suns, bitch
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Jan 18, 2017 10:26
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Great OP, everyone pray for nic nat knee. This season can't start soon enough.
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Jan 18, 2017 10:59
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The Womens Academy started in Canberra on Monday, all 16 and 17 year olds. 33 all up and the 17 year olds will go into the national draft at the end of the year. http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-01-17/womens-academy-to-fasttrack-young-talent Daisy Peace and Melissa Hickey (both playing for the demons) talking about stuff, they grew up as friends: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcdX9Wh1Rtw 
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Jan 18, 2017 12:04
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Hawthorn flag 2017 lock it in
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Jan 18, 2017 12:17
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realbez posted:Hawthorn flag 2017 lock it in Only if Hodgey performs a midnight break and enter to nick it from the actual winners.
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Jan 18, 2017 15:17
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I legit had this on my main Youtube playlist of favourite songs for years. It's so catchy 
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Jan 18, 2017 16:12
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My new favourite hobby is putting AFL player headshots through the Meitu app.
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Jan 18, 2017 21:13
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Someone was asking for more detail about the ruck rule at boundary throw ins. When the ball falls short and neither ruck can make it there, no other players can touch it until it has hit the ground. It sounds dumb, will probably look dumb, but it's easy to umpire and I'm not sure what else they could have done. Hopefully boundary umps doing lots of curls in the off season to make sure they get enough distance most of the time
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Jan 19, 2017 06:49
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Can't wait for the booing when one of them throws it in short now
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Jan 19, 2017 07:01
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Solemn Sloth posted:Someone was asking for more detail about the ruck rule at boundary throw ins. When the ball falls short and neither ruck can make it there, no other players can touch it until it has hit the ground. It sounds dumb, will probably look dumb, but it's easy to umpire and I'm not sure what else they could have done. Hopefully boundary umps doing lots of curls in the off season to make sure they get enough distance most of the time Also, the new umpire boss continues to push the whole "going full time professional would be bad because <insert bullshit here>" thing.
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Jan 19, 2017 07:14
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