Hawthorn star Greta Bodey (right) plays against her old team Brisbane on Sunday in the qualifying final. Photo: AFL MEDIA
Like death and taxes, the presence of Adelaide, Brisbane, and North Melbourne in AFLW finals is a certainty. But as the “usual suspects” prepare for another crack at a premiership, this season they’re joined by some interesting company.
Richmond and Fremantle are making finals returns after absences, the Tigers finishing 10th last year and the Dockers 13th. And there’s two finals debutants, Port Adelaide, which was lowly 15th in 2023, and Hawthorn, which has enjoyed a 14th to second after the home and away rounds.
It’s often said in professional sport that there’s no substitute for experience, so it’ll be fascinating to see how the two surprise teams go against finals-tested ones, and how the battle-hardened clubs fare in their own face-offs.
FIRST QUALIFYING FINAL
NORTH MELBOURNE (10-0-1) v ADELAIDE (8-3) (Ikon Park, Friday 7.15 pm local time)
If previous finals disappointments make teams hyper-focused the next season, then the Kangaroos have played like a team possessed since their heartbreaking 2023 grand final loss to Brisbane. They wasted no time avenging that defeat in week one, belting the Lions — for the first time in their history, no less — on their home deck. In week nine, North Melbourne was in firm control of its match against Adelaide, its qualifying final opponent, then withstood a late Crows surge. The Roos’ Jasmine Garner, one of the league’s best all-round players, dominated play with 27 possessions and six score involvements in that match. Not to be outdone, Adelaide’s best in that game, Ebony Marinoff, won 14 contested possessions and laid 16 tackles, while Danielle Ponter booted three goals. When it comes to weapons, both sides have heavy arsenals, but the Kangaroos set new all-time benchmarks for scoring this season, with 656 points, and percentage, with a mark of 315.4. North Melbourne is locked in on winning its first flag, is playing at home, and will win surprisingly comfortably.
LAST MEETING: Week 9, North Melbourne won by 8 points
GIL TIPS: NORTH MELBOURNE
FIRST ELIMINATION FINAL
FREMANTLE (8-3) v ESSENDON (6-4-1) (Fremantle Oval, Saturday 4 pm local time)
The Dockers must be using mirrors to make their magic. How else can one explain their success playing the season without their all-time best player Kiara Bowers — who stepped away from the park to carry a child to term — and their captain, Ange Stannett, to injury? To add insult, they also lost their leading goalkicker, Aine Tighe early in the piece for the rest of the year with her own injury. But here they are in the finals, as players like Aisling McCarthy, Dana East, Hayley Miller, and Mim Strom have more than picked up the slack. The in-form Bombers meanwhile, have been beaten only once in the last five weeks, with their only loss in that span coming at the hands of the juggernaut Kangaroos. Few midfield tandems are as prolific and exciting as Essendon’s Madison Prespakis and Georgia Nanscawen, who rank eighth and 12th respectively in possessions. But the Bombers were dealt a blow last week in losing Bonnie Toogood, their gun forward and co-captain. Dockers’ key defender Ash Brazill will be racing the clock to be fit enough to overcome injury to take part in the match. Essendon is without an important weapon and faces a challenge on the road against a rejuvenated Fremantle, which beat them by 43 points to start this season. Look for the Dockers to make more magic and continue their run.
LAST MEETING: Week 1, Fremantle won by 43 points
GIL TIPS: FREMANTLE
SECOND QUALIFYING FINAL
HAWTHORN (10-1) v BRISBANE (9-2) (Ikon Park, Sunday 1.05 pm local time)
When the reigning premier runs out to meet the Hawks this weekend, it will be taking on an entirely different squad from the 14th place also-rans they easily handled last year. Hawthorn has soared this season thanks to turbo-charging its run and hitting the scoreboard like it’s going out of style. The Hawks have gone from posting a paltry fourth-worst percentage of 67.3 to a second-best 193.2, and have averaged 54 points per match. Former Demon Eliza West has enjoyed a superb season at Hawthorn, achieving well above career highs in possessions, clearances, and tackles. She has been instrumental in supplying its excellent forward line, led by goalkickers Aileen Gilroy and Aine McDonagh, who have booted 14 majors each, and former Lion Greta Bodey, who has chipped in 10. Brisbane this season has been, well, Brisbane — consistently excellent, save for a shock loss to Geelong in week eight and a humbling week one beatdown by North Melbourne. It’s not wise to bet against the star-studded, two-time premier Lions. They’ve withstood all manner of adversity, from defections over the years of some of their best players, to vile verbal abuse star forward Dakota Davidson was subjected to last week by a spectator at RSEA Park. Davidson’s teammates surely will rally around her, hunker down, and fire. The Lions will prove too experienced and too good for the upstart Hawks.
LAST MEETING: Round 5, 2023, Brisbane won by 27 points
GIL TIPS: BRISBANE
SECOND ELIMINATION FINAL
PORT ADELAIDE (7-4) v RICHMOND (6-4-1) (Alberton Oval, Sunday 3.05 pm local time)
Win-loss records can sometimes be deceiving and nowhere is this more the case than examining the Power’s ledger. Despite their players and supporters not wanting to hear it, it must be said. Every single one of Port Adelaide’s seven wins this season — including five on the trot — have been against bottom eight sides. All four of the Power’s losses? Yep, you guessed it — all against fellow top eight teams. And when Port Adelaide have played against top eight clubs, it has lost by an average of 20 points. That includes a week five match against the Tigers, the Power’s opponent this weekend, which the Power lost by 21 points. Richmond returns to finals play for the first time since 2022 Season 7, when it finished fourth. The Power have top-notch youngsters in Molly Brooksby, the week five Rising Star nominee, and Abbey Dowrick, and veteran goalkicker Gemma Houghton to lead them. The Tigers, though, have Mon Conti, one of the competition’s superstars, running through the middle, along with Ellie McKenzie, and veteran campaigners Katie Brennan and Caitlin “G-Train” Greiser up forward. The Power should be commended for their finals foray, but it will be short-lived, with the Tigers getting the chocolates.
LAST MEETING: Week 5, Richmond won by 21 points
GIL TIPS: RICHMOND
