Gil Griffin’s Previews With Punch: AFLW Round 5

North Melbourne’s Kaitlyn Ashmore this week revealed her recently discovered Aboriginal heritage. Photo: AFL MEDIA

Whatever happens in the actual AFLW games this weekend, all the eye-catching Indigenous jumpers on display for the first Indigenous Round will make for great optics.

Indigenous artists and Indigenous AFLW players like Melbourne small forward Krstel Petrevski and Brisbane star goal-kicker Dakota Davidson should be applauded for their artistic nous in designing their club’s guernseys.

North Melbourne defender Kaitlyn Ashmore not only helped design the Roos’ special tops, but also commemorated the round by going public to reveal her recently discovered Aboriginal heritage and the emotional journey that accompanied it.

Still, as Crows’ superstar Erin Phillips publicly said in newspaper interviews ahead of this round, it’ll make for even better optics for the league and for fans to see more Indigenous women on AFLW lists, as they still account for only three per cent of the league’s players, compared to 11 per cent of AFL mens’ lists.

Because of her one-match suspension, the highest profile Indigenous AFLW player, Carlton’s Maddie Prespakis, won’t be in action this week, but other stars such as Fremantle’s Gemma Houghton, Adelaide’s Danielle Ponter, Geelong’s Stephanie Williams, Brisbane’s Courtney Hodder and West Coast’s Imahra Cameron will.

Here’s to Indigenous Round becoming a permanent AFLW tradition, with this slate of cracking matches.

GEELONG v RICHMOND (Friday 7.10 pm, GMHBA Stadium)
This is the week the hoodoo ends for Richmond. Take that to the bank. No way the Tigers lose this match after finally putting together a quality four-quarter-effort and playing the most inspired football of their brief existence against Carlton last Saturday. A couple of kinder bounces of the ball in their forward 50 and a little bit more rub of the green and the Tigers could have claimed a major scalp and taken down vastly more experienced and likely finals bound Carlton. At one early point, Richmond even had a three-goal lead. The Tigers may remain one of four winless sides, but at 57.1, their percentage is the highest among them, while Geelong’s is second-last in the competition, at 29.3. Richmond captain Katie Brennan last week rediscovered her goal-kicking magic, ending a long drought in front of the sticks by snapping truly from each boot, while Monique Conti has been magnificent, averaging 22.5 touches, 13.8 contested possessions, and four clearances per match. The Cats’ Amy McDonald, with her 19.3 touches and 11.5 contested possessions per match comes closest to matching Conti, but Geelong has a major scoring deficiency. Through four matches, only one Cat, Phoebe McWilliams, with her two goals, has managed more than one. Back the fighting fury to win big.
GIL TIPS: Richmond

WESTERN BULLDOGS v GWS (Saturday 3.10 pm, Victoria University Whitten Oval)
That sound growing louder you’ve been hearing the last three weeks? It’s the Bulldogs roaring their way back into the top six, with three wins on the trot. The Doggies were all about efficiency last week against an uncharacteristically wasteful Melbourne, kicking 6.1 from 19 forward 50 entries. The Dogs’ Ellie Blackburn leads the competition with 20 inside 50s (five per match) and has paced the midfield, averaging 21 touches a match, also kicking five goals. Tough-as-nails Kirsty Lamb, who appeared to sport a shiner over her left eye last week to match the one over her right, has been handy, averaging 17 touches, and Isabel Huntington has been a prolific with six goals and an average 3.5 contested marks per match. The Giants, meanwhile, finally showed their scoring potential in a Blacktown shootout against West Coast, with Cora Staunton erupting for four of her side’s seven goals. But the bigger GWS story is Alyce Parker, who now must be the favourite to take out the competition’s best and fairest award, with Carlton’s Prespakis earning a suspension. Parker’s match averages in possessions (26), contested possessions (15.5), and clearances (6.5) all are league-best totals. But the more experienced Bulldogs, playing on their home patch, with more firepower, should come away winners.
GIL TIPS: Western Bulldogs

FREMANTLE v BRISBANE (Saturday 5.10 pm, Fremantle Oval)
This shapes as one of the round’s biggest drawcards, featuring two of the competition’s best forward lines. In front of goal, the visiting Lions boast a pride of goalkickers — Dakota Davidson (eight), Greta Bodey (seven), Jesse Tawhiao-Wardlaw (five), and Taylor Smith (four). Freo counters with Gemma Houghton (six), Sabreena Duffy (four), and recently returned to action Ashley Sharp (three). The good news for Freo last week in a romp over Gold Coast was firing 20 scoring shots, despite Houghton and Duffy being held goalless. Brisbane had stockpiled wins over bottom-of-the-ladder clubs, but last round was brought back to earth by an Adelaide side that jumped the Lions early. Brisbane is capable of scoring quickly, so for the undefeated Dockers to continue their run, they’ll have to do better in the first term than their last two scoreless ones. Down back, the Dockers have a decided edge, with Janelle Cuthbertson leading the competition, averaging 10.8 intercept possessions per match. Through the middle and on the wings, Freo boasts greater speed, with Ebony Antonio, Gabby O’Sullivan, and Hayley Miller weaving through traffic, while superstar Kiara Bowers is never too far away to make her presence felt with a league-leading crunching tackle. After taking on more mature-bodied players in the ruck over the last few rounds, this match could also be a real confidence booster for teenage Dockers’ ruck Mim Strom, who holds an average hit-out advantage over Brisbane counterpart Tahlia Hickie. Freo bats deeper than Brisbane, has faced tougher competition so far than the Lions, and is again on its home deck. The Lions will certainly challenge, but Freo should bank the four points.
GIL TIPS: Fremantle

PLEASE HELP US CONTINUE TO THRIVE BY BECOMING AN OFFICIAL FOOTYOLOGY PATRON. JUST CLICK THIS LINK.

NORTH MELBOURNE v CARLTON (Saturday 7.10 pm, University of Tasmania Stadium Hobart)
A promising contest here between two finals hopefuls, each outside the top six and each with a sense of real urgency to climb back in. Winless Richmond pushed Carlton to the brink last week, the Blues’ backline standing up in the dying minutes to hang on by the fingernails in a five-point win. Collingwood, meanwhile, held North Melbourne goalless for the first time in its AFLW history, the Roos kicking a shocking 0.8 for the match. With Carlton’s leading ball-winner Prespakis rubbed out, the Blues are at an immediate disadvantage, and will miss her average 21 touches and 11.5 contested possessions. Someone must pick up the slack, but who? North’s midfield is loaded with talent, as Emma Kearney, Jenna Bruton, Ashleigh Riddell and Jasmine Garner are among the league’s best. For scoring power, the Blues’ Darcy Vescio played her best match of the season last week against the Tigers, and Tayla Harris always is a threat to clunk a big mark or drill a set shot. Garner is the Roos’ most reliable goalkicker with five. The combination of the Roos playing on their Tassie home ground and Prespakis’s absence should be enough for North to get home in a close one.
GIL TIPS: North Melbourne

ADELAIDE v ST KILDA (Sunday 1.10 pm, Norwood Oval)
The Crows came out swinging last week in Queensland against the Lions, and it’s hard to see them letting their guard down even against the resurgent Saints. St Kilda’s form has been inconsistent — the Saints’ two wins for the season are bookends to two losses. While the Saints got back on board the “G Train” Caitlin Greiser, who kicked three goals, the Crows flew, with Erin Phillips booting four. Adelaide won plenty of the ball last round, with Ebony Marinoff and Anne Hatchard exuding commanding presences on the ground, but if the Crows are as wasteful in front of goal this week as they were against Brisbane and let the Saints hang around, even with St Kilda’s low percentage (91.4) they would be in trouble. For all Adelaide’s on-field dominance over the Lions, they won by only two goals. The Crows’ bigger bodies may also come in handy in trying to limit the influence of Saints’ star midfielder, Georgia Patrikios. The Crows will be comfortable at home and should comfortably win this one.
GIL TIPS: Adelaide

COLLINGWOOD v MELBOURNE (Sunday 3.10 pm, Victoria Park)
Unbeaten Collingwood continued looking every bit the dynamo last week, absolutely stifling the Roos, holding them to a miserable eight behinds for the match. Conversely, the Dees’ won just about every category against the Bulldogs, except the most important one — scoring. Melbourne’s 2.12 scoreline was woeful, and one might imagine the Dees’ players legs being a bit sore this week from goalkicking practice in training. Melbourne leading ball-winner Karen Paxman was one of the only two Demons to kick goals, and she, Lily Mithen and Tayla Hanks have enjoyed excellent first halves of the season. But the Pies’ Britt Bonnici, Brianna Davey, and Jaimee Lambert have been other-worldly. These three 2020 All-Australians are in the top nine players in the competition for possessions. Another 2020 All-Australian, Collingwood defender Stacey Livingstone, has been a rock down back, while Chloe Molloy and Aishling Sheridan are consistently dangerous around the goals. And once the Pies get their handball going and take the game on, they’re damn hard to stop. The Pies should fly high, on their home ground, and stay unbeaten.
GIL TIPS: Collingwood

WEST COAST v GOLD COAST (Sunday 5.10 pm, Mineral Resources Park)
The Eagles last round played their best football and stayed in the fight until late in the third term before succumbing to the Giants. West Coast is hoping Aisling McCarthy will be right to go after injuring a knee. Mikayla Bowen continues to impress for the Eagles, and captain Emma Swanson has held her own as the club’s leading possession getter. Try as they might, the Suns since round two, have flirted with new levels of scoreboard futility. They managed one – yes, one – scoring shot last week against Fremantle, converted it, then conceded 55 unanswered points. Surely the Eagles bag their first win this season at home – and comfortably.
GIL TIPS: West Coast