IF WE'VE learned anything from Port Adelaide's improved performance last week, it's that the Power could be shaping as red-time specialists.
Port Adelaide's increased fitness off the back of a proper pre-season – its second in the competition – saw Lauren Arnell's side pile on 42.9 per cent of its score of 28 in time-on, which comes after the 17-minute mark of the quarter.
The Power had lost their first Showdown against inaugural AFLW club Adelaide (which had six extra seasons under its belt) by 60 points last season, and cut that margin to 30 last weekend.
The 2023 season has seen quarters increase from 15 minutes (with time on applied in the final two minutes) to 17 minutes, with the same arrangement for time on.
Sydney recorded 23.5 per cent of its 51 in red-time, North Melbourne ground St Kilda's defence down to pile on 23.2 per cent of its score of 56 in the final minutes of quarters, while high-scoring Melbourne sat at 19.2 per cent of its 73.
Despite the increasing length of quarters, the percentage of scores coming in the time-on period did not have an overall increase in round one.
Round one scoring breakdown
|
Season |
Median scores |
Average scores |
% in last 5min of quarters |
% of score in red time of quarters |
|
2017* |
18.5 |
26.0 |
44.1% |
12.8% |
|
2018 |
27 |
30.3 |
45.7% |
14.3% |
|
2019 |
25.5 |
32.0 |
46.4% |
16.3% |
|
2020 |
21.1 |
25.0 |
45.6% |
16.2% |
|
2021 |
38 |
38.4 |
44.1% |
15.2% |
|
S6 |
25.5 |
30.6 |
44.7% |
15.9% |
|
S7 |
31 |
34.1 |
42.6% |
14.7% |
|
2023** |
34.0 |
39.2 |
42.6% |
13.5% |
* = no time-on, quarters run for a flat 15 minutes
** = quarters 17 minutes, plus time-on
Years in italics are expansion seasons
The percentage of round one scores coming in the final five minutes of quarters – regardless of length – is also unchanged thus far.
However, median round one scores have nearly doubled over the eight AFLW seasons, with the continued improvements in skill, fitness and game knowledge overcoming the "dilution" of the talent pool by adding 10 teams since the initial eight of 2017.
The 2021 high in both average and median score came just before the final four AFLW teams were added to the competition in season six.
"I think it's great, personally. The longer quarters (mean) the more time we get into our players," Collingwood coach Steve Symonds said after the Pies' loss to Melbourne.
"There were a couple of scores in the back-end of quarters as well, (which is) the reasoning for extending it a bit is to open up the scoring a little bit in the last two minutes of quarters. I'm a big advocate for it, and thought it all worked well."
