A review of all the action from Round 14 of the 2024 rebel VFLW season.
COLLINGWOOD vs WILLIAMSTOWN
COLLINGWOOD 0.0 0.0 1.0 1.1 (7)
WILLIAMSTOWN 1.0 2.3 2.4 2.5 (17)
MINOR premier Williamstown got itself ready for the rebel VFLW finals series by claiming its first victory over Collingwood in its history, winning by 10 points at Victoria Park on Saturday to eliminate the Magpies from the premiership race.
The home team had won all five previous matches against the Seagulls but found scoring almost impossible as they played for the season, managing only a solitary goal to Jordan Ivey in the seventh minute of the third quarter.
Williamstown had trouble hitting the target as well, failing to kick a goal after the 10-minute mark of the second term, but it never seriously looked like losing despite resting a few players in anticipation of a qualifying final showdown with the Western Bulldogs at DSV Stadium this Sunday.
Ash Thorneycroft was a bull with and without the ball for the Seagulls, having 18 kicks (including five clearances) and laying 16 tackles.
Emily Eaves (20 disposals, nine clearances, eight tackles) showed plenty of class through the middle, Lori Stepnell (15 disposals, five rebounds) patrolled the half-back line with aplomb, ruck Akima Manoah had 28 hitouts and 12 tackles in a debut to be proud of and skipper Eliza Straford had 10 tackles.
Kaitlyn Day completed a fine season for Collingwood with 18 touches, 12 clearances and 10 tackles, with Jaide Anthony (19 disposals, seven clearances), Kasey Lennox (16 disposals, nine rebounds) and Maya Ellin (12 disposals, 17 tackles) also impressive.
NORTH MELBOURNE vs WESTERN BULLDOGS
NORTH MELBOURNE 2.3 3.4 5.6 6.7 (43)
WESTERN BULLDOGS 2.1 4.2 5.3 7.8 (50)
WESTERN Bulldogs wrapped up second spot and a double chance in the finals, overhauling North Melbourne by seven points at Arden Street Oval to break the Kangaroos’ five-match winning streak and celebrate captain Dom Carbone’s 50th VFL game in style.
In a seesawing contest where each team took advantage of their turns with the wind, the Bulldogs trailed by three points at the final change but took the lead through Jaimi Tabb early in the last before missing five chances in a row to seal the game.
Kangaroo Emily Paterno snagged her third goal in the 16th minute to cut the margin to two points and set up a grandstand finish but the Bulldogs’ own forward star, Imogen Milford, responded with a third of her own almost immediately.
Ruck Keeley Hardingham put her final stamp on her Lambert-Pearce Medal claims with a stunning performance for the Bulldogs, winning 21 disposals, 19 hitouts and eight clearances and capping it off with two goals
Jaimi Tabb (19 disposals, five clearances, six tackles, one goal) and Imogen Milford (13 disposals, 11 hitouts, three goals) also shone for the Bulldogs and Carbone picked up 17 touches.
Nyakoat Dojiok fine-tuned herself for North Melbourne’s maiden finals campaign as her team’s best player with 20 touches, five marks and three goals to take a share of the lead in the Rohenna Young Medal with 22 goals until she and Sharnie Whiting were beaten by her former teammate Monique De Matteo on Sunday.
Paterno took her chances with 3.1 from seven disposals, while Audrey Rhodes (23 disposals, eight clearances, six tackles), Jen Guy (20 disposals, five marks, six tackles) and Alana Barba (19 disposals, seven tackles) did well through the middle.
ESSENDON vs GEELONG CATS
ESSENDON 3.0 6.1 9.3 10.4 (64)
GEELONG CATS 0.1 0.1 1.1 2.3 (15)
ESSENDON had to win to avoid any chance of missing the finals, but the Bombers put paid to any fears of disaster early, kicking six unanswered goals in the first half and cruising to a 49-point victory over Geelong at Windy Hill.
The Bombers landed in the same fifth spot from where they reached a preliminary final last year, with one less win, and the way they dealt with the Cats will surely have finals debutants North Melbourne wary ahead of their elimination final at Arden Street Oval on Saturday.
Jayda Richardson produced a breakout game for the Bombers at the right point of the season, kicking three goals from 16 disposals and adding 10 hitouts, with Ruby Mahony (18 disposals, seven clearances, five tackles, six entries, two goals) also outstanding.
Bailey Hunt (20 disposals, five clearances, five tackles, six inside-50s), Maddison Ford (20 disposals, six marks) and Sophie Molan (19 disposals) also impressed, while Olivia Manfre bobbed up to kick a couple of goals and Ellie Huggard stuck 11 tackles.
The Cats lacked the depth to go with the better teams this year, but their top end was up to the task, with Lily Jordan (25 disposals, 13 tackles, five entries, one goal) and Abby Favell (26 disposals, eight marks, seven clearances, eight tackles) being brilliant.
GWV Rebels product Isabella Davies (24 disposals, four marks, five tackles) starred on debut and Piper Dunlop won 30 hitouts, six clearances and 14 touches while adding six tackles.
CASEY DEMONS vs SOUTHERN SAINTS
CASEY DEMONS 1.0 2.1 4.1 5.4 (34)
SOUTHERN SAINTS 1.3 2.5 5.6 7.8 (50)
SOUTHERN Saints took great delight in being the finals spoilers of 2024, ending the Casey Demons’ season with an upset 16-point victory at Casey Fields on Sunday.
The Saints’ performances mostly haven’t been as bad as their 4-10 win-loss record suggests, but they saved their best for last.
The Demons would have missed out anyway given Port Melbourne held Box Hill Hawks to a draw half an hour later, but if they had got the points it would certainly have put more pressure on the Borough in their last quarter.
In a match where the scoreboard was in the balance throughout the first three quarters, it was Chloe Hunt who made all the difference, booting her third and fourth goals either side of three quarter-time to seal the victory.
She only had nine touches but finished with 4.3 in a match-winning display backed up by skipper Ali Hynes, who starred with 16 disposals and a whopping 18 tackles.
Winnie Laing (20 disposals, nine tackles), Charlotte Ryan (18 disposals, six clearances, five rebounds), Gabby De Angelis (18 disposals, six marks) and Abbey Tregellis (16 disposals, one goal) were also impressive.
Club best and fairest favourite Meg Macdonald did all she could to save the Demons’ season with 21 touches, five clearances, eight tackles and a goal, while Jo Lin made a terrific return from injury with three goals.
Niamh O’Neill (15 disposals, seven clearances, one goal), Indi Makai (17 disposals) and Sophie Casey (14 disposals, six tackles, five entries) also did well, while Shree Fairchild was held to nine touches in her 50th Demons game.
PORT MELBOURNE vs BOX HILL HAWKS
PORT MELBOURNE 0.2 2.4 3.7 4.9 (33)
BOX HILL HAWKS 1.1 2.3 4.3 5.3 (33)
PORT Melbourne’s premiership defence will extend into the finals after the Borough saved their season with the first draw in their 61-match rebel VFLW history against Box Hill Hawks at ETU Stadium.
The Borough was locked into the top six by three quarter-time after challengers Collingwood and Casey Demons both lost.
However, finding out they would be playing the Hawks again in an elimination final at Box Hill City Oval next Saturday sparked their resolve as they claimed the split decision from two points down at the last change.
In a battle that saw eight lead changes – three each in the second and third quarters and two in the last, Port grabbed the lead when Ava Seton kicked truly in the ninth minute before Gabby Collingwood took it straight back for the Hawks two minutes later.
The Borough had two chances to win the game, but Emily Harley narrowly missed a left foot snap running towards the boundary before Kaitlyn O’Keefe’s set shot from 25m out deep in the same pocket drifted across the face and was knocked through.
One last desperate attack from the Hawks left Jess Matin with an impossible task to score from 55m out after the final siren.
Veteran star Tamara Luke was magnificent again for Box Hill with 20 disposals, five marks, 16 hitouts and two goals to be best afield, with Rosie Dillon (19 disposals, five clearances, nine tackles) and Danika Spamer (21 disposals, five tackles) and Nadia von Bertouch (15 disposals, six marks, five rebounds) not far behind.
Seton (18 disposals, seven clearances, nine tackles, one goal) was again the Borough’s best, while Eloise Ashley-Cooper (18 disposals, six clearances, five tackles), Lauren Caruso (17 disposals, five tackles, five entries), Jordan Mifsud (15 disposals, six clearances, nine tackles, one goal) and Borough 50th gamer Courteney Bromage (13 tackles, one goal) were all important.
CARLTON vs DAREBIN FALCONS
CARLTON 0.3 2.3 3.5 3.5 (23)
DAREBIN FALCONS 2.1 2.1 3.1 5.2 (32)
MONIQUE De Matteo was again the hero and became Darebin’s first Rohenna Young medallist since AFL great Katie Brennan shared the award with fellow champion Chloe Molloy in 2017 as the Falcons came from behind to beat Carlton for the second time this season.
De Matteo, who played in last year’s Grand Final for Collingwood before crossing to the Falcons this year, snared three goals against the Blues to come from one behind Williamstown’s Sharnie Whiting and former teammate Nyakoat Dojiok on the last day of the year to win the prestigious award on 24.
The nine-point victory at IKON Park on Sunday also completed the remarkable symmetry of Darebin having gone 5-2 to start the 2022 season, losing 28 matches in a row and then rushing home with a 5-2 record to end 2024 and give itself plenty of momentum heading forward.
Carlton looked like finishing a disappointing season where it dropped from fourth to ninth on a high note when it built a 10-point lead on the back of a Sophie McCarthy goal seven minutes into the third quarter.
But the Blues failed to score again as the Falcons took control, with De Matteo – who sealed the medal with two goals in as many minutes in the opening term, adding her third to cut the margin to four points at the final change.
The Falcons then kicked 2.1 to no score in the last quarter to run away with it despite the absence of injured gun Ange Gogos, with the experience Nicole Callinan (19 disposals, nine tackles), leading the charge behind De Matteo and support coming from Caitlin Bunker (14 disposals, six clearances, nine tackles), Sam Baisis (15 disposals, six tackles) and lockdown defender Victoria Blackwood.
Isla Baldwin starred for the Blues with 26 disposals, five clearances and six tackles, with AFLW trio Tahlia Read (22 disposals, six tackles), Dayna Finn (21 disposals, six marks) and Lulu Beatty (18, disposals seven marks) all performing strongly alongside Issy Khoury (20 disposals, five clearances, five tackles) and Amy Trindade, who was given a job by her coaches and did it expertly.
