The Giants were victorious in all five games of their rebel VFLW invitational stint and got senior experience into some of their newest recruits.
BY THE NUMBERS
Position: unranked
W-L-D %: 5-0 (415.3%)
Players used: 29
AFLW players used: 17 (65 matches)
Played every match: 11 (Madison Brazendale, Grace Buchan, Jess Doyle, Tarni Evans, Caitlin Fletcher, Teagan Germech, Summer Hall, Cambridge McCormick, Emily Pease, Kaitlyn Srhoj, Daisy Walker)
VFLW debutants: 21 (Madison Brazendale 5 matches, Caitlin Fletcher 5, Teagan Germech 5, Summer Hall 5, Cambridge McCormick 5, Kaitlyn Srhoj 5, Olivia Edwards 4, Zarlie Goldsworthy 4, Mikayla Pauga 4, Shiarna Tarasenko 4, Sophie Kavanagh 3, Caitlin Miller 3, Courtney Murphy 3, Eilish O’Dowd 3, Claire Ransom 3, Haneen Zreika 3, Fleur Davies 2, Charlotte Canavan 1, Sophia De Castella 1, Megan Mifsud 1, Amelie Prosser-Shaw 1)
Leading Goalkickers: Zarlie Goldsworthy 8, Jess Doyle 5, Tarni Evans, Mikalya Pauga 4
STAT LEADERS
Averages (minimum 3 matches)
Disposals: Madison Brazendale 21.8, Zarlie Goldsworthy 21.0, Mikayla Pauga 20.0
Contested Possessions: Zarlie Goldsworthy 13.2, Mikayla Pauga 9.0, Haneen Zreika 8.7
Kicks: Zarlie Goldsworthy 12.5, Mikayla Pauga 11.5, Tarni Evans 10.6
Handballs: Madison Brazendale 11.8, Haneen Zreika 11.7, Eilish O’Dowd 10.0
Marks: Haneen Zreika 3.7, Tarni Evans 3.6, Jess Doyle 3.4, Cambridge McCormick 3.4
Tackles: Mikayla Pauga 9.0, Zarlie Goldsworthy 6.2, Eilish O’Dowd 5.7
Hitouts: Courtney Murphy 18.0, Eilish O’Dowd 12.7, Teagan Germech 12.4
Clearances: Zarlie Goldsworthy 5.2, Mikayla Pauga 3.4, Claire Ransom 3.0
Inside-50s: Kaitlyn Srhoj 4.0, Madison Brazendale 3.8, Mikayla Pauga 3.8
Rebound-50s: Tarni Evans 4.4, Cambridge McCormick 3.6, Teagan Germech 1.6
What went right: Like the Swans, just about everything. The Giants went one better than their cross-town rival in winning all five of their guest games while using a couple less players but exposing more of them to the State league footy they hadn’t previously seen.
What went wrong: Hard to find anything, really. Five from five is perfect, so you’d want to have to nitpick to find anything, which would be the fact they only managed to beat one of the eventual bottom teams in Carlton by eight points. But as I said, that is nitpicking.
Summary: Rinse and repeat. The Giants wanted games into their stars and their young talent and they got it. They dominated four of their five games, conceding scores of 2, 9, 18, 8 after that early challenge as they found their feet. Now to transfer that to the AFLW season.
Grade: 9/10
