Port Melbourne produced a solid defence of its rebel VFLW premiership, with the Borough defying a long injury list to finish among the last four teams vying for this year’s flag.
BY THE NUMBERS
Position: 4th
W-L-D %: 7-8-1 (113.03%)
Players used: 42
Played every match: 2 – Lauren Caruso, Maggie McKellar
AFLW players used: 13 (37 matches)
Debutants: 12 – Issy Bacon, Georgia Booth, Meg Buchanan, Ally Dallaway, Mackenzie Ford, Madeleine Patterson, Georgie Pruden, Abbigail Rabot, Ava Seton, Eilish Sheerin, Rachael Slater, Charli Wicksteed
STAR PERFORMERS
Best and Fairest: 1st: Ava Seton, 2nd: Lauren Caruso, 3rd: Eloise Ashley-Cooper, 4th: Maggie McKellar, 5th: Bella Clarke
Lambert-Pearce Medal votes: Ava Seton (12), Lauren Caruso (5), Eloise Ashley-Cooper (4), Emily Harley (4)
Coaches MVP votes: Ava Seton (73, 3rd), Eloise Ashley-Cooper (40), Lauren Caruso (22)
Rebel VFLW Team of the Year: Lauren Caruso, Ava Seton
Leading Goalkickers: Emily Harley 14.15, Kaitlyn O’Keefe 8.5, Ava Seton 7.2
STAT LEADERS
(Averages – Minimum 6 matches)
Disposals: Eloise Ashley-Cooper 18.4, Ava Seton 18.4, Lauren Caruso 16.8
Contested possessions: Ava Seton 12.4, Eloise Ashley-Cooper 12.1, Lauren Caruso 8.8
Kicks: Lauren Caruso 11.5, Eloise Ashley-Cooper 9.6, Ava Seton 8.8
Handballs: Ava Seton 9.6, Eloise Ashley-Cooper 8.8, Georgia Booth 7.3
Marks: Bella Clarke 2.7, Maggie McKellar 2.5, Kate Adams 2.2, Emily Harley 2.2
Tackles: Ava Seton 9.1, Eloise Ashley-Cooper 7.4, Georgia Booth 6.7
Hitouts: Beth Wilson 24.6, Molly Denahy-Maloney 13.8, Bella Clarke 6.1
Clearances: Ava Seton 5.6, Eloise Ashley-Cooper 4.9, Lauren Caruso 2.9
Inside-50s: Ava Seton 3.3, Eloise Ashley-Cooper 2.5, Jessie Williams 2.5
Rebound-50s: Lisa Davie 2.5, Lauren Caruso 2.3, Maggie McKellar 2.1
What went right: It’s always hard to back up a premiership, but the Borough made a good fist of it early by holding Essendon goalless in Round 1 before thrashing Collingwood and Williamstown across the next two matches. After a mid-season lull, they built nicely into the finals and had a strong victory over Box Hill Hawks first up in the first elimination final. Couldn’t quite go with the Western Bulldogs in the first semi final when hit by injury but still put up a great fight. Queensland recruit Ava Seton emerged as a star of the competition and Lauren Caruso backed up her Lisa Hardeman Medal-winning form.
What went wrong: Port was another team that left itself needing to defend a lot given its lack of avenues to goal after Fed Frew departed early and Emily Harley struggled with injury. The Borough failed to kick more than five goals in a game from Rounds 3-12, a problem that surfaced again in the first semi final against the Bulldogs when they went goalless in the first half.
Summary: A solid performance to win a final in their premiership defence while they were in just about every game into the last quarter. Nine home and away wins last year became six and a draw this season, and in an even competition that was enough to put paid to their premiership chances. They can expect to remain in contention next year under new coach Tom Chitsos who takes the reins following premiership coach Sean Buncle’s decision to step aside at season’s end. The Borough but would ideally like to find some support for Harley in attack.
Grade: 6/10
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