A review of Week One of the 2023 rebel VFLW Finals Series.
Surprise, surprise.
It wouldn’t be the 2023 rebel VFLW season without more twists in the tail as the fifth and sixth-placed teams advanced to the second week of the finals after tipping the third and fourth teams out of the premiership race.
Minor premier Collingwood will host reigning premier Essendon for the first spot in the Grand Final on Saturday, with Port Melbourne to chase redemption against Carlton at ETU Stadium on Sunday.
SECOND ELIMINATION FINAL – BOX HILL HAWKS vs ESSENDON
BOX HILL HAWKS 0.0, 2.1, 2.2, 3.3 (21)
ESSENDON 1.2, 2.2, 3.5, 4.7 (31)
REIGNING premier Essendon is looming ominously after earning a double chance in the finals by outlasting Box Hill Hawks in the Second Elimination Final at Box Hill City Oval on Saturday.
The Bombers were seventh heading into Round 14 and trailed Western Bulldogs during the third quarter. Less than six quarters later they are one win from another Grand Final after leading almost wire-to-wire to eliminate the Hawks from the finals.
Essendon did all the scoring with the wind in the opening quarter, booting 1.2 with star forward Mia-Rae Clifford kicking truly before the Hawks made a better fist of their turn, booting two quick goals to grab the lead through Nic Garner after 15 minutes.
Jayda Richardson’s goal against the run of play less than a minute before the main break gave Essendon back the lead and proved crucial overall as the Bombers again edged clear in the third.
With rain falling in the last quarter, the Hawks got back within three points through Molly Simpson in the third minute, but despite doing everything in their power to find the lead they could not breach the Bomber wall again.
Essendon’s Olivia Manfre took a strong mark and kicked a goal after the siren to secure victory by the biggest margin of the game, 10 points.
Grace Dicker led the way for Essendon with 18 disposals and 14 tackles, with support coming from Sophie Molan (24 disposals, five tackles), Reese Sutton (19 disposals, five tackles, five inside-50s) and El Chaston (17 disposals, five tackles, seven entries, one goal).
Chloe Prpic stuck 10 tackles to go with five clearances and Bella Clarke had seven rebounds.
Jordan Mifsud was again magnificent for Box Hill, picking up 23 touches, six clearances, 11 tackles and a goal, while Nadia von Bertouch put in a huge shift in defence with 19 possessions and nine rebound 50s and Garner (19 disposals, one goal) was also important.
Grace Matser (nine disposals, 32 hitouts) and Jaimee-Lee Morrow (11 disposals, 27 hitouts) had a terrific duel in the ruck.
BEST
Box Hill Hawks: J. Mifsud, N. von Bertouch, N. Garner
Essendon: S. Molan, E. Chaston, R. Sutton, Z. Hurrell, G. Dicker
GOALS
Box Hill Hawks: N. Garner, J. Mifsud, M. Simpson
Essendon: E. Chaston, M. Clifford, O. Manfre, J. Richardson
QUALIFYING FINAL – COLLINGWOOD vs PORT MELBOURNE
COLLINGWOOD 2.2, 5.4, 5.4, 7.6 (48)
PORT MELBOURNE 0.0, 1.0, 3.3, 3.4 (22)
COLLINGWOOD is one game away from its third Grand Final in four seasons after breezing past Port Melbourne by 26 points in the Qualifying Final at Victoria Park on Sunday.
After a desperate start which saw neither team score in the first eight minutes, Charlotte van der Vlies got the Magpies going and they added 2.2 in four minutes before never looking back, blowing the margin out to 28 points by half-time.
Fed Frew kicked an early one in the third quarter as the Borough rallied to get back within 13 points at the last change but they were never a serious threat and Collingwood steadied to record its highest score and biggest win over Port at Victoria Park on the back of a pressure-packed 109 tackles to 64.
Magpie ball magnet Jess Bates was once again a standout, with her 28 disposals, 11 clearances, one goal and stunning 16 tackles going down as one of the best individual performances of the year.
Teammate Jazmin Tweddle-O’Donnell was the second most prolific player on the ground with 16 touches and five tackles. Evangelia Nikolitsis had 15 disposals and six tackles and Elizabeth Jackson 15 disposals, while Caitlin Bunker had 12 disposals and laid 15 tackles and Monique DeMatteo booted two goals.
Port Melbourne was best served by Kaitlyn O’Keefe (14 disposals, six clearances, seven tackles), Emily Harley (15 disposals, five tackles) and Lauren Caruso (14 disposals, six tackles), with Beth Wilson having 31 hitouts and kicking a goal.
BEST
Collingwood: J. Bates, G. Ricardo, E. Jackson, N. Dojiok, T. Hurst, C. van der Vlies
Port Melbourne: E. Harley, L. Caruso, K. O’Keefe, I. Hartog, L. Wright, E. Morrison
GOALS
Collingwood: M. DeMatteo 2, C. van der Vlies, C. Sargent, G. Ricardo, N. Dojiok, J. Bates
Port Melbourne: B. Wilson, F. Frew, A. Campbell
FIRST ELIMINATION FINAL – WILLIAMSTOWN vs CARLTON
WILLIAMSTOWN 1.5, 1.6, 1.6, 2.6 (18)
CARLTON 0.0, 1.2, 3.2, 3.4 (22)
CARLTON ended the Williamstown fairytale and kept its own maiden finals campaign alive, overcoming a slow start to edge out the Seagulls by four points in the First Elimination Final at DSV Stadium.
The Blues had lost to the Seagulls by 35 and 38 points during the season and it looked like being more of the same when the home team dominated the opening quarter.
But Williamstown failed to put its opponents away in kicking 1.5 and paid the price as it managed just one behind through the middle two quarters with Carlton taking control, adding three unanswered goals to lead by eight points turning for home with the wind at its back.
The Seagulls threw everything at the visitors in the pouring rain but couldn’t break down the Carlton wall.
Ellie Cleland’s goal in the dying seconds proved to be just a consolation as Williamstown’s remarkable run of nine wins in 11 matches after just nine in their previous 59 came to a shattering halt.
Carlton had 69 more disposals, 21 more hitouts, 11 more clearances and eight more marks and managed to hold firm in the face of 112 Williamstown tackles to 81.
The Blues’ big names all stood up when they were needed most.
Maddie Di Cosmo was best on ground with 25 disposals and eight tackles, just ahead of Millie Klingbeil (23 disposals, seven clearances) and Izzy Khoury (23 disposals, seven clearances and seven tackles), while Ashlee Thorneycroft (21 disposals) also won plenty of the ball.
Kasey Lennox (10 disposals, five marks) did a great job down back as Rohenna Young medallist Sarah Cameron was held to just one goal after kicking four and three in the previous two games against the Blues, with Gen Lawson-Tavan also playing a key role.
Emily Eaves had 15 touches, six clearances and 15 tackles in a cracking midfield effort for Williamstown, while Sharnie Whiting (19 disposals, seven rebounds) and Danica Pedersen (11 disposals, five rebounds) held the backline together.
But the ruck duel was the feature of the contest, with Williamstown’s Jasmine Kawa (37 hitouts, 15 disposals,12 tackles) and Carlton’s Chloe Bain (38 hitouts, 13 disposals, eight tackles) each featuring prominently in their team’s best players.
BEST
Williamstown: D. Pedersen, E. Eaves, J. Kawa, S. Bridgewater, M. Edwards, S. Thomas
Carlton: M. Di Cosmo, A. Klingbeil, I. Khoury, C. Bain, K. Lennox, G. Lawson-Tavan.
GOALS
Williamstown: E. Cleland, S. Cameron
Carlton: G. Tait, E. Honybun, C. Bernardi
WEEK TWO FINALS FIXTURE
Saturday, July 15: Second Semi Final: Collingwood (1st) vs Essendon (5th) – 1:00pm, Victoria Park. Sunday, July 16: First Semi Final: Port Melbourne (2nd) vs Carlton (6th) – 12:00pm, ETU Stadium.
Click here to view full fixture and ladder.
Broadcast and streaming: All matches in the 2023 rebel VFLW Finals Series will be live streamed free via the AFL website (AFL.com.au) and AFL Live Official App.
Live scoring and stats: Live scoring and stats will be available via both the AFL Live Official App and VFL App. Download the VFL App from the Apple or Google Play stores.