AFLW Semi 2023: Adelaide v Sydney Swans 7.45pm EDT Saturday 18th Norwood Oval

[Ruck'n'Roll]

We've never played them before for real - nor do I even recall a practice match.
So it's all new territory.
The Post/Crows game at Norwood set this seasons attendance record 8,722 - so it might be a fiesty environment for our women.

Sadly Privitelli is out with a Lisfranc :-(

[Ruck'n'Roll]

IN: Montana Beruldsen
OUT: Rebecca Privitelli
One forward in one out, but not realy like for like.

Which of the Crows AA mids will TanyaK go to?

[liz]

Not long to go now, and I'm starting to get that wobbly feeling in the pit of my stomach that I get ahead of all the important AFLM matches.

Something I heard or read this week (I can't recall exactly where so can't credit it - quite probably an edition of the W Show on the AFL website, but not this week's edition) is that Norwood Oval has quite an unusual shape, something that gives Adelaide a marked home advantage. I think the variation in size/shape of the grounds in the men's competition is overstated as a factor for why teams win or lose at certain grounds (though I do think familiarity with wind conditions can provide a marked advantage to home teams on some grounds). But the ground variation possibly is still something of a factor in the women's game, given how much less experienced and cohesive the teams are, and because the ball tends to be in dispute for a larger proportion of the game.

This came up as a bit of a discussion point early in the season after Gowans commented on the challenge of playing on Brisbane's large home ground.

AFLW R3 2023: Lions v Sydney Swans, 5.05pm EST Sun 17 Sept Springfield Qld - Page 3 (https://www.redandwhiteonline.com/forum/showthread.php/45002-AFLW-R3-2023-Lions-v-Sydney-Swans-5-05pm-EST-Sun-17-Sept-Springfield-Qld/page3) (post 27)

And then again a couple of weeks later as we headed to Ikon Park to play Carlton.

http://www.redandwhiteonline.com/forum/showthread.php/45012-AFLW-R5-2023-Sydney-Swans-v-Carlton-4-05pm-EST-Fri-29-Sept-Princes-Park (post 1)

So I went and had a look at the dimensions of Norwood Oval to see how it compares to other grounds we've played on this season. It is 165m by 110m. That's remarkably similar to the "long and thin" ground that Geelong call home (in both competitions), which measures 170m by 115m.

Metricon - which we now know posed no problems for our women last week - measures 161m by 134m (remarkably similar to the SCG dimensions of 155m x 136m). Norward Oval's size therefore shouldn't be a concern, but its clipped wings might alter the way the team tries to move the ball. Less space out wide won't hurt the new "high pressure" style of play that the team has discovered late in the season.


Sources

Australian Stadiums | Austadiums (https://www.austadiums.com/stadiums/)

[Blood Fever]

All the experts in The Age down here have picked the Crows to win big, one of the margins being 40 pts. It is not that dissimilar to their tips last week except for the margins. Hoping it is another case of Victorian ignorance and denial!

[liz]

All the experts in The Age down here have picked the Crows to win big, one of the margins being 40 pts. It is not that dissimilar to their tips last week except for the margins. Hoping it is another case of Victorian ignorance and denial!

Had I tipped last week, my head would probably have directed me to the Suns. They were at home, and seemed a bigger, stronger side than we were (and still are). But my heart kept pushing that we had a chance, if we brought our best.

This week my head definitely holds sway. There remains a big gap between the top four and the rest. We've done brilliantly so far this season, but I don't think we've quite bridged that gap yet, especially without two of our most important half dozen or so players.

I just hope they have fun and battle it out. I'll be disappointed if they get blown off the park. And maybe a little surprised too, but not shocked.

[Thunder Shaker]

All the experts in The Age down here have picked the Crows to win big, one of the margins being 40 pts. It is not that dissimilar to their tips last week except for the margins. Hoping it is another case of Victorian ignorance and denial!
Sydney goes into this match not favoured to win. Adelaide finished on top of the ladder for a reason.

All that means is there's no pressure of expectations on Sydney. Adelaide is expected to win, so they will be under more pressure.

The Sydney team needs to remember two things: Adelaide players put on their shoes one a time like everyone else, and the scoreboard starts at 0 for both sides.

Here's hoping Sydney can stifle Adelaide with a strong pressure game like we did against Gold Coast (most tackles in an AFLW game ever!) and make the game competitive.

[Blood Fever]

Our improvement over the last part of the year was huge but the coach said after the game that we had nothing to lose but could run into a 'freight train' this week. Hope not. I'm more nervous this week.

[aardvark]

I'm expecting a significant loss but Adelaide have been known to stumble before so I give us a slim chance. It will be interesting to see how close we can get.

[Mel_C]

Here's hoping Sydney can stifle Adelaide with a strong pressure game like we did against Gold Coast (most tackles in an AFLW game ever!) and make the game competitive.

This! If we bring that same pressure then watch out Adelaide!

I'm worried about the loss of Privitelli. She is so important to our forward line.

So nervous right now!

[Mel_C]

We can't afford to lose Ham. Hopefully she is just winded.

That was poor on the goal line, we should have rushed it through.

Goal Newman! Great noise from the Swans fans!

Ham is back on 🙂.

[Mel_C]

What a mullet on number 19!

[Hotpotato]

Too much handball - just get it and boot it forward.

[Mel_C]

I feel like we are a bit rattled. The pressure from Adelaide is causing us to make errors. We can't get our game going.

[liz]

Has there been any explanation of why Sheppard is out there and Whelan isn’t?

[dejavoodoo44]

I think the narrow ground is having an influence. Adelaide seem generally to have more mature bodies and are a bit taller, so we need to run them around more, but the compressed ground makes that difficult.

- - - Updated - - -


Has there been any explanation of why Sheppard is out there and Whelan isn’t?
I think the commentators said she picked up an injury at the final training session?

[Mel_C]

Commentator sees helmet and calls her Newman when it's Hamilton 😏.

[dejavoodoo44]

Ham has had some sharp touches this quarter.

[dejavoodoo44]

Chloe gives us a bit of hope.

[Mel_C]

Yes Molloy ! Boy did we need that. It was getting ugly. They are just too experienced.

[Mel_C]

Bugger off bounce!

[mcs]

Absolute hogwash those last two minutes.

Some nice home town umpiring and some lucky bounces got Adelaide out of trouble then. First a player clearly dragged it in and should of got pinged, then other player dropped it utterly cold but somehow a Crows free kick. What on earth?

Should be less than 2 goals down not 4.

[stevoswan]

That 50 was BS, she tackled her with the ball.....then you just knew they were going to score with 25 seconds left. Bugger!

[Mel_C]

That was HTB. She just dropped it. I don't blame Beruldsen thinking it was her free.

[mcs]

That last goal an absolute killer.

The team is not shirking the challenge in any sense or form of it - hope they can keep fighting hard for the four quarters. That last two minutes was AFL esque incompetence from the officials however. You can't ignore the initial offence just because you want to punish the subsequent one (which is both cases was pretty questionable anyway).

[dejavoodoo44]

Absolute hogwash those last two minutes.

Some nice home town umpiring and some lucky bounces got Adelaide out of trouble then. First a player clearly dragged it in and should of got pinged, then other player dropped it utterly cold but somehow a Crows free kick. What on earth?

Should be less than 2 goals down not 4.
Like to see it again, but on first impressions, the only free there seemed to be holding the ball.

[liz]

There are a few things I don't understand about that last 30 seconds. Firstly, I'm not sure why it wasn't a free to Beruldsen, rather than against here. The Adelaide player seemed to be clearly in possession when she was tackled.

But then I don't get why Beruldsen didn't realise it wasn't her free. Or none of her team mates realised and stopped her kicking it.

To then concede a goal on the siren was a real bummer. We're clearly being outclassed in most aspects of the game, but were just hanging in there on the scoreboard. Or maybe not quite hanging in there, but just about within striking distance if we could find something different in the second half.

The Swans are trying to apply the pressure they did last week, but the Crows are just so much better than the Suns at dodging, evading tackles, running in support etc etc.

[mcs]

I am happy to see that someone can say the tackle held on too long. But that was subsequent to an Adelaide player getting pinged for one of the most blatant holding the balls you'll ever see. Got tackled and simply dropped it. The second incident totally irrelevant if the campaigners were doing their job and umpiring the game properly.

The about a minute before was similar. Adelaide player clearly dragged it in and should have been pinged for HTB well before the tackle got anywhere near the dangerous stage.

[Blood Fever]

There are a few things I don't understand about that last 30 seconds. Firstly, I'm not sure why it wasn't a free to Beruldsen, rather than against here. The Adelaide player seemed to be clearly in possession when she was tackled.

But then I don't get why Beruldsen didn't realise it wasn't her free. Or none of her team mates realised and stopped her kicking it.

To then concede a goal on the siren was a real bummer. We're clearly being outclassed in most aspects of the game, but were just hanging in there on the scoreboard. Or maybe not quite hanging in there, but just about within striking distance if we could find something different in the second half.

The Swans are trying to apply the pressure they did last week, but the Crows are just so much better than the Suns at dodging, evading tackles, running in support etc etc.

Shocking decision against us and 2 goal swing just when we were hitting our straps. Should be 11 instead of 23. Mind you, we would've been miles behind if they'd kicked straight.

[stevoswan]

The hometown umpiring is getting ridiculous....I don't think that tackle was dangerous at all.

[mcs]

And the nonsense umpiring continues. Another call completely ignoring the fact the player should have been pinged for incorrect disposal (not disputing the tackle arguably went on too long). Clear only one side matters in the eyes of the maggots.

[stevoswan]

The commentators are so full of poo.....just going with the Crows flow. So dumb.

[mcs]

Shame we couldn't covert a couple of those good chances we had in that quarter. We continue to fight hard despite being outclassed. But what a year of growth for the team it has been.

[Blood Fever]

We played well in the last 5 minutes of that quarter. The heat and physicality of the Crows has been a very big step up from the last few weeks.

[liz]

At least they've realised we have two helmets out there, and stopped calling "Newman" every time Hamilton touches the ball or lays a tackle. However, they're keeping up with their amazement at the Crows' dominance in the ruck, not acknowledging that we don't actually have a proper ruckman available.

I like the fact they're still having a dip, despite being outclassed and outsized. Shame we couldn't craft a goal in that last five minutes when we managed to keep the ball in our forward line for an extended period.

Tarrant is having a cracker. She's largely responsible for preventing the margin getting from disappointing to embarrassing.

[Ruck'n'Roll]

Having Shepperd and Kennedy in the middle has not worked, Gowans should have gone to plan B.
We could have done with a ruck too.

[Mel_C]

At least they've realised we have two helmets out there, and stopped calling "Newman" every time Hamilton touches the ball or lays a tackle.

Nope he's still calling her Newman.

[Mel_C]

Having Shepperd and Kennedy in the middle has not worked, Gowans should have gone to plan B.
We could have done with a ruck too.
Our rucks are injured.

[Blood Fever]

Effort still there despite scoreline.

[Blood Fever]

What a mullet on number 19!

Shouldn't she be playing for Port...it's written all over her!

- - - Updated - - -

Ridiculous 50

[liz]

Oh well, the difference in class was evident throughout. The scoreline doesn't flatter Adelaide at all - it could have been far, far worse when you look at their scoring shots and inside 50 count - but it doesn't reflect the effort that our women put in.

The positive is that they should enter pre-season understanding that, however far they've come in 2023, they have a long way to go to get to the level of the best teams.

[Blood Fever]

Freight train that Scott Gowans referred to turned up.

[Sandridge]

Despite tonight's sizeable loss, a season full of fantastic and memorable highs for our team.

GO YOU MIGHTY BLOODS!

[aardvark]

It's going to be a long time before this competition levels out.

[Ruck'n'Roll]

A bit reminiscent of the '22 men's granny, the players gave all they could but just weren't up to the team that demolished them.

Tanya Kennedy in particular looked completely devestated after the loss.
Unlike previous weeks it didn't work for her in the middle, maybe it was no longer a surprise tactic? Or maybe Hatchard and Mariinoff were simply too good to be negated by TK and Sheppard.

Also Chloe spent too long up forward, Gowans was probably trying to compensate for Privitelli's absence but the ball just never got there. It wouldn't have changed the result, but perhaps we could have let our more offensive mids go head to head with their mids earlier, if only as an educational opportunity. I don't think I saw a red helmet in the middle during the game, anyone?

I'm feeling less blue this morning,the woman have provided me so much joy this year. And I feel we have hope for next season, with or without Morph (although with by preference).

[liz]

I don't think I saw a red helmet in the middle during the game, anyone?


She attended a couple of centre bounces very late in the game. Maybe it was an opportunity lost from an educational perspective, but I don't think it would have nudged the dial even a smidgeon.

We've been belted in hit-outs ever since Morphett went down, but haven't faced a team that was able to make such effective use of their hit-out dominance to clear the ball and move it forward relentlessly.

[Ruck'n'Roll]

Agree on the result dial smidgeon. Cynthia 2023 (or even a broader list review) may be a topic for the "AFLW list management 2023 thread" that BF brought back to life.