Swans in the VFLW

**liz** · 8th May 2024, 01:34 AM

Originally Posted by Ruck'n'Roll

Hopefully Scott got what he wanted from these VFLW guest appeareances.

Collingwood were definitely switched on.
For the first (and only) time we took on an ALFW quality opposition - and not only didn't we slaughter our opponent we actually lost.
Eliza Vale topping the posession count followed by Steane. Surprising no--one they aren't Gardner/Molloy.

Juneja looked very good - presumably we'll simply get her as a concession selection when the time comes.

I watched the first half from the Lakeside boundary before it started raining at half-time and I decided to head in to the SCG to keep dry. I probably only missed half of the third quarter that I might otherwise have watched before heading to the SCG anyway. I haven't gone back to watch the second half via replay but I might get around to it somehow. Given the final score was so close, I presume the Swans improved slightly in the second half because the Pies seemed on top during the first half that I saw.

The biggest difference to the other games was the pressure that Collingwood applied. The Swans had none of the space and time that they'd been gifted in other games. And while it wasn't raining during the first half, the ground was damp from the week's worth of rain, and clearly the ball was hard to handle. That brought undone most of the attempts to move the ball cleanly.

Despite the conditions and lack of team fluency, Ham again stood out to me as the classiest Swan out there. Morphett was OK - probably not with as much training under her belt as she'd like to have (and hopefully will have by the time the AFLW season starts). And she was up against Sabrina Frederick who, I imagine, is one of the trickiest rucks to compete against. She may not have the height or athleticism of Morphett but she has so much experience and knows how to use her bulk to make things difficult for any opponent.