There
were at least two recurring themes in the opening round of AFL Women’s this
weekend. One was that the
crowds kept being much bigger than expected. I went along to the
opening match between Carlton and Collingwood at Princes (Ikon) Park, and
unexpectedly found myself sitting near the top of the stand.
Another theme was probably one
that was more for the ‘numbers people’: the similarities in the final scores.
Carlton defeated Collingwood 46-11. Adelaide defeated GWS 48-12. And the
Western Bulldogs defeated Fremantle 44-12. (Brisbane’s 25-10 defeat of
Melbourne was the exception.) So which of these sides had the most impressive
win then? Which is the top ranked team?
Carlton and the Western
Bulldogs’ wins were fairly similar. The Dogs had the home ground interstate advantage
over Freo, which in the
rankings gives them a slight penalty, but the Dockers are
considered a
stronger team than the Blues’ opponent Collingwood.
Adelaide’s win is considered not quite as good, given that it had both a home
ground advantage, and its opponent GWS is thought to be one of the weaker teams
in the competition.
The end result is that the
Bulldogs, who had a good win and were believed to be a strong club already, are
our top-ranked team after the first week. But as I
said last week,
with all new clubs and only a few matches to learn about them, expect the
rankings to change a lot from week to week.
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