The ‘old’ power is rising…
Collingwood is the only undefeated team left in the AFLW this season after five rounds, following Fremantle’s loss on the weekend. It’s a good achievement, and the Magpies should be considered one of the favourites for the premiership. The main doubt around them may be that they may not be able to count on teams being as inaccurate as their last two opponents – the Kangaroos and Melbourne scoring a combined 1.16 – going forward.
But it’s not the Magpies that will
be striking the most fear in opponents’ hearts at the moment. The two-time
premiership winning Adelaide Crows look to be back to something nearing their
imperious best, smashing St. Kilda by 53 points on the weekend. Their four wins
have now come at an average of 38 points, bringing back memories of the
dominant run they went on to win the 2019 flag, before slipping
last season.
The Crows’ form is clearly correlated with the form and availability of two-time AFLW best and fairest player Erin Phillips. Phillips is the equal leading goalkicker, second in marks, and seventh in contested possessions. Phillips, Ebony Marinoff and Anne Hatchard – along with Chelsea Randall arguably the main players behind the Crows’ last premiership – are all back in the top twenty for disposals. Marinoff in particular is also having a great season, ranking in the top five for disposals, metres gained, contested possessions, and clearances.
The current Crows’ side is probably not quite as dominant as that 2019 team. However they look like they’re going to again be very hard to stop.
No comments:
Post a Comment