AFLW Agenda: All the hits and misses from week two
Sydney’s lies and denial over Chloe Molloy’s ACL injury over the weekend was a disservice to the competition, writes ELIZA REILLY in the AFLW Agenda. See all of her likes and dislikes.
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From the Swans’ secrecy to a new mammoth record to the AFLW’s most unlucky player,
Eliza Reilly runs through the hits and misses from Round 2 in The Tackle.
MISSES
SUBPAR SWANS
If you’re ever in need of some crisis PR management, don’t call Sydney. First and foremost, a sincere condolences to Chloe Molloy who ruptured her ACL at training last week. You never want to see any AFLW player suffer a serious knee injury, let alone one of the stars of the competition. But the way the Swans handled the aftermath was a disservice to the competition.
It started when AFLW commentator and former player Kate McCarthy revealed on social media platform X that Molloy was set to be a late out after suffering the season-ending injury. That was at 2:23pm. Naturally, several journalists reached out to Sydney’s media team and were told within 10 minutes that no it was just knee soreness, Molloy was given every chance to play and that she hadn’t had scans yet. Then at 3pm, confirmation came through from the Swans that Molloy had indeed torn her ACL after undergoing scans on Saturday, the results of which weren’t known until Sunday morning.
Sydney will argue that it was calculated deception to hide the news from players so it didn’t affect them during the game, as was Molloy’s wish. But players lose access to their phones as soon as they arrive at the ground and wouldn’t have been the wiser. Dressing it down as knee soreness was a slap to the face of supporters and competition partners who were treated to 30 minutes of hope before Sydney backflipped. ACLs aren’t ambiguous injuries. Unfortunately, they’re quite common, even though that doesn’t put the players who suffer them at ease. Despite the intention, it was naive to think that the news would hold and lying gives us less reason to believe the Swans next time.
"I'm sorry I lied to you".
— SuperFooty (AFL) (@superfooty) September 8, 2024
Chloe Molloy has apologised to her teammates for keeping them in the dark over her ACL tear, as the superstar spoke about her reaction when she found she would miss the rest of the season. @LMcKirdy7 has the story 👉 https://t.co/HTkqLYNZXipic.twitter.com/WO5YptcF0w
SPEAKING OF KNEES
Spare a thought for Janelle Cuthbertson. It’s hard to think of any player in the AFLW who’s been harder hit on the injury front. The Port Adelaide captain ruptured the ACL in her left knee after landing awkwardly from a marking contest on Friday night. And from the second we saw Cuthbertson in tears post-match and the way Matilda Scholz reacted after speaking with the key defender, we knew it was bad news. The 34-year-old has played 32 games since debuting in 2020 and has only gotten through one season unscathed back in 2021 when she won All-Australian selection. Cuthbertson has been forced to contend with a raft of ailments including concussion, a broken cheekbone, a broken nose, ankles, knees and broken fingers. The fact she was appointed captain this year, succeeding Erin Phillips, tells you everything you need to know about her standing at the Power and how much she’ll be missed.
BULLDOGS’ BITE
It’s hard to see where the Western Bulldogs’ first win could come from this season after another poor display against Port Adelaide. The Bulldogs were held goalless for the first time in their history as the Power mauled on turnovers, scoring 39 of their 46 points from that source. Ellie Blackburn did not stop trying all day, finishing with a game-high 26 disposals. But the Dogs might be guilty of relying too much on their superstar as very few are going with her. A symptom of a young list, the Bulldogs appear to be struggling to run out games. If they can’t beat West Coast at home on Thursday night or Collingwood in week four, it could be a battle to get a win on the board given four of their remaining seven games after that are against last year’s finalists.
HITS
ALL-TIME ALLY
Take a bow Ally Anderson. The inaugural Lion has been underrated by some outside of Queensland at stages of her lauded career. That’s despite being a two-time premiership player, three-time Brisbane best and fairest, two-time All-Australian and the season seven league best and fairest. But there’s no denying Anderson’s status as one of the AFLW’s best midfielders after she broke the league’s disposal record with 43 touches against Melbourne on Saturday, pipping Ash Riddell’s previous benchmark of 42 set back in season six.
That’s equivalent to 51 disposals in the men’s game given there’s currently a three minute difference in quarter lengths. Anderson brought her own footy. She finished with 22 contested possessions, seven clearances, 599 metres gained, seven tackles, seven rebound 50s and five inside 50s. That tells you that she’s having an impact at both ends of the ground and working hard both ways. Brisbane coach Craig Starcevich said post-game that Anderson “keeps getting better” and has continued to improve physically year on year. She’s dropped below 15 disposals just twice in her last 30 games and if this form continues, there’s no reason the Lions can’t go back-to-back this year.
What a star 🤩
— AFL Women's (@aflwomens) September 7, 2024
Ally Anderson has equalled the record for disposals in an AFLW Game.#AFLWDeesLionspic.twitter.com/6nFq5S0apa
HOK-ETTE BALL
They’re a happy team at Hawthorn at the minute. The Hawks have jumped into second place on the McClelland Trophy leaderboard after a brilliant weekend. Sam Mitchell and his soldiers set the tone on Friday night with their first finals win in nine years to book a place in the semi-finals. Then Daniel Webster’s Hawkettes did a number on Collingwood the next day, posting the club’s highest-ever AFLW score and their biggest-ever victory.
They did it without captain Emily Bates who was a late withdrawal with a tight calf. The Hawks also held firm despite losing Casey Sherriff (ankle) and Aine McDonagh (wrist) to injuries early in the final term. The girls celebrated with a now iconic post-match selfie and their in-game celebrations weren’t bad either. Aileen Gilroy was the main instigator, mimicking the goal umpires before her teammates partook in a ‘tie your shoelaces’ style festivity. Can’t wait to see how they go against perennial contenders Adelaide on Sunday.
Another HOK selfie for your feed 😠pic.twitter.com/amt3evmArh
— Hawthorn FC AFLW (@hawthornaflw) September 7, 2024
OH WHEN THE SAINTS
Speaking of teams on the rise, St Kilda have been very watchable in the first fortnight of the season. The Saints opened their account with a dominant 54-point win over the Gold Coast and backed it up with a 16-point victory against Sydney. Nick Dal Santo has been slowly putting the building blocks of St Kilda’s system into place over the past few seasons and now the cement has seemingly set. In the past, the Saints have been a defensive side. Now, they’ve layered up their attack and boasted 10 individual goalkickers against the Suns and six against Sydney. Jesse Wardlaw is one of the most watchable players in the competition and Tyanna Smith is backing up her 2023 breakout season after overcoming a series of knee injuries. A big test awaits them on Sunday against the Bombers.
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Originally published as AFLW Agenda: All the hits and misses from week two
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