AFLW Round 9 teams and tips: Our experts name their winners

After hauling itself off the bottom of the ladder, St Kilda will be eyeing back-to-back wins in the latest round of AFLW. See who our experts are tipping and all the Round 9 teams.

Geelong captain Joel Selwood has endorsed the club’s pursuit of Melbourne champion Daisy Pearce and says talks for her to join the Cats as an assistant coach are “well down the trail”.

Pearce has declined to comment publicly about Geelong’s offer to join the male team’s coaching panel once the AFLW season winds up, given her focus on winning a flag with Melbourne.

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But Cats chief executive Steve Hocking has said the club “has an interest” in her next move.

It is widely believed Pearce will retire as an AFLW player at the end of the current season.

Selwood has ties to Pearce through work with Channel 7 and as ambassadors with Auskick and he said the Cats should do what they could to get her to Kardinia Park.

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Joel Selwood has endorsed Daisy Pearce for a coaching role in the AFL.

“I think Daisy’s an exceptional person from what I have had to do with her over the journey and she is going to hopefully come into our program and make a big difference but if I know anything about Daisy right now, she is only concentrating on what the Melbourne footy club is doing (right now),” Selwood said.

“I am sure Daisy is going to dip her toes in at some stage (to coaching). I think she is a great football person and she is extremely good at broadcasting and if we were to get her it would be a bonus.

“She is an exceptional person and if you get the opportunity, you want to bring those people in to your organisation.”

Should Pearce land at the Cats, she would be the second female to hold a position on an AFL coaching panel after former St Kilda development coach Peta Searle, and Pearce could be the first to be a fully fledged assistant.

A 334-game veteran who has played through the birth of AFLW, Selwood said he thinks a female will coach a male senior side one day at the top level.

Selwood said he had not been part of any discussions to bring the Demons AFLW skipper to the club and wasn’t sure what her potential role would include.

Adding Pearce would be the culmination of a new-look coaching panel under Chris Scott in 2022 with James Kelly, Matthew Egan and Eddie Betts among the new names at the club.

Geelong has also taken up an unusual structure and removed specific line coaches for a more even approach by the panel as part of changes that had to happen according to the Cats skipper.

“We obviously needed change off the back of last year and we got to the position where we were top-four again and we needed to do things differently,” Selwood said.

“(The new coaches) have all brought something different, it has been an enjoyable pre-season.”

Legends back Daisy to make history as first female AFL coach

—Lauren Wood

Daisy Pearce has what it takes to become the first female to be senior coach of an AFL men’s team, greats of the game have declared.

The 33-year-old AFL Women’s star has been in the sights of a number of clubs that have inquired regarding her post-playing career plans.

Geelong is one club that has flagged a potential assistant coaching position for Pearce should she wish to pursue that path.

She was also offered the inaugural senior coaching position for Essendon’s AFL Women’s team, but turned it down.

The two-time All-Australian remains firmly focused on the current AFLW season and leading Melbourne, and is yet to make any call on what her future beyond this season may hold.

But Essendon great Tim Watson says she has the bona fides to be the first female to lead an AFL men’s team.

“If Daisy Pearce decides that coaching is what she wants to do … I think she has the potential to do that (be a senior men’s coach), yes,” he said on SEN.

“I think she has the potential to do that.”

Former Melbourne captain Garry Lyon agreed, and said while it would be a “huge challenge”, “if she sets her mind to it then there’s no limit to where she could get to”.

Geelong superstar Patrick Dangerfield said Pearce could make the transition to coaching “easily”.

“I was pretty excited (at the prospect of her potentially coming to Geelong),” he said on SEN.

“All things considered, given their season is still unfolding … she’s the face of the female game.

“She’s been such a figurehead throughout it.

“Whether it’s the Geelong footy club that she comes to – and I’m bloody hopeful that it is – I’ve got no doubt that she’ll make a terrific coach when she decides to hang up the boots, whenever that may be.”

Daisy Pearce leads the Demons out.

Dangerfield said he could “absolutely” see a day where a female is senior coach of a men’s AFL team.

Pearce – who won 10 VWFL premierships with Darebin before the AFLW competition began – has not held a coaching role but Dangerfield said the shift would be a natural one.

“She’d do it easily, to be honest,” he said.

“She has so much respect within the industry. Often, footy clubs for so long have been … and we go back in the history … (it was) that the women and the girls set up the canteen and that’s it.

“The great thing is over certainly the past five years but even before then, the balance of women in footy and how integral they are and how intelligent they are with their views on the game and where the game can head … we’re a stronger industry because of female involvement and we’ll be stronger again with greater female involvement, whether it’s coaching, high-level administration, CEO, however you like it.

“She’s been a huge leader of that.”

AFLW ROUND 9 TIPS

Chris Cavanagh 49

Geelong 6

GWS Giants 1

Fremantle 1

Western Bulldogs 18

Brisbane Lions 6

Adelaide 12

Carlton 1

Last Week 4

Liz Walsh 47

Geelong 4

GWS Giants 8

Fremantle 1

Western Bulldogs 18

Brisbane Lions 12

Adelaide 23

Carlton 14

Last Week 6

Sarah Jones 46

St Kilda 1

GWS Giants 10

Fremantle 3

Western Bulldogs 19

Brisbane Lions 9

Adelaide 14

Carlton 4

Last Week 6

Ebony Marinoff 46

Geelong

Richmond

Melbourne

Western Bulldogs

Brisbane Lions

Adelaide

Carlton

Last Week 6

Matt Turner 46

Geelong 11

GWS Giants 14

Melbourne 15

Western Bulldogs 21

Brisbane Lions 12

Adelaide 22

Carlton 19

Last Week 5

Glenn McFarlane 45

Geelong 5

Richmond 3

Melbourne 1

Western Bulldogs 18

Brisbane Lions 7

Adelaide 9

Carlton 6

Last Week 5

Mark Robinson 44

Geelong 10

GWS Giants 5

Melbourne 14

Western Bulldogs 6

Brisbane Lions 12

Adelaide 2

Carlton 15

Last Week 4

Rebecca Williams 44

Geelong 5

GWS Giants 7

Fremantle 5

Western Bulldogs 10

Brisbane Lions 9

Adelaide 12

Carlton 8

Last Week 4

Kath Loughnan 43

St Kilda 1

Richmond 5

Fremantle 4

Western Bulldogs 16

Brisbane Lions 12

Adelaide 7

Gold Coast 10

Last Week 4

Chloe Molloy 43

Geelong

GWS Giants

Melbourne

Western Bulldogs

North Melbourne

Collingwood

Gold Coast

Last Week 4

Ellie Blackburn 42

Geelong

GWS Giants

Fremantle

Western Bulldogs

Brisbane Lions

Adelaide

Carlton

Last Week 3

Lauren Wood 41

Geelong 17

GWS Giants 4

Fremantle 2

Western Bulldogs 11

Brisbane 20

Adelaide 13

Carlton 7

Last Week 5

Chloe Dalton 39

Geelong

GWS Giants

Melbourne

Western Bulldogs

North Melbourne

Adelaide

Carlton

Last Week 3

Kate McCarthy 36

St Kilda

Richmond

Fremantle

Western Bulldogs

Brisbane Lions

Adelaide

Carlton

Last Week 4

Kiss of Death 11

St Kilda 13

GWS Giants 13

Fremantle 13

West Coast 13

North Melbourne 13

Collingwood 13

Gold Coast 13

Last Week 4

AFLW ROUND 9 TEAMS

St Kilda v Geelong, RSEA Park, 3.10pm

SAINTS

B: T.Lucas-Rodd 18 R.Ott 20

HB: B.Jakobsson 8 E.Friend 16 H.Priest – C 14

C: M.McDonald 1 T.White 29 C.Phillips 35

HF: D.Guttridge 5 K.Shierlaw 12 O.Vesely 23

F: C.Greiser 17 A.Richards 22

Foll: L.Cutting 26 N.Exon 15 N.Xenos 27

I/C: J.Matin 19 K.McCarthy 9 J.Van Dyk 36 A.Burke 3 J.Vogt 10

Emerg: I.Shannon 11 L.Burke 30

In: L.Cutting, J.Van Dyk

Out: L.Burke (Omitted), R.Watt (Injured)

CATS

B: M.McMahon 24 M.Keryk 45

HB: C.Emonson 16 M.McDonald – C 11 G.Rankin 10

C: N.Morrison 9 G.Prespakis 41 S.Van De Heuvel 27

HF: D.Moloney 4 P.McWilliams 23 R.Kearns 22

F: C.Scheer 14 K.Darby 8

Foll: O.Fuller 13 R.Webster 21 A.McDonald 3

I/C: M.Maguire 7 C.Gunjaca 26 J.Crockett-Grills 6 L.Gardiner 18 J.Ivey 5

Emerg: G.Featherston 32 Z.Friswell 20

In: O.Fuller, C.Gunjaca

Out: O.Barber (Injured), G.Featherston (Omitted)

Greater Western Sydney v Richmond, GIANTS Stadium, 5.10pm

GIANTS

B: B.Stack 15 A.Lister 14

HB: T.Evans 18 P.Randall 21 T.Hetherington 9

C: E.Pease 33 A.Parker 3 L.Steane 20

HF: N.Barr 8 C.Staunton 13 T.Mackrill 32

F: R.Privitelli 19 K.Loynes 7

Foll: E.McKinnon 23 A.Eva – C 2 A.Dallaway 30

I/C: C.Dalton 11 G.Garnett 17 R.Beeson 6 J.Doyle 5 H.Zreika 24

Emerg: K.Smith 4 E.Lorenzini 25

In: T.Evans, R.Privitelli, C.Dalton, J.Doyle

Out: E.Lorenzini (Omitted), K.Smith (Omitted), L.Stephenson (Omitted), B.Mowbray (Omitted)

TIGERS

B: S.D’Arcy 12 R.Miller 15

HB: B.Lynch 32 J.Hosking 11 M.Shevlin 35

C: K.Dempsey 19 S.Hosking 7 T.Lavey 37

HF: E.Yassir 27 M.Brancatisano 5 C.Bernardi 6

F: K.Brennan – C 3 C.Wakefield 8

Foll: G.Seymour 28 E.McKenzie 22 M.Conti 4

I/C: S.Sansonetti 18 M.Kiely 31 S.Molan 1 P.Kelly 14 A.Makur Chuot 34

Emerg: M.Macdonald 38 S.Reid 25

In: T.Lavey, E.Yassir, C.Bernardi, C.Wakefield

Out: M.Macdonald (Omitted), S.Reid (Omitted), T.Stahl (Injured), K.Jacques (Injured)

Fremantle v Melbourne, Optus Stadium, 4pm

DOCKERS

B: L.Pugh 32 E.O’Driscoll 3

HB: S.Verrier 5 A.Tighe 10 J.Low 30

C: E.Antonio 12 A.Stannett 4 S.Cain 20

HF: B.Webb 26 G.Houghton 27 K.Antonio 15

F: S.Wielstra 24 M.Tuhakaraina 13

Foll: M.Strom 21 H.Miller – C 19 T.Toth 33

I/C: D.East 8 J.Stewart 7 M.Hyde 28 A.Runnalls 22 M.Sergeant 23

Emerg: M.Maclachlan 16 A.McMahon 25

In: B.Webb, S.Wielstra, M.Sergeant

Out: M.Morrison (Injured), A.Franklin (HS Protocol), G.O’Sullivan (HS Protocol)

DEMONS

B: L.Birch 9 G.Colvin 32

HB: S.Goldrick 23 M.Gay 3 S.Heath 30

C: K.Paxman 4 T.Hanks 5 L.Mithen 14

HF: A.Bannan 16 K.Hore 10 M.Fitzsimon 24

F: D.Pearce – C 6 T.Harris 7

Foll: L.Pearce 15 E.Zanker 29 E.West 11

I/C: S.Lampard 8 E.McNamara 22 O.Purcell 2 C.Sherriff 18 S.Scott 12

Emerg: J.Parry 19 T.Gillard 17

In: G.Colvin, M.Fitzsimon

Out: T.Gillard (Omitted), J.Parry (Omitted)

West Coast v Western Bulldogs, Optus Stadium, 6.40pm

EAGLES

B: C.Thomas 3 E.Gooch 31

HB: B.Schilling 30 S.McDonald 35 B.Smith 14

C: A.Schmidt 7 E.Swanson – C 13 M.Bowen 1

HF: N.Kelly 12 A.Gilmore 22 I.Cameron 19

F: A.Atkins 9 G.Kelly 15

Foll: P.Laurie 25 I.Lewis 6 D.Hooker 17

I/C: H.Bullas 24 S.Lakay 23 M.Caulfield 10 C.Guard 4 A.Hill 16

Emerg: E.Bennett 27 C.Rowley 5

In: B.Schilling, G.Kelly, M.Caulfield, C.Guard

Out: K.Gibson (Omitted), C.Rowley (Omitted), L.Gauci (Omitted), E.Bennett (Omitted)

BULLDOGS

B: N.Ferres 16 E.Brown 9

HB: K.Lynch 10 I.Grant 3 S.Hartwig 15

C: I.Pritchard 20 E.Blackburn – C 2 B.Hunt 21

HF: B.Lochland 1 B.Toogood 8 N.Morris-Dalton 25

F: R.Cranston 30 G.Lagioia 12

Foll: C.Moody 13 J.Fitzgerald 23 K.Lamb 27

I/C: A.Edmonds 33 A.Guest 19 E.Bennetts 11 E.Georgostathis 17 D.Berry 7

Emerg: A.Ling 29 B.Gutknecht 18

In: B.Hunt, G.Lagioia, A.Edmonds

Out: E.Gamble (Suspension), E.Snell (Illness), B.Gutknecht (Omitted)

PEARCE SOUNDED OUT BY CLUBS FOR AFL COACHING ROLE

—Lauren Wood

Several AFL clubs — including Geelong — have sounded out AFL Women’s superstar Daisy Pearce for a range of football roles, including as an assistant coach.

But the All-Australian’s sights remain firmly on playing as a shot at Melbourne’s first AFLW premiership looms.

The Herald Sun has confirmed that several AFL clubs have sought to gain clarity on Pearce’s plans beyond this season — her fifth in the competition after missing the 2019 season following the birth of her twins Sylvie and Roy.

It is understood that Essendon also approached the two-time All-Australian and Melbourne skipper in relation to its senior coaching role as it prepares to join the competition next season.

Daisy Pearce enjoys a win with her Melbourne teammates.

But the 33-year-old is understood to be genuinely undecided about what may lay beyond this season.

Arguably the most decorated female footballer in recent times, Pearce has flourished since joining the media as one of the game’s most astute football analysts.

Geelong chief executive Steve Hocking said the Cats would not be alone in inquiring as to what life after football may hold for the star.

“Most of us would have an interest in where Daisy would like to spend her future,” he said on Sportsday on Tuesday night.

“Daisy is one of the most decorated players and … an icon of football, not just women’s football but football in general.

“Daisy’s committed to Melbourne Football Club, and they’re clearly going to have a big say in the finals.

“They’d love to win a premiership and Daisy’s still committed.

“Our understanding at this point in time … is that they’re committed to Daisy continuing there and she hasn’t made a decision on what her future looks like.

“I’m sure there’s many clubs along with us that would like to secure her services, but Daisy is a committed footballer at Melbourne.”

The AFL has a dedicated pathway program available for aspiring female coaches to accelerate their development, and has offered incentives for clubs to employ females with their salaries — up to a total of $200,000 a year — to sit outside the soft cap.

Pearce and her management elected not to comment on Tuesday night.

Originally published as AFLW Round 9 teams and tips: Our experts name their winners