AFLW Agenda: All the hits and misses from week 2 of the finals series

If Port Adelaide continues to play with the flash and dare which led to its come-from-behind win over Hawthorn, there’s no reason it can’t do what no-one else has and beat North Melbourne.

There was bucketloads of drama and action to discuss from week 2 of the AFLW finals series.

We had a record comeback, a blowout in Adelaide and some questionable calls.

Eliza Reilly looks at all of that and more in the AFLW agenda.

HITS

Fixt it

The AFL announced this week that the 2025 season will start two weeks earlier in the week beginning August 11. It’s a great result for three reasons. Firstly, and most importantly, it means no compressed fixture. While the players agreed to trial the concept in good faith this season, it quickly became evident that it did more harm than good as injuries and a reduced standard of play due to fatigue grabbed headlines. The 2025 fixture will also overlap with the final fortnight of the men’s home and away season which will give fans a taste of how it might work in future years when the season ultimately extends to 17 games.

The AFL has announced the start date for season 2025. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

Midweek footy remains an option but it shouldn’t be the solution to cramming 18 games into a week. It would be remiss of the AFL not to trial double-headers. But it must be done in a way that doesn’t alienate genuine AFLW fans who don’t want to pay for a men’s ticket just to see the women play beforehand. Finally, the season timing announcement gives players certainty. It’s been a rarity for decisions to be made this early so it’s a credit to the AFL for listening to its stakeholders and getting on the front foot, even if it isn’t a significant change. For context, a decision on the 2024 season start date wasn’t made until February this year.

The teal deal

If that wasn’t one of the best spectacles we’ve seen in the history of the AFLW, then I dare you to find one better. With a spot in a preliminary final on the line, Port Adelaide conjured the best three-quarter-time comeback on record to down Hawthorn by one point, kicking 4.6 to 1.1 in a frantic final quarter. It started a week prior against Richmond when coach Lauren Arnell implored her side not to go into their shells and try and score as much as possible despite leading by 15 points at the final break.

And that stripped-back approach worked wonders in reverse against the Hawks with Port overcoming a 22-point deficit and then some to book a date with North Melbourne. It started in the middle. Port won clearances 13-2 in the final term, resulting in a +20 contested possession differential and +11 inside 50s. Abbey Dowrick was sent forward and kicked two goals from six disposals, including three score involvements. Gemma Houghton had six touches, four score involvements and kicked 1.2 after having just seven touches, two score involvements and one goal in the first three quarters.

Matilda Scholz of the Power celebrates with teammates after the semi-final. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

Hawthorn made mistakes, like leaving Dowrick unguarded at a stoppage inside 50 and rushing a behind to level the scores. But they were simply defenceless against Port’s hunt, gut running and desire to attack, generating a scoring shot every two minutes in the final term. It’ll take a herculean effort to do what no team has done this season and beat the Kangaroos. But momentum is a superpower and the Power has plenty of it.

Purple passion

If you’d had told Fremantle coach Lisa Webb at the start of the year that the Dockers would go an entire season with captain Ange Stannett, four-time best and fairest Kiara Bowers, Aine Tighe will suffer an ACL injury in round four, Hayley Miller will hurt her calf and miss three games, recruit Ash Brazill will suffer a stress fracture and miss two games and Gabby O’Sullivan will hurt her knee and be hobbled for the rest of the season but you’ll finish fifth and make a semi-final, she wouldn’t have believed you. The Dockers overachieved because they believed. Like the friendliest boa constrictor in the Amazon, Webb squeezed everything possible out of the personnel she had available this year.

Emma O'Driscoll and Lisa Webb managed to squeeze everything out of the Dockers this season. Picture: Paul Kane/AFL Photos/via Getty Images.

But it wasn’t enough to compete with the Crows who had around 180 games of finals experience on the park on Saturday. It’s far from a wasted season for Fremantle. Aisling McCarthy, Gabby Newton and Brazill firmed as three of the recruits of the year. Tunisha Kikoak showed promise as a key position forward when Tighe went down, kicking six goals in nine games. Gabby Biedenweg-Webster was another good find as an injury replacement player although she needs to work on her decision making under pressure. Add in Bowers, Tighe Stannett and some new talent via the draft and Fremantle should play finals again in 2025. The question is whether they can bridge the gap on the top four.

MISSES

Is it hot in here?

The AFL is adamant that Saturday’s preliminary final between North Melbourne and Port Adelaide will proceed as planned at 3:05pm despite a looming heatwave in Melbourne. Pardon the pun but that’s flying awfully close to the sun if the league wants the second-most important game of the season to live up to its billing. The Bureau of Meteorology is predicting that temperatures will peak at upwards of 33 degrees, coinciding with bounce down. They’ll say that the fixture needs to consider certain factors like an even gap between games for the winners, flights, broadcast preferences and so forth.

The Adelaide Crows ran out alongside the Dockers in 35 degree heat last weekend. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

But none of those seem to be an issue in the AFL given preliminary finals are played on Friday nights. It comes after the Crows and Dockers fought out a semi-final in 35-degree temperatures last week. While it’s safe to say that the heat didn’t impact the quality of the game, with Adelaide comfortably kicking away, there was a residual effect. Just 2011 people turned up at Norwood Oval to watch the clash, the lowest attendance at any final so far. There were extenuating circumstances, like the Supercars and a WBBL game at Adelaide Oval both starting at a similar time. But the heat played a role considering Adelaide has averaged a home crowd of 2,844 fans this year between Norwood and Thomas Farms Ovals. There must be a better solution to playing games in the middle of heatwaves than longer breaks between quarters and a couple of extra water carriers. At least a night grand final ensures that the heat won’t be a big factor on November 30.

Crowd numbers at the Crows’ semi-final were well down on the rest of the year. Was it owing to the heat? Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

A million reasons to revisit it

When we look back at the first couple of winners of the reborn McClelland Trophy in 10 years, will they be tainted by an asterisk? Hawthorn was deemed the champion club of 2024 after a terrific home and away season but after both men’s and women’s teams were knocked out by Port Adelaide in semi-finals, how can you argue that they’ve been the best club this year when Brisbane might end the season with two premierships? We came awfully close to that scenario materialising last season when the Lions won the AFLW flag and came runner-up in the men’s. That’s $2 million Brisbane has missed out on. Melbourne won the McClelland Trophy last year but both programs failed to make finals in 2024. We’re not the premier league. Fans don’t get home and away records tattooed on them – ink is strictly reserved for premierships. It’s time to review the criteria.

Originally published as AFLW Agenda: All the hits and misses from week 2 of the finals series