De Koning question looms large but Hawkins, Guthrie won’t play

In today’s AFL Briefing, your wrap of footy news:

• Geelong coach Chris Scott has ruled out a preliminary final return for veteran stars Tom Hawkins and Cam Guthrie as they weigh up whether to select young defender Sam De Koning.
• A former AFLW player has raised concerns over the league’s condensed home-and-away season and the impact it is having on clubs being able to field their best teams.

De Koning question looms large but Hawkins, Guthrie won’t play

By Peter Ryan
Geelong coach Chris Scott has ruled out a preliminary final return for veteran stars Tom Hawkins and Cam Guthrie as they weigh up whether to select young defender Sam De Koning.

Both Hawkins (foot) and Guthrie (quad/Achilles) returned to competitive footy for the first time in months two weeks ago in Geelong’s VFL semi-final loss to Southport. Hawkins will retire at season’s end.

Scott said neither had done enough to be selected for the preliminary final.

“They’ve done a remarkable job, really, from where they came from to get themselves in the position where we had to think about it a lot,” he told Talking Footy.

“But we’ve just made the call to this point that they’re not going to be quite ready … that certainly doesn’t preclude them from being available next week, so that’s exciting for us, if we’re good enough.

Sam De Koning, left, emerged as a ruck option for Geelong this season before missing games through injury.Credit: AFL Photos

“It was a close call, but not close enough that we weren’t confident to make the call by now.”

Geelong need to identify where the Brisbane Lions’ biggest dangers lie as they contemplate whether to recall De Koning, according to premiership skipper Cameron Ling.

He said the challenge for Scott and the match committee would lie in determining whether the biggest threats were the Lions’ talls Joe Daniher, Eric Hipwood and Logan Morris or small forwards Charlie Cameron, Zac Bailey and Cameron Rayner.

De Koning was a key defender in the 2022 premiership, but has played as a ruckman and defender throughout 2024 after experiencing a lean patch of form midway through the season. He has not played a senior match since round 21 against Adelaide when he suffered a knee injury, but has played two VFL finals before this week’s break.

“You could frame the argument for [playing De Koning] just in case and for flexibility. He is an extra defender and he is also a potential ruckman if need be, but that would mean taking out a smaller player,” Ling said. “What happens if Charlie [Cameron] or Zac [Bailey] got off the leash?”

Daniher was the matchwinner for the Lions against GWS in Saturday’s semi-final, kicking four goals including the final two goals of the match the Lions won by five points. He has kicked 16 goals in his past five finals.

He has become an improved finals player since he was held goalless in the 2022 preliminary final against Geelong.

The Cats’ back line has been led by Mark Blicavs, who can also relieve in the ruck and Jack Henry, who has returned to form in the back end of the season. They also have veteran Jake Kolodjashnij, who was outstanding in the 2022 preliminary final.

Vice captain Tom Stewart is expected to return from a hamstring injury that, along with illness, forced him to miss the qualifying final.

Oisin Mullin was a late replacement and is a potential omission, although he could be used as a run-with player if a Lions midfielder runs hot. Jed Bews has come into the team late but provides a good match-up for Cameron, while Mitch Duncan and Zach Tuohy’s positions are also expected to be up for discussion.

“If you think the thing that is going to beat you is Daniher, Hipwood, Morris or [Oscar] McInerney getting on top over time, [then] you will pick a tall,” Ling said. “You can’t cover every possible scenario, but you should look to have a plan for the most dangerous aspects of the opposition.”

Why a condensed season is hurting AFLW

By Hannah Hammoud
A former AFLW player has raised concerns over the league’s condensed home-and-away season and the impact it is having on clubs being able to field their best teams.

Collingwood captain Brianna Davey will miss the next two games after she was concussed in a marking contest on Tuesday night at Ikon Park. In previous seasons, the minimum 12-day concussion protocol would have meant Davey missed just one game.

But the condensed part of the 2024 fixture means the Magpies will play three games in 11 days, while other clubs will also feature twice across one week.

Collingwood captain walks to the rooms to be assessed.Credit: Getty Images

Former AFLW player and media commentator Kate McCarthy said the condensed season is “clearly putting a lot of strain on players and clubs”.

“I don’t know how many players that are experienced or older are actually going to play 11 games, because with four-day breaks, there’s clearly going to be players that don’t get right for the next game,” she said.

“Whilst it’s sort of advertised that it’s an extra game, I think we’ll probably largely see players play less games this season because of how condensed the fixture is.”

This year the AFLW home-and-away season was expanded to 11 games, up from 10 in the previous three seasons. Instead of extending the length of the season, the league opted to have every AFLW team play 11 games across 10 weeks.

With the AFLW trade and draft due to be held in December, the league chose to condense the season rather than extend it to avoid a clash. Extending the season would also result in a clash with the summer cricket season.

McCarthy said while the extra game would open up opportunities for more players to gain more experience, it was important that clubs were able to field their best players.

“You want your best players playing the most games of the season, and that’s the bottom line,” she said.

“The product is going to improve when you have the best players playing, and if players are playing purely because there’s unavailability, then that’s not really what you want.

“Having the best players available to play is important to the product at the moment, and I think we’re not seeing that with having 11 games in 10 weeks.”

For the last two weeks, Collingwood had fewer than the 24 fit players required to name a playing side plus emergencies. They named VFLW top-up player Jordy Ivey against the Eagles on Tuesday night – for the second straight week.

When the fixture was released in May, the AFL Players​ Association’s head of AFLW Julia Chiera said the league was entering an “exciting phase” of the AFLW on the back of the new CBA, which included an increase in salary, year-round contracts and improved support for players.

“The AFLPA worked collaboratively with our player leaders and the AFL to ensure the design of this year’s fixture, including the addition of mid-week games, was as fair as possible and that the scheduling balanced the players’ health, safety, and wellbeing as well as growth for the competition,” she said.

This week also marked the beginning of the mid-week footy trial with games scheduled on Tuesday and Wednesday nights during weeks four to seven.

Before the season’s start AFL head of broadcast operations and scheduling Josh Bowler said the introduction of mid-week footy would provide further opportunities for fans.

“The mid-week matches will fall during the school holidays and provide great opportunities for fans to attend and watch at home on evenings that traditionally don’t have footy,” Bowler said.

Tuesday night’s game drew a crowd of 1325 at Ikon Park. Last year the AFLW had an average game attendance of 2597 people. The highest attendance figure during the home-and-away season in 2023 was 8722 for the showdown between Adelaide and Port Adelaide at Norwood Oval. The lowest attendance figure was 927 people for the clash between Greater Western Sydney and West Coast at Blacktown International Sportspark.

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