A MASSIVE fortnight awaits for the metropolitan sides in the Talent League Girls competition as remarkably all six sides are still in contention to make the finals. Oakleigh is all but set thanks to a six-point advantage, but from there, four realistic finalists are fighting for three spots in what is an intriguing last roun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We take a look at the State of Play leading into the finals series and what can happen across the last fortnight of the season. Note that the Talent League Girls (TLG) position is only based off the 13 full-time teams and not the Academy side who played limited stints and are not involved in the finals series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
METRO CONFERENCE:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Oakleigh Chargers<\/strong> Remaining opponents: <\/strong>Gippsland Power, Eastern Ranges<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like many of the metropolitan contenders, Oakleigh struggled a little during the season with such a high-volume of changes, but loom as a key contender for yet another season. They sit six points clear on top of the metro conference and should see off Gippsland to secure top spot. A last round clash with Eastern is another potential finals rematch, with Bailee Martin<\/strong>, Zoe Curry <\/strong>and Isabella Mazzei<\/strong> all among the players firing for the Chargers in their last Talent League Girls seasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Eastern Ranges<\/strong> Remaining opponents: <\/strong>Northern Knights, Oakleigh Chargers<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s been a strange old season for Eastern where the Ranges have not looked as bulletproof as past seasons, with their shock loss to Western by a point last weekend evidence of that. They naturally were affected during the national championships with so many outs. Incredibly, there is a slight chance the Ranges will miss finals because they must defeat Northern to make it. Level on points with the Cannons and Jets, both the sides will likely win their first matches, while Northern will also overtake Eastern with the result, so then the Ranges will rely on a last round effort. Defeat Northern, the Ranges are in. A midfield of Emily Rankin<\/strong>, Scout Semple<\/strong> and Brylee Anderson<\/strong> is too good not to be playing finals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Calder Cannons<\/strong> Remaining opponents: <\/strong>GWV Rebels, Murray Bushrangers<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like Eastern, Calder is on tenderhooks with a finals spot, having actually being the top ranked metropolitan side for a while. Just the one permanent Vic Metro squad member meant the side was largely full-strength during the national carnival helping the Cannons pick up some important points. Their future looks bright with Holly Clough<\/strong>, Victoria Goudy <\/strong>and Coco Balmain<\/strong> all future prospects with upside. Two wins is a must to play finals if Northern knocks off Eastern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Western Jets<\/strong> Remaining opponents: <\/strong>Bendigo Pioneers, GWV Rebels<\/p>\n\n\n\n Western has the easiest draw of the metropolitan finalists hopefuls, avoiding all the others and instead facing off against the bottom two country teams. The Jets have been in ripping form, and honestly deserve to play finals with their big guns all firing and could certainly cause a few upsets along the way. Kiara Boyd<\/strong> is in the form of her career, as is Addison West<\/strong>, while Tayla Olivieri <\/strong>continues to do plenty of exciting things between attack and midfield.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Northern Knights<\/strong> Remaining opponents: <\/strong>Eastern Ranges, Gippsland Power<\/p>\n\n\n\n All eyes will be on Northern-Eastern this weekend, with the winner in the box seat for finals, while the loser needs results to go their way in the last round. The Knights started the season shakily but the influx of talented Under 16s prospects has boosted Northern to be in the metropolitan finals conversation. They beat Eastern and at least they leapfrog the Ranges, and from there, the destiny is in their hands taking on bottom three side, Gippsland Power. Maddison Meagher<\/strong> and Alli Allen <\/strong>have had big seasons, while Deena Gerges <\/strong>is an ultra-exciting talent for the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sandringham Dragons<\/strong> Remaining opponents: <\/strong>Geelong Falcons, Dandenong Stingrays<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mathematically the Dragons could make finals thansks to their strong percentage despite a lopsided win-loss record. They are a chance against the Falcons, but the Stingrays – unbeaten in season 2026 – looks too far of a bridge. If they win both, they still need two of Western, Calder, Northern or Eastern to lose both matches which is a mighty stretch. Grace McIntyre<\/strong> has boosted her stocks this season, while Grace Perrett <\/strong>has found form in the second half of the season, and Maya Duane<\/strong> is one of the top prospects for next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A MASSIVE fortnight awaits for the metropolitan sides in the Talent League Girls competition as remarkably all six sides are still in contention to make the finals. Oakleigh is all but set thanks to a six-point advantage, but from there, four realistic finalists are fighting for three spots in what is an intriguing last roun. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":219312,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14920,18214,18216,8,18221,18222,18223,21155,20258,3134,18225,137],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-219938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aflw-draft","category-calder-cannons-girls","category-eastern-ranges-girls","category-news","category-northern-knights-girls","category-oakleigh-chargers-girls","category-sandringham-dragons-girls","category-state-of-play","category-talent-league-girls","category-victoria","category-western-jets-girls","category-womens"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=219938"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219938\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":219966,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219938\/revisions\/219966"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/219312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=219938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
TLG Position:<\/strong> 2nd
Metro Position:<\/strong> 1st
Played: <\/strong>12
Record:<\/strong> 7-4-1
Points: <\/strong>30<\/p>\n\n\n\n
TLG Position:<\/strong> 4th
Metro Position:<\/strong> 2nd
Played: <\/strong>12
Record:<\/strong> 6-6
Points: <\/strong>24<\/p>\n\n\n\n
TLG Position:<\/strong> 5th
Metro Position:<\/strong> 3rd
Played: <\/strong>12
Record:<\/strong> 6-6
Points: <\/strong>24<\/p>\n\n\n\n
TLG Position:<\/strong> 6th
Metro Position:<\/strong> 4th
Played: <\/strong>12
Record:<\/strong> 6-6
Points: <\/strong>24<\/p>\n\n\n\n
TLG Position:<\/strong> 8th
Metro Position:<\/strong> 5th
Played: <\/strong>12
Record:<\/strong> 5-6-1
Points: <\/strong>22<\/p>\n\n\n\n
TLG Position:<\/strong> 9th
Country Position:<\/strong> 6th
Played: <\/strong>12
Record:<\/strong> 4-8
Points: <\/strong>16<\/p>\n\n\n\n