{"id":82894,"date":"2021-07-07T12:17:29","date_gmt":"2021-07-07T02:17:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/afl.draftcentral.localhost\/?p=82894"},"modified":"2021-11-10T05:43:07","modified_gmt":"2021-11-09T19:43:07","slug":"the-graduates-2021-vflw-finals-week-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/2021\/07\/07\/the-graduates-2021-vflw-finals-week-one\/","title":{"rendered":"The Graduates: 2021 VFLW \u2013 Finals Week One"},"content":{"rendered":"

FINALS time finally rolled around in the VFL Women’s, with three enthralling games played out over the weekend and even more intriguing matchups to look forward to. A raft of current and former NAB League talents continue to roll through the competition, we take a look at how\u00a0they performed in the first round of finals.<\/p>\n

>>\u00a0Results: VFLW Finals Week One<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Pegged as the closest matchup across all three week one fixtures, Casey and Essendon played out a belter to open proceedings. The Bombers came out on top and remain the sole standalone side left, winning 5.5 (35) to 5.2 (32) on enemy territory. A bunch of high level youngsters aided the victors’ cause, none more so than pick one contender Georgie Prespakis<\/strong> who notched 14 disposals and laid 10 tackles in the famous sash.<\/p>\n

Fellow Calder players Zali Friswell<\/strong> (nine disposals), Tahlia Gillard<\/strong> (17 hit-outs), and Emelia Yassir<\/strong> also gained some senior finals experience, while former Cannons Alana Barba<\/strong> (18 disposals, 11 tackles, one goal) and Tamsin Crook<\/strong> were among the Bombers’ best. Top 10 candidate Tara Slender<\/strong> also found the big sticks for Essendon, as Murray Bushrangers graduate Eloise Ashley-Cooper<\/strong> managed seven touches and six tackles.<\/p>\n

In the losing Casey side, 18-year-old Gippsland Power ruck Grace Matser<\/strong> contributed seven disposals and as many hit-outs in her fourth game at the level. Eastern Ranges product Mietta Kendall<\/strong>, who was recently delisted by Melbourne, also continued in the state league and found eight touches, while former Richmond and Eastern player Emma Horne<\/strong> had it seven times.<\/p>\n

In comparison to the Casey-Essendon clash, graduates were more sparse and quiet in the qualifying final between Collingwood and Geelong. The Magpies were pushed all the way in a six-point win, with Olivia Meagher<\/strong> (six disposals, one goal) their only current or VFLW-listed NAB Leaguer afield.<\/p>\n

The Cats continued to blood a key trio of graduates, starting with leadership group member Tamara Smith<\/strong>. She was busy with eight touches and two behinds, while also getting stuck in to lay nine tackles. Geelong Falcons graduate Paige Sheppard<\/strong> had it eight times for Geelong, while Greater Western Victoria (GWV) Rebels favourite Chloe Leonard<\/strong> notched nine disposals.<\/p>\n

Southern Saints caused the upset of the weekend, advancing to week two via a resounding 34-point victory over the third-ranked Port Melbourne. There was plenty of young talent fielded by both sides, starting with Saints mainstay Gabby De Angelis<\/strong>. She featured among her side’s best players and found the goals, while Melanie Bertuna<\/strong> (13 disposals, five tackles) was also productive.<\/p>\n

Sandringham Dragons top-ager Charlotte Ryan<\/strong> proved a handy fold for the Saints with 11 touches in her second game, joined by NAB League teammates Emma Stuber<\/strong> and Pia Staltari<\/strong> in the side. Dandenong Stingrays defender Jemma Radford<\/strong> also ran out in red, white and black, playing against usual teammates Ash Richards<\/strong> and Jaide Anthony<\/strong>, who lined up for the Borough.<\/p>\n

Oakleigh Chargers premiership stars Amanda Ling<\/strong> and Brooke Vickers<\/strong> also donned Port colours, while graduates Olivia Barton<\/strong> (15 disposals) and Emily Harley<\/strong> were among their side’s strongest contributors. Vickers and Harley both snared goals, as did AFLW Draft Combine invitee Sophie Locke<\/strong>. Fellow Murray graduate and combine invitee Aurora Smith<\/strong> was another to turn out for Port, earning eight disposals.<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Image Credit:<\/strong> Graham Denholm\/AFL Photos<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FINALS time finally rolled around in the VFL Women’s, with three enthralling games played out over the weekend and even more intriguing matchups to look forward to. A raft of current and former NAB League talents continue to roll through the competition, we take a look at how\u00a0they performed in the first round of finals. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":82895,"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":[8,3121,3134,137],"tags":[15585,2762,7848,10971,15442,2935,15491,15422,2909,10162,686,3494,8315,3485,3443,8202,5903,4529,7010,6998,6999,4080,3867,7951,7988,15808,16493,3729,3452,10894,3674,7846,3495,4734,7013,16555,27,4599,2802,6851,1883,11002],"class_list":["post-82894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-vflw","category-victoria","category-womens","tag-2021-vflw","tag-aflw-draft","tag-alana-barba","tag-amanda-ling","tag-ash-richards","tag-aurora-smith","tag-brooke-vickers","tag-charlotte-ryan","tag-chloe-leonard","tag-draft-central","tag-draft-prospects","tag-eloise-ashley-cooper","tag-emelia-yassir","tag-emily-harley","tag-emma-horne","tag-emma-stuber","tag-gabby-de-angelis","tag-georgie-prespakis","tag-grace-matser","tag-jaide-anthony","tag-jemma-radford","tag-melanie-bertuna","tag-mietta-kendall","tag-nab-league","tag-nab-league-girls","tag-nab-league-graduates","tag-olivia-barton","tag-olivia-meagher","tag-paige-sheppard","tag-pia-staltari","tag-sophie-locke","tag-tahlia-gillard","tag-tamara-smith","tag-tamsin-crook","tag-tara-slender","tag-the-graduates","tag-vfl","tag-vfl-womens","tag-vflw","tag-vflw-finals","tag-victoria","tag-zali-friswell"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82894","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\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82894"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82894\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":90710,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82894\/revisions\/90710"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}