See some of the best stats from NAB League Girls Round 2, including a goalkicking record and some painful examples of how missing those opportunities inside 50 can come back to bite teams.
THREE KEYS TO VICTORY
- A goal with less than two minutes remaining in the match saw the Bendigo Pioneers sneak home against the Eastern Ranges by three points in a game that Eastern controlled statistically. The Ranges recorded 14 more disposals, 15 more marks, nine more tackles and – crucially – 22 more inside-50s than Bendigo, but they could only manage two majors from 37 entries against a stout Pioneers defence.
- Similar to the Pioneers, the Dandenong Stingrays demonstrated the importance of taking opportunities in front of goal in their 20-point defeat of the Sandringham Dragons. Both teams had 12 scoring shots, but while the Stingrays converted five majors, Sandringham could only manage one. The Dragons also recorded more disposals (215-178) and inside-50s (29-27) than Dandenong.
- The Murray Bushrangers responded to a big defeat at the hands of the Northern Knights in Round 1 with an all-round performance in their 24-point victory over the Western Jets. The Bushrangers kicked the first five goals of the game on the back of keeping control when they had the ball (winning kicks 137-119 and marks 45-25) and pressuring Western when they didn’t (tackles 57-46).
TOP FIVE STATS OF THE WEEK
- The St Kilda AFLW team’s two pre-listed players for 2020 from the Dandenong Stingrays took to the field together for the first time in the 2019 season against the Sandringham Dragons. While captain Molly McDonald had 11 disposals in her first outing, Isabella Shannon racked up a team-high 18 touches as well as a round-high 12 tackles in the 20-point win.
- 188cm ruck Maggie Caris wasn’t able to stop the GWV Rebels from losing to the Calder Cannons by 58 points, but her ability to get first hands to the ball at stoppages has stood out already in 2019. After round-highs of 27 and then 32 hitouts, the sister of Geelong AFLW player Rene Caris has recorded 30 more total hitouts than the second-ranked player in that category.
- Western Jets captain Elisabeth Georgostathis clearly did everything she could to prevent her team from falling to the Murray Bushrangers, racking up a round-high 28 disposals (seven more than any other player in this match) and generating game-highs of seven rebound-50s and five inside-50s in the 24-point defeat.
- With over four minutes remaining in the first half against the Gippsland Power, Geelong Falcons forward duo Renee Tierney (pictured, right) and Mia Skinner (pictured, left) had kicked seven goals and three behinds between them, out of Geelong’s total score of 7.5 (47). Tierney’s four majors and Skinner’s three helped the Falcons set up their 58-point victory early on.
- Georgie Prespakis featured on this list following a prolific performance for the Calder Cannons in Round 1 and deserves another mention for her seven-goal haul in Calder’s win against the GWV Rebels. In addition to equalling ex-Cannons and current Collingwood AFLW player Chloe Molloy’s single-game competition goalkicking record from 2017, the 16-year-old racked up a team-high 22 disposals and six marks.
ROUND 2 STATS LEADERS
DISPOSALS (28): Elisabeth Georgostathis (Western Jets)
KICKS (22): Elisabeth Georgostathis (Western Jets)
HANDBALLS (15): Lucy McEvoy (Geelong Falcons)
MARKS (11): Tess Flintoff (Eastern Ranges)
TACKLES (12): Isabella Shannon (Dandenong Stingrays)
INSIDE-50s (10): Paige Sheppard (Geelong Falcons)
REBOUND-50s (7): Tara Slender (Bendigo Pioneers) and Elisabeth Georgostathis (Western Jets)
HITOUTS (32): Maggie Caris (GWV Rebels)
GOALS (7): Georgie Prespakis (Calder Cannons)
* CLICK HERE for previews of all NAB League Girls teams for 2019.
* CLICK HERE for the downloadable 2019 NAB League Girls Season Guide
featuring club season previews, full squad lists, historical data and season fixture.
