Essendon's Amelia Radford tries to break a tackle from Southern Saints' Hannah Stuart in Round 5. First-year player Radford is into second spot in the VFLW Coaches Player of the Year award. Picture: Quinn Rooney/AFL Photos

ESSENDON’s rookie sensation Amelia Radford has closed the gap on leader Angelica Gogos after picking up another four votes in the VFLW Coaches Player of the Year award last week.

First-year player Radford, 26, recruited from just down the road at Moonee Valley, moved to 34 votes and a share of second spot, three votes behind leader Angelica Gogos, who didn’t play in Darebin’s loss to North Melbourne before the Easter break.

She was joined on 34 votes by early leader Paige Sheppard, with the Geelong star picking up seven votes in the Cats’ big win over Collingwood at GMHBA Stadium, with the pair moving ahead of Williamstown’s Aimee Whelan, who missed a second consecutive match, while Essendon’s Lambert Pearce medallist Georgia Nanscawen polled five votes to move into fifth spot on 31.

Geelong’s Laura Gardiner is the big mover, polling 10 votes for her 37 disposals to go with nine last week to race along to 29 and slide into a share of sixth spot, while Western Bulldog Eliza Vale was the other player to grab all 10, despite her team suffering an 18-point loss to Port Melbourne.

Geelong's Paige Sheppard (chased by Molly McDonald) has charged back up the leaderboard. Picture: Darrian Traynor/AFL Photos

Hawthorn’s Dom Carbone was the other star of the round, picking up nine votes in her team’s win over Southern Saints to move to the edge of the top 10.

As with the AFL Coaches Association Player of the Year, the VFLW award is voted on by the coaches of each club after every game in both competitions.

The coaches are awarding 5-4-3-2-1 to their best players in the game from either team, with those votes collated and revealed each week on vfl.com.au.

Another 14 players attracted the coaches’ attention for the first time in Round 7, making it 170 who have polled votes across the first seven rounds.

Twitter: @BRhodesVFL

Western Bulldog Eliza Vale polled 10 votes in a losing team against Port Melbourne. Picture: Martin Keep/AFL Photos

ROUND 8 VOTES

Darebin 3.4 (22) lost to North Melbourne 7.5 (47)
5 Alexia Hamilton (NM)
5 Reni Hicks (NM)
5 Georgia Nicholas (NM)
5 Sarah Skinner (NM)
4 Ella Maurer (NM)
4 Jess Mourney (NM)
1 Mikayla Meyer (Dar)
1 Alyssa Mifsud (Dar)

Hawthorn 6.6 (42) def Southern Saints 3.3 (21)
9 Dom Carbone (Haw)
5 Tamara Luke (Haw)
4 Jenna Richardson (Haw)
4 Hannah Stuart (SS)
4 Alana Woodward (SS)
2 Nicole Garner (Haw)
2 Jordan Mifsud (Haw)

Geelong 8.9 (57) def Collingwood 3.4 (22)
10 Laura Gardiner (Gee)
7 Rene Caris (Gee)
7 Paige Sheppard (Gee)
2 Katie Lee (Col)
2 Tamara Smith (Gee)
1 Caitlyn Bunker (Col)
1 Nicole Hales (Col)

Essendon 7.19 (61) def Carlton 2.3 (15)
5 Bella Ayre (Ess)
5 Georgia Nanscawen (Ess)
4 Marianna Anthony (Ess)
4 Millie Klingbeil (Car)
4 Amelia Radford (Ess)
3 Alex Morcom (Ess)
3 Jordan Zanchetta (Ess)
2 Bry Gurr (Car)

Hawthorn's Dom Carbone (being tackled by North Melbourne's Jess Jones) polled nine votes against Southern Saints last weekend. Picture: Morgan Hancock/AFL Photos

Williamstown 4.6 (30) lost to Casey Demons 8.3 (51)
8 Melanie Hogg (Cas)
8 Samantha Johnson (Cas)
4 Jasmine Kawa (Wil)
4 Lucy Wales (Cas)
2 Sophia McCarthy (Wil)
2 Ruby Tripodi (Wil)
1 Bridie Kennedy (Wil)
1 Sharnie Whiting (Wil)

Port Melbourne 5.6 (36) def Western Bulldogs 2.6 (18)
10 Eliza Vale (WB)
5 Courteney Bromage (PM)
4 Claire Dyett (PM)
4 Sophie Locke (PM)
4 Eliza Morrison (WB)
2 Lilli Condon (WB)
1 Sarah Dargan (PM)

LEADERBOARD

37 Angelica Gogos (Dar) 0
34 Amelia Radford (Ess) 4
34 Paige Shepherd (Gee) 7
33 Aimee Whelan (Wil) 0
31 Georgia Nanscawen (Ess) 5
29 Laura Gardiner (Gee) 10
29 Hannah Stuart (SS) 4
27 Nicole Callinan (Dar) 0
27 Tamara Luke (Haw) 5
25 Millie Klingbeil (Car) 4

ROHENNA YOUNG MEDAL LEADING GOALKICKER

21 Federica Frew (Ess) 0
13 Cecilia McIntosh (Ess) 0
12 Mia-Rae Clifford (Ess) 3
12 Mia Skinner (Gee) 1
11 Kristy Stratton (Haw) 0
10 Renee Tierney (Ess) 0
10 Jessie Williams (Haw) 0
9 Alison Dowler (Cas) 1
9 Tahlia Fellows (Cas) 1

Essendon captain Mia-Rae Clifford kicked three goals, including the 50th of her career, to move into third spot in the Rohenna Young Medal race. Picture: Darrian Traynor/AFL Photos

REBEL VFLW MILESTONES

  • CARLTON PLAYED ITS 50TH VFLW MATCH (17-32-1)
  • WILLIAMSTOWN PLAYED ITS 50TH VFLW MATCH (9-40-1)
  • MIA-RAE CLIFFORD (Essendon) 50 VFLW goals/91 matches
  • Carlton played at The Hangar for the first time (0-1)
  • Casey Demons played at Williamstown for the first time (1-0)
  • Darebin fell behind in VFLW matches at Bill Lawry Oval (9-10)
  • Geelong defeated Collingwood for the first time at Kardinia Park (1-1)
  • Hawthorn moved ahead v Southern Saints at Box Hill (2-1) and squared the ledger overall (3-3)
  • North Melbourne defeated Darebin for the first time (1-2)
  • Port Melbourne moved ahead in all matches at North Port Oval (5-4)
  • Western Bulldogs fell behind in its history (26-27) and squared its ledger away from home (11-11)

REBEL VFLW ROUND 8 RECORDS

(Figures in brackets are the previous record)

  • 2.3 15 Carlton's equal lowest score v Essendon (2.3 15, 2019)
  • 8.9 57 Collingwood's highest VFLW away score conceded (5.13 43 v Southern Saints, 2019)
  • 35 Collingwood's equal biggest VFLW loss (35 v Southern Saints, 2019)
  • 3.4 22 Collingwood's equal highest score at Kardinia Park (3.4 22, 2019)
  • 3.4 22 Darebin's lowest score v North Melbourne (3.6 24, 2022)
  • 8.9 57 Geelong's biggest score v Collingwood (5.12 42, 2018, and 6.6 42, 2021, all venues; 2.3 15 Kardinia, 2019)
  • 7.5 47 North Melbourne's highest score v Darebin (4.6 30, 2021)
  • 7.5 47 North Melbourne's highest VFLW away score (6.8 44 v Carlton, 2021)
  • 25 North Melbourne's biggest VFLW away win (8 v Hawthorn, 2021)
  • 3.4 22 North Melbourne's lowest VFLW away score conceded (3.7 25 v Essendon, 2021)
  • 5.6 36 Port Melbourne's lowest score v Western Bulldogs (6.6 42, 2021)
  • 2.6 18 Western Bulldogs' highest score v Port Melbourne (1.2 8, 2021)

REBEL VFLW DEBUTS

  • Carlton: Nil
  • Casey Demons: Ella Dempster, Jennifer Macdonald, Leah Swain
  • Collingwood: Stephanie Wales (Rd7)
  • Darebin: Nil
  • Essendon: Maykaylah Appleby, Gloria Elarmaly
  • Geelong: Indya Kirby (Rd7), Brittany McLaughlin (Rd7), Chloe Scheer
  • Hawthorn: Nil
  • North Melbourne: Nil
  • Port Melbourne: Freya Taylor (Rd7)
  • Southern Saints: Nil
  • Western Bulldogs: Mali McLeod (Rd7)
  • Williamstown: Nil
Geelong's Emily Ramsay finally kicked her first VFLW goal in her 34th match on Saturday against Collingwood. Picture: Mike Owen/AFL Photos

REBEL VFLW FIRST GOALS

  • Carlton: Nil
  • Casey Demons: Lucy Wales (2nd)
  • Collingwood: Nil
  • Darebin: Nil
  • Essendon: Maykaylah Appleby (1st), Bella Ayre (3rd)
  • Geelong: Georgia Nicholas (7th), Emily Ramsay (34th), Chloe Scheer (1st)
  • Hawthorn: Nil
  • North Melbourne: Tegan Bradley (6th)
  • Port Melbourne: Lucy Grocock (3rd)
  • Southern Saints: Nil
  • Western Bulldogs: Maddie Marks (3rd)
  • Williamstown: Ella Baxter (22nd)

In a first for the rebel VFLW, all matches in 2022 will be live streamed free. One VFLW feature match per week can be watched live via afl.com.au and the AFL Live Official App. All remaining games will be streamed live and available on demand via the VFL/W YouTube channel (youtube.com/AFLVictoria).
To access live scores, results, ladder, stats and to link to live streams/replays, download the VFL/W Official App from the Apple or Google Play app stores.