ESSENDON’s hopes of completing an undefeated rebel VFLW season for the perfect launchpad into its AFLW debut has received another hefty boost, with more opposition players being put into cotton wool ahead of the semi-finals.

While the redhot Bombers had the luxury of naming an unchanged team including 10 AFLW-listed players on the back of their dissection of Hawthorn last week, their semi-final rival Casey Demons have lost three more Melbourne players and will field just two in Sunday’s second semi-final.

The Demons will be without Eliza West, Grace Campbell and former Bomber Tahlia Gillard at Windy Hill and will hope AFLW Demons Alison Brown and Maeve Chaplin can play blinders to earn the first spot in the Grand Final.

rebel VFLW SEMI FINAL TEAMS, click here

rebel VFLW SEMI FINAL INJURY LIST, click here

Hawthorn has been hit even harder ahead of its sudden death first semi-final against Southern Saints at Box Hill City Oval, losing Jenna Richardson and Abbey Holmes, while Izzy Khoury, Charli Granville and Lauren Camilleri were injured in the qualifyinf final.

The Saints have lost Ebony Nixon to a facial fracture.

The winner of the Bombers-Demons clash will earn a week off and a spot in the rebel VFLW Grand Final at ETU Stadium on Sunday, July 3, while the loser will have a second chance against the winner of the Hawks and Saints next weekend.

Here are all the selected teams for the second week of the rebel VFLW finals series.

Twitter: @BRhodesVFL

Abbey Holmes won't play for Hawthorn in the first semi-final against Southern Saints. Picture: Darrian Traynor/AFL Photos

SECOND SEMI-FINAL

1.ESSENDON (13-0-2) v 2.CASEY DEMONS (12-3)

Sunday, June 19, 11.05am @ Windy Hill
(www.warfradio.com.au, 10am; www.afl.com.au, 11am)
HEAD-TO-HEAD: Essendon 3-2. At Windy Hill: 1-1. Streak: Essendon 3 (last loss 2019). This season: Essendon 4.3 27 def Casey Demons 2.9 21 (Windy Hill, May 28, 2022)

ESSENDON
unchanged

CASEY DEMONS
IN: A. Brown, C. Conroy, A. Laing
OUT: G. Campbell, T. Gillard, E. West (AFLW pre-season)

Brendan Rhodes’ says
The Bombers made a mess of Hawthorn last week and will start strong favourites against a weakened Casey outfit in the Grand Final qualifier. The culmination of a four-year plan is two matches away from bearing fruit for Brendan Major and his women and it would be an upset if they didn’t earn the week off here. Brown is a significant inclusion for Casey and the Demons did push the Bombers to one goal in Round 14, but this looks to be a tougher ask.

Prediction: Essendon by 20

FIRST SEMI-FINAL

3.HAWTHORN (12-2-1) v 4.SOUTHERN SAINTS (10-4-1)

Sunday, June 19, 1.05pm @ Box Hill City Oval
(www.afl.com.au, 1pm)
HEAD-TO-HEAD: 3-3. At Box Hill City Oval: Hawthorn 2-1. Streak: Hawthorn 1 (last loss 2021). This season: Hawthorn 6.6 42 def Southern Saints 3.3 21 (Box Hill City Oval, April 9, 2022)

HAWTHORN
IN: A. Favell, S. Humm, J. Hutchinson, C. Schmidli, J. Wise
OUT: J. Richardson (AFLW pre-season), L. Camilleri (laceration), C. Granville (ankle), I. Khoury (hand), A. Holmes

SOUTHERN SAINTS
IN: C.Keohane, P. Staltari
OUT: E. Nixon (facial fracture), G. Buchan

Brendan Rhodes’ says
A big loss for the Saints with Ebony Nixon’s unfortunate injury, but they will still fancy their chances against a Hawks team that bears almost no resemblance to the one that won 11 and drew one of their last 12 home and away matches. Hawthorn has prioritised its AFLW debut, which is fine, but its inexperienced VFLW line-up will need to be at the top of its game to stay alive in the race for its second premiership.

Prediction: Southern Saints by 9

Southern Saints will be looking for Amelia Peck (31) and Alexandra Hynes (16) to play well to keep their season alive against Hawthorn. Picture: Quinn Rooney/AFL Photos

Brendan Rhodes’ winners: Last Round: 3. Season: 71

In a first for VFLW, all finals matches in 2022 are live streamed free via afl.com.au and the AFL Live Official App. The second semi-final will also be broadcast live on warfradio.com with a one-hour pre-match before the game.
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.
Keep track of your VFLW team via our VFLW Match Centre, which features live scores, team and player stats, match timeline, events summary and Fantasy points. Check it out at https://www.afl.com.au/vfl/fixture