Wikipedia

2019 Geelong Football Club women's season

The 2019 season was Geelong Football Club's first in the AFL Women's (AFLW) competition. Geelong (known as the Cats) joined the league as an expansion club alongside North Melbourne, having initially been denied entry into the competition's first season in 2017. Paul Hood was the club's inaugural senior coach, and Melissa Hickey was appointed club captain.

Geelong Football Club
2019 season
Group of female athletes walk from football oval after a game
Geelong players after a win in round four
PresidentColin Carter
CoachPaul Hood
(1st season)
Captain(s)Melissa Hickey
(1st season)
Home groundGMHBA Stadium
AFLW2nd (Conference B)
Finals seriesPreliminary finals
Best and fairestMeg McDonald
Leading goalkickerMia-Rae Clifford (6)
Highest home attendance18,429 vs. Collingwood (round 1)
Lowest home attendance4,125 vs. Fremantle (round 6)
← 2018 (VFLW) 2020 →

In preparation for the club's entry into the league, Geelong were provided with a range of recruitment concessions, including early access to existing clubs' players prior to the league's signing period, and additional selections in the 2018 AFL Women's draft. Nina Morrison was selected by the Cats with the first overall selection in the draft.

Geelong began the regular season against Collingwood at GMHBA Stadium on 2 February, finished the regular season with a 3–4 win–loss record, and qualified for the 2019 finals series. Geelong was subsequently defeated in a preliminary final against Adelaide by 66 points, eliminating them before the 2019 AFL Women's Grand Final.

Meg McDonald won Geelong's best and fairest award with 182 votes, finishing ahead of Olivia Purcell, who came in second place with 168 votes. McDonald was also the Cats' sole selection in the 2019 AFL Women's All-Australian team. Mia-Rae Clifford was the club's leading goalkicker, scoring six goals.

Background

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Paul Hood (coach) and Melissa Hickey (captain)

The first season of the AFL Women's (AFLW) league was held in 2017, and consisted of eight teams operated by associated clubs from the Australian Football League (AFL).[1] Although Geelong Football Club's application to join the AFLW's inaugural season was unsuccessful, it was later confirmed in September 2017 that it would join the league as an expansion club from the 2019 season, alongside North Melbourne.[2]

Paul Hood was appointed the club's inaugural AFLW coach in February 2018, having previously coached Geelong's VFL Women's (VFLW) team since its inception in 2016.[3] Natalie Wood replaced Hood as the VFLW coach, and also secured a role as an assistant coach for the AFLW team.[4] The coaching team was finalised in November 2018, with Geelong AFL players Tom Stewart and Aaron Black joining Wood as assistant coaches, and Oscar Owens and David Morgan named as development coaches.[5]

Melissa Hickey was announced as the Cats' inaugural AFLW captain in December 2018.[6] Rebecca Goring, who had captained the VFLW side since 2017, was awarded the role of vice-captain.[6] The player leadership group for the 2019 season also consisted of Richelle Cranston, Renee Garing, Aasta O'Connor and Anna Teague.[6]

Ford Australia and Deakin University were the major sponsors of the AFLW team for the 2019 season.[7][8] Ford's partnership extended a long-running sponsorship deal that had existed since 1925 with the Geelong Football Club.[7]

Playing list

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Recruitment

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Richelle Cranston (Melbourne) and Phoebe McWilliams (Greater Western Sydney) were recruited by Geelong in the off–season.

The playing list size of each AFLW team was set at 30 players for the 2019 season, with two of these players signed as "cross-code" rookies that had not participated in any Australian rules football competition during the previous three years.[9]

In preparation for the clubs' entry into the league, both Geelong and North Melbourne were provided with a range of recruitment concessions. This included an exclusive ten-day signing period held in May 2018 where the two expansion clubs could recruit players from existing AFLW clubs.[10] During this period Geelong signed: Richelle Cranston, Melissa Hickey, Erin Hoare and Anna Teague (from Melbourne);[10] Aasta O'Connor (Western Bulldogs); Maddie Boyd and Phoebe McWilliams (Greater Western Sydney).[11] There was also the potential to sign players over the age of 18 who did not play in the AFLW in 2018,[12] with the Cats recruiting six players from their VFLW team: Cassie Blakeway, Kate Darby, Renee Garing, Rebecca Goring, Jordan Ivey and Danielle Orr.[13]

Due to the club only signing thirteen players during the expansion club signing period (compared to North Melbourne's seventeen players), Geelong was awarded four compensation selections in the upcoming draft—including the first two picks.[14]

Following the expansion club signing period, all clubs could participate in a signing and trading period that ran from 23 May to 4 June 2018.[10] Geelong were not heavily involved in trading with clubs, preferring to focus on building their list through their VFLW player signings.[15]

The AFLW draft was held in October 2018, with the Cats selecting the final ten players of their inaugural list: Nina Morrison (pick 1), Sophie Van De Heuvel (2), Rebecca Webster (7), Olivia Purcell (14), Denby Taylor (20), Georgia Clarke (24), Rene Caris (35), Maighan Fogas (47), Elise Coventry (57) and Madeline Keryk (62).[16]

Statistics

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Geelong utilised the majority of their playing list for this season, with only Elise Coventry and Hayley Trevean not appearing in an AFLW game.[17] There were ten players who played in all eight of the club's games.[18] Mia-Rae Clifford was the club's leading goalkicker, scoring six goals.[19][18]

Playing list and statistics[20][18]
Player No. Games Goals Behinds Kicks Handballs Disposals Marks Tackles
Rene Caris 1 2 0 1 4 8 12 0 1
Danielle Orr 2 8 1 1 35 32 67 13 23
Hannah Burchell 3 1 0 0 6 2 8 2 1
Cassie Blakeway 4 7 0 0 34 18 52 9 11
Jordan Ivey 5 8 0 4 36 22 58 17 33
Julia Crockett-Grills 6 8 0 1 45 20 65 10 27
Mia-Rae Clifford 7 8 6 2 30 8 38 12 18
Kate Darby 8 7 5 4 40 13 53 12 18
Nina Morrison 9 1 0 1 13 9 22 2 8
Georgie Rankin 10 2 0 0 3 7 10 1 6
Meg McDonald 11 8 0 0 80 46 126 21 10
Renee Garing 12 8 0 1 43 61 104 9 64
Maighan Fogas 13 1 0 0 4 2 6 2 2
Aasta O'Connor 14 5 0 1 22 10 32 7 14
Olivia Purcell 16 8 2 0 58 66 124 9 41
Georgia Clarke 17 6 1 0 31 9 40 10 6
Melissa Hickey 18 6 0 0 33 26 59 18 23
Rebecca Webster 21 4 0 1 11 15 26 4 4
Phoebe McWilliams 23 6 3 4 27 9 36 19 13
Maddy McMahon 24 7 0 0 54 29 83 21 16
Elise Coventry 25 — — — — — — — —
Maddie Boyd 26 7 2 2 24 23 47 20 12
Sophie Van De Heuvel 27 7 1 0 25 18 43 7 14
Denby Taylor 28 8 0 0 37 23 60 5 16
Richelle Cranston 30 6 1 3 62 32 94 13 27
Hayley Trevean 33 — — — — — — — —
Anna Teague 40 6 0 0 25 11 36 7 10
Rebecca Goring 44 8 0 0 17 19 46 10 18
Madeline Keryk 45 8 0 0 62 32 94 15 38
Erin Hoare 46 7 0 0 15 20 35 6 18

Season summary

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Rebecca Goring was acting captain for Geelong's first two games of the season.

Due to the expansion in the number of teams participating in the AFLW competition, a conference system was introduced for the 2019 season.[21] This involved two conferences ("Conference A" and "Conference B") consisting of five teams, with each team playing the other teams in their conference once—as well as three games against teams from the alternate conference.[21] This equated to each team playing a total of seven matches in the regular season, with the two top teams in each conference qualifying for the finals series.[21] Geelong were placed in Conference B with Brisbane, Carlton, Collingwood and Greater Western Sydney.[22]

Geelong began the regular season against Collingwood at GMHBA Stadium, narrowly winning their first AFLW match by one point.[23] Nina Morrison was nominated for the league's Rising Star award after accumulating 22 disposals and eight tackles and kicking the winning behind in a best-on-ground performance.[24] This was to be Morrison's only game for the season, as she ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her right knee at training the following week, which required a reconstruction.[25] Geelong were defeated by reigning premiers Western Bulldogs in round two, recording an 18-point margin.[26]

Captain Melissa Hickey missed the first two matches of the season due to injury, with vice-captain Rebecca Goring assuming the captain's role in Hickey's absence.[27] Hickey played her first game for the Cats in round three, captaining a loss against Adelaide.[28] Geelong won their next two matches, defeating Carlton and Brisbane to move to first position on the Conference B ladder after round five.[29][30] Brisbane's score of 1.2 (8) was the lowest overall score in AFLW history at the time.[30] Geelong played Fremantle in round six and despite leading after the first quarter, were defeated by 36 points after not scoring in the second half of the match.[31] In the final round of the season, the Cats suffered a 31-point defeat by Greater Western Sydney, with a score of just 1.4 (10).[32]

The club finished the regular season with a 3–4 win–loss record and placed second on the Conference B ladder, qualifying for the 2019 finals series.[33][34] Geelong were subsequently defeated in a preliminary final against Adelaide by 66 points, and therefore did not progress to the 2019 AFL Women's Grand Final.[35] Geelong's score of 1.1 (7) was the lowest overall score in AFLW history.[35]

Results

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Key
H Home game
A Away game
PF Preliminary finals
Table of season results[36]
Round Date Result Score Opponent Score Ground Attendance
G B T G B T
1 2 February Won 3 6 24 Collingwood 3 5 23 GMHBA Stadium H 18,429
2 9 February Lost 2 4 16 Western Bulldogs 5 4 34 VU Whitten Oval A 8,612
3 17 February Lost 6 1 37 Adelaide 10 6 66 Norwood Oval A 4,433
4 23 February Won 2 7 19 Carlton 1 8 14 GMHBA Stadium H 7,060
5 2 March Won 5 5 35 Brisbane 1 2 8 Moreton Bay Central Sports Complex A Unknown
6 9 March Lost 2 1 13 Fremantle 6 13 49 GMHBA Stadium H 4,125
7 15 March Lost 1 4 10 Greater Western Sydney 6 5 41 UNSW Canberra Oval A 4,524
PF 24 March Lost[nb 1] 1 1 7 Adelaide 11 7 73 Adelaide Oval A 13,429

Ladder

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Conference B
Pos Team Pld W L D PF PA PP Pts Qualification
1 Carlton 7 4 3 0 257 258 99.6 16 Preliminary finals
2 Geelong 7 3 4 0 154 235 65.5 12
3 Greater Western Sydney 7 2 5 0 208 295 70.5 8
4 Brisbane 7 2 5 0 193 274 70.4 8
5 Collingwood 7 1 6 0 162 243 66.7 4
Source: womens.afl
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for.

Awards

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Meg McDonald won the club's best and fairest award for the season.

Geelong's inaugural AFL Women's best and fairest was announced in a ceremony held at GMHBA Stadium on 5 April.[37] The award was won by Meg McDonald, who received 182 votes; runner-up Olivia Purcell received 168 votes, with Renee Garing and Maddy McMahon in joint third place on 157 votes.[38] Additionally, captain Melissa Hickey received the ‘Hoops’ award, for best representing the club's values, and Kate Darby was presented with the 'Community Champion' award.[38]

McDonald and McMahon were both shortlisted for the honorary 2019 AFL Women's All-Australian team, however only McDonald was selected in the final team.[39][40] Geelong also had two players, Nina Morrison (round one) and Purcell (round five), who were nominated for the season's Rising Star award.[41][42]

Table of awards received by Geelong players
Award Awarded by Player Result Ref.
All-Australian team AFL Women's Meg McDonald Selected [40]
[39]
Maddy McMahon Shortlisted
AFL Rising Star Nina Morrison Nominated [41]
Olivia Purcell Nominated [42]
Best and fairest Geelong Football Club Meg McDonald Won [38]
The ‘Hoops’ Award Melissa Hickey Won
Community Champion Kate Darby Won

VFLW Season

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In their third season in the second-tier VFL Women’s competition, AFLW coach Paul Hood stepped aside as Natalie Wood became the first female head coach in club history.[43] Geelong appointed five players to a leadership group: Maddy Keryk, Amy McDonald, Danielle Higgins, Kate Darby, and Jordan Ivey sharing and rotating the captaincy responsibilities.[44]

Making the finals from sixth position, the team was eliminated by Melbourne University in the first elimination final.[45]

Results

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Key
H Home game
A Away game
EF Elimination Final
Table of season results[46]
Round Date Result Score Opponent Score Ground
G B T G B T
1 12 May Lost 5 3 33 Melbourne University 12 5 77 University Oval, Parkville A
2 18 May Won 7 2 44 Essendon 5 9 39 Central Reserve, Colac H
3 25 May Lost 2 3 15 Collingwood 3 4 22 GMHBA Stadium H
4 2 June Lost 1 6 12 Western Bulldogs 3 1 19 Whitten Oval A
5 8 June Lost 5 3 33 Richmond 8 7 55 Punt Road Oval A
6 Bye
7 22 June Won 8 8 56 Casey 4 3 27 GMHBA Stadium H
8 29 June Won 5 3 33 Carlton 4 2 26 IKON Park A
9 6 July Won 4 7 31 Hawthorn 3 6 24 Box Hill City Oval A
10 13 July Won 3 7 25 Southern Saints 2 4 16 Deakin University, Waurn Ponds H
11 Bye
12 27 July Lost 4 1 25 Darebin 6 5 41 Preston City Oval A
13 4 August Won 9 8 62 NT Thunder 3 1 19 GMHBA Stadium H
14 10 August Lost 4 6 30 Melbourne University 7 2 44 Deakin University, Waurn Ponds H
15 18 August Won 8 4 52 Williamstown 1 0 6 La Trobe University, Bundoora A
16 24 August Won 7 6 48 Carlton 2 3 15 GMHBA Stadium H
EF 31 August Lost 6 7 43 Melbourne University 9 2 56 North Port Oval N

Ladder

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Pos Team Pld W L D PF PA PP Pts Qualification
1 Collingwood (P) 14 12 2 0 587 351 167.2 48 Finals series
2 Southern Saints 14 11 3 0 523 299 174.9 44
3 Western Bulldogs 14 10 4 0 478 320 149.4 40
4 Richmond 14 9 5 0 617 494 124.9 36
5 Melbourne University 14 8 6 0 662 502 131.9 32
6 Geelong Cats 14 8 6 0 499 430 116.0 32
7 Hawthorn 14 7 6 1 507 457 110.9 30
8 Casey Demons 14 6 8 0 497 435 114.3 24
9 Essendon 14 6 8 0 473 501 94.4 24
10 NT Thunder 14 5 9 0 442 664 66.6 20
11 Darebin 14 4 10 0 366 553 66.2 16
12 Carlton 14 3 10 1 398 563 70.7 14
13 Williamstown 14 1 13 0 211 691 30.5 4
Source: SportsTG
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for.
(P) Premiers

Awards

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Geelong were eliminated from the finals series as a result of their preliminary final loss to Adelaide

References

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  2. ^ "North Melbourne and Geelong set to join AFL Womens in 2019, further expansion in 2020". news.com.au. News Corp Australia. 27 September 2017. Archived from the original on 6 January 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
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  4. ^ Oates, Stacey (28 August 2018). "Wood becomes part of Geelong Cats history". geelongcats.com.au. Telstra Media. Archived from the original on 19 March 2019. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
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  22. ^ Ryan, Peter (26 October 2018). "AFLW to kick off in Geelong in 2019 under conference system". The Age. Melbourne: Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 26 October 2018. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  23. ^ Black, Sarah (2 February 2019). "AFLW: Cats record historic one point win". geelongcats.com.au. Telstra Media. Archived from the original on 5 January 2020. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  24. ^ AFL Media (5 February 2019). "Nina named Round One Rising Star". geelongcats.com.au. Telstra Media. Archived from the original on 21 February 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  25. ^ Ryan, Peter (8 February 2019). "AFLW star Nina Morrison out for the season after injuring ACL". The Age. Melbourne: Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 8 March 2019. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  26. ^ Black, Sarah (9 February 2019). "Match report: Dogs unbeaten after conquering Cats". womens.afl. Telstra Media. Archived from the original on 9 February 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  27. ^ "Hickey to miss Cats' historic AFLW match". The Age. Melbourne: Fairfax Media. 31 January 2019. Archived from the original on 8 March 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
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  30. ^ a b Whiting, Michael (2 March 2019). "Match report: Cats put Lions to the sword in classy road win". womens.afl. Telstra Media. Archived from the original on 9 April 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  31. ^ Cleary, Mitch (9 March 2019). "Match report: Dockers blow Cats away in hunt for finals". womens.afl. Telstra Media. Archived from the original on 22 February 2020. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  32. ^ Curley, Adam (15 March 2019). "Match report: Giants end season on a high, Cats left in limbo". womens.afl. Telstra Media. Archived from the original on 22 February 2020. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  33. ^ "2019 Ladder". AFL Women's. Telstra Media. Archived from the original on 27 July 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  34. ^ Black, Sarah (18 March 2019). "Preliminary finals locked in: Full venue and time info". AFL Women's. Telstra Media. Archived from the original on 1 April 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  35. ^ a b "Adelaide Crows into AFLW grand final after massive 66-point demolition of Geelong". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 24 March 2019. Archived from the original on 31 March 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  36. ^ "2019 Season Scores and Results". AustralianFootball.com. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  37. ^ McWilliams, Phoebe (4 April 2019). "AFLW Best and Fairest preview". geelongcats.com.au. Telstra Media. Archived from the original on 11 January 2020. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  38. ^ a b c Oates, Stacey (5 April 2019). "McDonald wins AFLW Best and Fairest". geelongcats.com.au. Telstra Media. Archived from the original on 11 January 2020. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  39. ^ a b "2019 AFLW All Australian squad revealed: Who made the cut?". womens.afl. Telstra Media. 21 March 2019. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  40. ^ a b Navaratnam, Dinny (2 April 2019). "Five Crows, four Roos headline All Australian team". womens.afl. Telstra Media. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  41. ^ a b Black, Sarah (5 February 2019). "Cat and Giant win R1 Rising Star nominations". womens.afl. Telstra Media. Archived from the original on 24 February 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  42. ^ a b Black, Sarah (5 March 2019). "Second Rising Star nominees named for Cats, Crows". womens.afl. Telstra Media. Archived from the original on 7 November 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  43. ^ "Wood becomes part of Geelong Cats history". geelongcats.com.au. Telstra Media. 28 August 2018. Archived from the original on 19 March 2019. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
  44. ^ "Cats name VFLW leaders". Geelong Football Club. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  45. ^ Kvant, Katherine. "Cats fall short in elimination final". geelongcats.com.au. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  46. ^ "2019 Season Scores and Results". Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  47. ^ "VFLW: Webster wins Best & Fairest". Geelong Football Club. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
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