Finals are just around the corner and the gap between the top 4 and those other teams vying for a dark horse spot in 5th and 6th has widened. In other news I think all of our hearts go out to Emily Bates, who looks set for a lengthy stint on the sidelines, after leading Hawthorn in a huge season for the hawks. Here’s the fixture for this week! Lima Llamas (3-0-3) vs Vancouver Vultures (4-0-2) @hoschke118 (9th) vs @Athos123 (6th) A challenging clash for both teams. The Vultures have been hanging on to their season, only just staying in the top 6 after throwing down the gauntlet against the Kruisers but not being able to keep pace with a side gunning for their second win. The Llamas have quite a few returning players, who they will be looking to help get a second wind in their run home to the finals. Lagos Royals (7-0-0) vs Quebec Caribou (7-0-0) @Peter W (1st) vs @FreeKickLiam (2nd) All eyes are on 1st and 2nd this week who will be looking to spoil each others undefeated seasons. We know both teams can post huge scores. I for one am excited to see if the young Scholz can keep up her excellent rucking form for the Royals, and if the Caribou’s North Melbourne midfield duo of Garner and Riddell can keep putting up ton after ton. Korean Kickers (2-0-5) vs Stuttgart Storm (3-0-4) @Chloe (8th) vs @Jono Steven (5th) This round is full of substantial showdowns when it comes to forming the top 6 for finals and this match is no exception. The Storm are coming off a convincing win cementing their spot inside the 6 and coming up against a Kickers looking for a chance at breaking into the finals contenders. I’m watching the defensive matchup this week between Kearney and the emerging talent of Chaplin, both of whom are capable of having a big impact. Kyoto Krusiers (2-0-5) vs Adelaide All Stars (0-1-6) @FreoDockers (7th) vs @Corza (10th) The All Stars continue to search for their first win, not quite being able to get over the challenge of a powerful Royals side last week. The Kruisers are coming off their second win and will be looking to knock the Vultures out of 6th place this week having beaten them on the field. Be interesting to see if the Kruisers field new recruit Garnett this week, who kicked a goal but did not see much of the ball in the last round. The All Stars will likely be bringing their new recruits to the party, led by Dayna Finn who continued her excellent season at her new club last week. Darmstadt Dynamos (5-0-2) vs Majorca Islanders (5-0-2) @WillH_VI (3rd) vs @TheTassieHawk (4th) Another pivotal matchup, how good is it when you have a showdown between 1st and 2nd and 3rd and 4th in the same round. Both these sides were dominant in their wins last week. The Dynamos in particular pulling off a close win led by the resplendent Marinoff in her 100th game. The Islanders are the underdogs this week with a run of bad luck with injuries continuing. They will be feeling the loss of Emily Bates after her untimely injury, and will be looking to younger talents to life in her absence. Get your teams in when you can, the round kicks off at 7:15pm AEST on Thursday!
Great into Athos.... but still no Garnett this week! The Kruisers will instead look to cover Ash Richards injury with O'Sullivan - which will more than likely turn out to be another poor move! Def: Hannah Priest, Jess Rentsch, Emily Pease (Poppy Scholz) Mid: Georgie Prespakis, Ash Centra, Carly Remmos, Jasmine Fleming (Orla O'Dwyer) Ruck: Tahlia Hickie (Lauren Pearce) Fwd: Gabby O'Sullivan, Aileen Gilroy, Montana Ham (Georgia Garnett) IC: Lily Goss, Ellie Blackburn (Hayley Miller)
Korean Kickers still doin' it rough on the forwards front DEF: E. Kearney, L. Pugh, N. Stevens (B. Smith) MID: M. Conti, A. Anderson, M. Bowen, J. Lambert (S. Rowe) FWD: G. Campbell, K. Shierlaw, S. Thompson RUC: M. Strom (E. O'Dowd) INT: G. Egan, M. Kauffman (K. Ashmore)
DEF: Elisabeth Georgostathis, Chelsea Biddell, Shelley Heath (Katherine Smith) MID: Anne Hatchard, Keeley Sherar, Madison Prespakis, Abbie Mckay (Isabelle Dawes) RUC: Stephanie Wales (Sarah Lakay) FWD: Eloise Jones, Abbygail Bushby, Tayla Harris (Alyssa Bannan) INT: Zippy Fish, Madison Newman (Catherine Svarc) Not thinking any major changes so far this week! Scrap the above, McKay is back so she comes in for Tripodi!
The Quebec Caribou are lining up as follows this weekend (subject to any curveballs at team selection): DEF: Emma O'Driscoll, Niamh McLaughlin, Brit Gutknecht (Lucy McEvoy) MID: Jasmine Garner, Ash Riddell, Nina Morrison, Abbey Dowrick (Tanya Kennedy) RUC: Jess Allan (Georgia Campbell) FWD: Aishling Moloney, Eden Zanker, Imogen Barnett (Greta Bodey) INT: Tyla Hanks, Erone Fitzpatrick (Jess Fitzgerald)
Some players coming back in the side to give the Llamas some hope to finish the season well In: Dana East, Ally Morphett Out: Piper Dunlop DEF: Sarah Goodwin, Molly Brooksby, Lucy Cronin (Katie Lynch) MID: Mia King, Lucy Single, Gabby Newton, Sierra Grieves RUC: Ally Morphett (Piper Dunlop) FWD: Danielle Ponter, Elaine Grigg, Blaithin Bogue INT: Piper Window, Dana East (Kalinda Howarth) Others: J'Noemi Anderson (1-3 wks), Yasmin Duursma (2 wks), Alyce Parker (6 wks), Alice O'Loughlin (TBC), Bri Davey (TBC), Caitlin Wendland (Season), Liv Purcell (Season) EDIT: Howarth moved from FWD emergency to INT emergency to cover Window as a late out
Islanders Round 8 side for our clash with the Dynamos @WillH_VI (subject to change following Friday night teams) Paxman, C Fitzgerald, Cordner (M Gay) Roberts, Ty Smith, Hurley, A Smith (Syme) Goldsworthy, Brennan, Gee, (Banfield) L Wales (P Kelly) Lewis, Rennie (Howley) Injured – C Randall (test), Gould (4-5 weeks), Bates (5-6 weeks), D D’Arcy (season) Not selected - Ewings
Adelaide All Stars hoping for a win this week tough decisions this week. DEF- Charlotte Thomas, Mia Busch, Erika O'shea (Annabell Johnson) Mid Laura Gardiner, Georgia Nanscawen, Dayna Finn Ruby Schliecher (Nicola Barr) Ruck Sabrina Fredrick (Ange Stannett OOP) FWD Taylor Smith, Jesse Wardlaw Indy Tauhu (Paige Scott) INT- Georgia Clayden Amy Mcdonald (Daria Banister) Not playing Bresnehan, Darcy Moloney, Breed, Drennan, Goldrick,
Hawks and Dockers players are locked onfield, emergency or unused as per round 7. Full round lockout is tonight at 715pm
Stuttgart Storm are again unchanged, backing in the squad! DEF: Ella Heads, Jenna Richardson, Maeve Chaplin (Isabel Huntington) MID: Charlie Rowbottom, Eliza West, Eliza McNamara, Mimi Hill (Jenna Bruton) RUC: Breann Harrington (Jess Good) FWD: Ashleigh Woodland, Cynthia Hamilton, Aine McDonagh (Hayley McLaughlin) INT: Lily Mithen, Rebecca Webster
For the top of the table clash Lagos @Peter W are rocking DEF: Serene Watson, Jade Ellenger, Cambridge McCormick (Libby Birch) MID: Kiara Bowers, Aishling McCarthy, Georgia Patrikios, Kate Hore (Sophie Conway) RUC: Matilda Scholz (Lauren Bella) FWD: Chloe Molloy, Tarni Evans, Bonnie Toogood (Tahlia Randall) INT: Jaide Britton, Ellie McKenzie (Isabelle Pritchard) Others: Maddy Guerin, Shineah Goody, Ruby Sargent-Wilson, Laura Stone, Molly O'Hehir
and likewise for the Dynamos @WillH_VI DEF: T.Lucas-Rodd, B.Koenen, J.Allen (T.Smith) MID: E.Marinoff, B.Bonnici, C.Whitfort, M.Fitzsimon (A.Gaylor) RUC: A.Edmonds (H.Harris) FWD: J.Parry, C.Hodder, T.Craven (B.Boileau) I/C: T.White, R.Beeson (M.Cann)
Unofficial scores have the Dynamos 1050 @WillH_VI commanding 104 point winners over the Islanders 946. Darmstadt's win locks in a top 3 spot while the Islanders will hope to secure home advantage for the 4th vs 5th Elimination Final in a fortnight's time In the League MVP race frontrunner Ebony Marinoff had a good game but narrowly missed the votes, giving the chasing pack a strong chance to position themselves strongly for 2025 honours.
Round 8 results Darmstadt Dynamos 1055 def Majorca Islanders 946 Korean Kickers 1000 def Stuttgart Storm 928 Lagos Royals 983 def by Quebec Caribou 994 Lima Llamas 742 def by Vancouver Vultures 919 Kyoto Kruisers 844 def Adelaide All-Stars 842 Votes Conti 3, Chaplin 2, M Strom 1 Gardiner 3, Amy McDonald 2, Nanscawen 1 Fish 3, M Prespakis 2, M King 1 L Wales 3, Roberts 2, Hodder 1 Riddell 3, Garner 2, Dowrick 1
The ladder with 1 round to go is as follows, with the teams ranked 5th-8th @Jono Steven @Athos123 @Chloe @FreoDockers fighting it out for the 2 remaining finals positions:- Progressive MVP Votes (the top 3 vote getters can still win the medal with 1 game to play) - Gardiner (All Stars) 16, Noffy (Dynamos) 14, Riddell (Caribou) 13, Bowers 12, Garner 12, L Wales 11, Nanscawen 11, G Prespakis 10, Conti 10, Roberts 8, Bonnici 7, M Strom 7, Hore 6, Hatchard 6, M Chaplin 6, M Scholtz 5, Newton 5, M King 5, McNamara 4, Morphett 4, T White 4, Purcell 3, Ham 3, Molloy 3, Rowbottom 3, Goldsworthy 3, N Morrison 3, Sherar 3, Fish 3, M Prespakis 3, Dowrick 3, Hill 2, Heath 2, Cordner 2, Hanks 2, Hurley 2, S Wales 2, Wardlaw 2, Bowen 2, Fitzsimon 2, Remmos 2, Ty Smith 2, Amy McDonald 2, Aisling McCarthy 1, Hickie 1, Lambert 1, A McKay 1, McCormick 1, Heads 1, West 1, Parry 1, Single 1, A Anderson 1, Hodder 1