The girls are better than the boys
A huge opening AFLW weekend, the young Eagle second only to Harley and emerging talent popping off across the WAFL & WAFLW.
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Today’s newsletter includes: A question for Fyfe and the Dockers, the young Eagle second only to Harley, a blow for West Coast’s draft hopes, the age of Ella, a WAFLW upset for the ages, young Sharks making waves and a barnstorming finish to the Alcock Cup.
Let’s get stuck in.
AFL
You could genuinely feel the tension in Optus Stadium on Friday night. A very good Brisbane side came to town and jumped the Dockers, who made some decisions and errors in their forward half they hoped had been left behind for good. Everywhere else on the field, they just let the Lions control the ball. Normally, you’re allowed to have a bad game on the run to finals. This year is a killer. Fifteen wins and no guarantee of finals - ouch. Huge game coming up this weekend. They are still every chance.
One of the few positives was the impact of Nat Fyfe as the sub - so much so that it welcomes a debate about his role next week. If they don’t win, it’s his last game - so does Justin Longmuir hit the button and cross his fingers that Fyfe gets through? Does he have the same impact in a wider role? Is it necessary, or do you back the group that’s got it done for 12 weeks and are about to add Hayden Young? It’s an interesting discussion.
We said we’d always try to have a positive lense here at Jumper Punches, so when it comes to West Coast there is one person I want to talk about: Jobe Shanahan. At the moment I’d place him behind only Harley Reid when it comes to young Eagles with A-Grader potential. His finishing left plenty to be desired against the Doggies but the way he flew for marks, the way he kept presenting, and the way he took contact was all top-notch. His name is underlined.
Another solid outing from Hamish Davis as well - a man we all would recognise if we were to meet him at a bar or restaurant.
What does the future look like for Reuben Ginbey? I’m fascinated. He was good on Sunday again, he does whatever role is required. But he’s unlikely to be a KPD full-time for the rest of his career. Third tall down back? Return to the middle? He’s a key piece of the puzzle, I just can’t quite fit him.
AFLW
September 19, 2020 was the day Ella Roberts was marked for greatness. The then 15-year-old from Margaret River stood up in the senior WAFLW grand final with two late goals to win the game for Peel. Fast forward five years, she’s now 20, wearing West Coast colours, and showed last Thursday night she’s ready to claim her spot as one of the five best players in the AFLW. Two goals, 24 touches, eight marks, four tackles - while battling serious cramp late in the game courtesy of an interrupted pre-season - makes for a very good start to the year. Much has been made of Lucia Painter’s big night already but Jess Rentsch is another name to watch. Tough, in-and-under mid who can spread with pace. She laid almost double to amount of tackles as any other player on the ground. This could be the year for Daisy’s W program to pop.
It was an equally impressive performance by the Dockers in their opening W game - and there’s one positional move that was flagged pre-season which paid off already. Hayley Miller was an absolute A-Grader in 2022’s second season (S6) but has battled to reclaim those same heights since. With Gabby Newton coming off a full pre-season and Turbo Bowers back on deck, the opportunity came to try her forward and it resulted in three goals in an opening-round win on the road against a highly-rated Port outfit. She’s obviously capable of going in the midfield when you need her - but I really like Miller the forward. She’s skilled, aggressive and knows how to finish.
If anyone has followed me on any platform for the past two years, you would have heard the name Zippy Fish before. This kid is outstanding. She somehow slipped to pick five in last year’s draft and Sydney would be thrilled. An equal record number of disposals on debut, too many scores set up by her kicks out of defence to count, and a toughness than belies her size. You’ll want to watch the Fish. I’m very happy the wider footy world has been introduced to her.
WAFL & WAFLW
Carys D’Addario was easily best on ground as Swan Districts pulled off a WAFLW preliminary final upset win over Subiaco. The Lions looked destined to be in the decider all year, but instead suffered a straight-sets exit. It could have been a far different story if any of the 5-6 bizarre moments late in last week’s semifinal against Claremont had fallen their way. Anyway - D’Addario has been underrated by plenty but she just dominated a midfield with three of the best 10 players of the season running around in it. Big task ahead for Swans against Claremont in the WAFLW Grand Final at Mineral Resources Park this Sunday but it will be an unreal day either way - get down if you can.
That’s 12 wins in a row for South Fremantle and you could have raffled the votes between at least five of them. Good luck to everyone else this September.
West Coast NGA prospect Koby Evans was carried off with what looked like a nasty non-contact ankle injury in Perth’s loss to Claremont. This kid is super talented, he was great as a bottom-aged national U18 last year and picked in the AFL Academy, but he can’t catch a break on the injury front. Sent off a few texts last night for clarity but the early signs aren’t great. Looked bad, but fingers crossed.
We all love draft smokeys and East Fremantle’s Luke Carrello is becoming hard to ignore. Jack Cleaver was the first one to mention the teenager’s name to me, but he was out injured at the time. He went straight into the league side on his return. Carrello had 22 and a goal off a wing for the Sharks in a huge, consequential win over the Royals on Saturday after 21 and 6 marks the week before. His size will work against him - he’s only 177cm - but he can seriously play.
Speaking of East Freo young guns - there’s a 16-year-old kid called Reid Foot who had 26, eight inside-50s and 2.2 in his third colts game and used the ball incredibly well. As it was described to me, he: “took the piss in the second half.”
This is already a little bit Shark-heavy so I’ll keep this quick: Somebody please draft Milan Murdock. Another 31 touches and 2 goals to lead his side to a good win. A good chance a Sandover’s coming his way next month.
Kudos to Claremont, who came back from 50 points down against Perth to win. Ben Smith from The West has a good summary of how they turned it around. What stood out to me is it was arguably Zac Mainwaring’s best game of WAFL footy. He’s been getting to work on his game and it’s showing.
*Additional reporting by Denholm Melrose
SCHOOL FOOTY
Upsets aplenty in the PSA WA 1st XVIII competition. Hale School have one hand on the Alcock Cup already after a lean few years, but have to wait another week to see if they claim it outright after an upset loss to Scotch College on Saturday. West Coast father-son prospect Charlie Banfield led the pack for Scotch with 29 touches and three goals, while his little brother Harper Banfield was prolific as well. Hale need to beat Christ Church Grammar School next week to lift the cup outright, but there is still a chance they share with Wesley and even Aquinas as well if they can’t get the win.
Taj Longmuir (son of Troy) and Leo Steed wrapped up a productive season at Wesley with a win over Trinity in their last game. The school finishes equal on wins with Hale, but Hale has a game in hand while Wesley finish with the bye. They were the surprise packets of the season by all accounts, in a strong year for the program.
I fully intended to include a wrap of the WA’s recent School Sport Australia U15s championships here, but we’re already getting quite long and there’s too much good stuff I don’t want to leave out - keep an eye out for a special wrap soon.
And just to be upfront, in future editions most school footy and other grassroots reporting is going to be for paid Jumper Punches subscribers only. The effort and relationships required to gather information at this level is much greater. We hope you find value in the reporting regardless and hope you support our work.
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Catch you next week.