The AFLW’s controversial fixturing has impacted Ulster players this week as round six kicked off on Tuesday with Forkhill woman Amy Mulholland in action for the Fremantle Dockers.
The Dockers won away to Geelong 27-45 at GMHBA Stadium to move into the top four on the season ladder with only four matches remaining until the start of November’s finals series.
Mulholland had a quiet game in the visitor’s forward line, notching only three tackles all game, but even below her best, she is rarely left out of Fremantle’s matchday squad.
Yesterday morning, the Sydney Swans finals hopes were dented when they lost 27-24 away to Essendon at Whitten Oval in Melbourne.
The Swans used Donegal defender Tanya Kenney in a tagging role – one she perfected last year – sending her to Bombers star midfielder Maddy Prespakis.
The Castlefinn woman is the Swans thrives on marking the opposition’s best player, but it wasn’t enough to stop Prespakis from tallying 19 disposals and being named as one of the Bombers best players.
Sydney remains in 11th on the season ladder - just one win off the top eight finals spots - but on current form are a long shot to win their remaining matches and qualify for the play offs.
Kennedy finished with 21 disposals (13 kicks & 8 handballs), 2 marks, and 11 tackles.
Also, yesterday, the winless Gold Coast Suns lost 35-22 away to Hawthorn at Kinetic Stadium in Frankson.
Dropped last week, Armagh’s Lauren McConville was named as an emergency player by the wooden spoon favourites.
Down defender Clara Fitzpatrick finished with 9 disposals (6 kicks & 3 handballs), 2 marks, and 2 tackles.
Former Donegal skipper Niamh McLaughlin collected 10 disposals (6 kicks $ 4 handballs) and 5 tackles in midfield.
In other news, the AFLW season will expand next season from 11 to 12 league matches, with a further increase if there is an average crowd attendance of 6000 at games and 100,000 broadcast viewers according to the terms of the new collective bargaining agreement.
However, AFLW has never exceeded an average crowd of 6000 since 2019, with match attendances down by 60 per cent in the last five years.
The AFL is considering starting the 2025 AFLW season as early as July which would result in a cross-code clash with the All-Ireland Ladies’ Football finals scheduled for the first weekend in August.
