North Melbourne head into finals as favourites but there is plenty of quality in the rest of the field
he AFLW’s expansion to 11 home-and-away matches and a condensed fixture with midweek clashes have come with teething problems, including injuries to star players and dire, overly-defensive affairs. But the spotlight is firmly back on the action on the field with 18 starters now whittled down to a top eight.
With the finals series starting this week with four evenly-matched clashes, we look at what to expect from the remaining contenders., though like the Lions seven years ago there is the one blemish of a draw. There were early signs of what was to come when North Melbourne crushed Brisbane in a lopsided grand final rematch, and they now look primed to become the fourth runner-up in a row to win the flag the following year.
The gun onballer took time to hit peak form this season but is without equal for being as damaging near goal as around the contests, and has booted 13 majors while remaining the key to the Roos’ commanding midfield.This year’s surprise packets have already filled their boots with a $1m prize as the champion club across the women’s and men’s home-and-away seasons.
The Tigers turned around a horror start to the season when they were defeated by the Eagles to win six of their next seven matches, but arrive in the finals without a victory in their past three. Their winning streak included beating the Power in wet and wild conditions when the Tigers were unable to rely on their usual aerial prowess in attack and instead showed that an experienced midfield remains the key to their fortunes.
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