How to watch and who will win? Your questions answered ahead of AFLW preliminary finals

Ahead of the AFLW preliminary finals tomorrow, and the grand final the following weekend, Kate O’Halloran has answered all of your questions.

Which teams are left standing after qualifying finals?

The AFLW qualifying finals were played over two weeks this season, with a COVID-19 outbreak at the Pies resulting in their match against the Lions being postponed by a week.

After the match did eventually get underway, the Lions were far too good for Collingwood, with a small but vocal Gabba crowd cheering them on to a 50-point win.

Unsurprisingly, the Pies struggled to run out the game, with coach Steve Symonds questioning in his post-match press conference whether his players (who he said had been “cleared medically”) were up to playing to the level required.

Collingwood had, however, struggled against the top sides this season, fighting on admirably to make finals after losing star midfielders Bri Davey (round one) and Brit Bonnici (round eight) to ACLs.

Brisbane, meanwhile, sent yet another reminder to the competition to underrate them at their peril, winning the contested possession count by 41, marks inside 50 by 11, tackles by 15, inside 50s by 24 and clearances by 14.

They now take on the Demons for a spot in a record fourth grand final since the competition’s inception.

Over at Arden Street Oval, the Dockers comfortably accounted for the Kangaroos in a match many predicted would be closer than the 38-point final margin.

It marked the second consecutive qualifying final loss for the North Melbourne Tasmanian side, who had beaten the Dockers earlier in the season in Hobart, and would have fancied themselves at their Victorian home base.

The Dockers, however, have built a home away from home in Melbourne this season, spending over a month on the road and winning all four fixtures in Victoria.

That resilience will bode well for their away clash against the season’s minor premiers, the Adelaide Crows.

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When and where are the preliminary finals being played?

Both finals will take place on Saturday April 2.

The first of these, between Melbourne and the Brisbane Lions, will be played at 12:40pm AEDT at the MCG.

This is the first time an AFLW game has been played on the MCG, fulfilling the dreams of many of the women taking to the field — including captain Daisy Pearce who is desperate to finish her playing career with a premiership.

Brisbane defender Nat Grider, who has won a premiership, went so far as to say that the occasion may be “the most exciting [the Brisbane AFLW team] will ever play in”.

For a bit of trivia, a number of AFL Women’s exhibition games have been played on the MCG (in 2013, 2015 and 2016), but there has not been an AFLW game (regular season or finals) played on the hallowed turf.

The second preliminary final — between Adelaide and Fremantle — is taking place in Adelaide directly after that game finishes, at 2:10pm ACDT — that’s 11:40am AWST in the west.

The Crows will host the Dockers at Adelaide Oval, the site of multiple AFLW grand finals, and the ground where they lost last year’s grand final to Brisbane.

How much does entry cost, and do you need to purchase tickets?

Both games boast free entry thanks to an AFL sponsorship deal.

Tickets do not need to be pre-purchased for the Adelaide v Fremantle preliminary final, but patrons attending the MCG need to register here for their free tickets before the match.

Will there be a clash with AFL men’s fixtures?

The AFL has cleared room in the men’s fixture for the AFLW preliminary finals, with the first Saturday AFL game taking place at 4:35pm.

Who wins the final between the Demons and Lions at the MCG?

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This game looms as a classic, with the last two contests between these sides decided by a kick after the siren.

The most recent of these, played last month, saw the Demons trailing 22-0 late in the first half, before storming over the top of the Lions.

The Demons and Lions have met five times across the history of the competition, with Melbourne victorious on four of those occasions.

Those victories, however, have all come in the regular season, with the two sides never having met in a final.

Melbourne Demons

Melbourne — like Adelaide — are coming off an extended break after finishing second on the ladder.

This earned them automatic qualification through to the preliminary final, as well as the right to host.

The Dees wouldn’t, however, have been banking on such a long lay-off, having last played against Carlton on March 12.

The break could pan out either way; the Demons may come into the game with the refresh they needed or be caught out with a lack of match fitness and halted momentum.

Tayla Harris looms as a potential match-winner against her old side. The last time these two teams met, she took an equal AFLW record of seven contested marks, kicking 2.2 from 13 disposals.

Shannon Campbell got the job on Harris in round seven, but the Lions will have to rely on team defensive efforts to keep all of Harris (18 goals), Daisy Pearce (13), Kate Hore (11) and Alyssa Bannan (8) quiet.

Pearce also looms as a game-breaker, if not for her on-field efforts so much as her capacity to inspire her teammates.

With the competition now in its sixth season, the Demons boast a 71 per cent win percentage from 49 games (35 wins and 14 losses) — but are yet to make a grand final.

Pearce, more than anyone, will be driven by the pain of so many near misses. Can she haul her side across the line?

The final also marks midfielder Karen Paxman’s 50 game milestone (making her the first Melbourne player to reach the half century).

Over an outstanding career, Paxman leads the club in all of disposals, tackles, clearances, score involvements, metres gained, contested possessions, uncontested possessions, inside 50s, rebound 50s and intercepts.

Brisbane Lions

When Brisbane defeated Adelaide for the 2021 AFLW premiership, I described it as a case of a champion team beating a team of champions.

The cliché referenced a letter Emily Bates had sent to the Lions’ fan base in the lead-up to the clash against the Crows.

This is not to say that Brisbane does not have individual star power. Bates, ironically, is perhaps the best example.

The two-time All Australian has taken her game to the next level this year, clinching the AFL Coaches’ association (AFLCA) award ahead of the Crows’ Anne Hatchard.

Incredibly, she earned votes in all but one match this season, averaging 21.7 disposals, 10.6 contested possessions, 5.6 clearances and 6.9 tackles.

Coach Craig Starcevich went so far as to describe her — and her relentless professionalism — as “the epitome of the Brisbane Lions in how she prepares and how she plays”.

Winger Orla O’Dwyer has likewise had a career-best season — reflected by her selection amongst three teammates in the All Australian squad — and took apart Collingwood last week with a match-high 392m gained.

The bigger problem for Melbourne, however, is the team-first attitude of the Lions.

As Gemma Bastiani pointed out in her finals preview, Brisbane boast the highest “one-percenters” of any team in the competition (so-called one-percenters include acts like smothers, spoils and shepherds) — a number which has increased year-on-year since 2020.

Such selfless acts took the team to their breakthrough premiership last season, and stand them in good stead for making another decider.

Who wins the final between the Crows and Dockers at the Adelaide Oval?

Adelaide Crows

Like Melbourne, Adelaide come into this game in the unusual situation of having had an extended break — last taking to the field against St Kilda on March 13.

This should suit the older bodies like those of Chelsea Randall and Erin Phillips.

Randall missed a month of footy earlier this season with a hamstring, while Phillips sent shockwaves through the competition when she “sprained” the same knee she injured in the 2019 grand final.

Both are critical to the Crows’ chances; Phillips loves the occasion of the finals stage, while Randall is the heart and soul of the club and will be desperate to be there if her side make the decider, after missing last year with concussion.

The Crows are also blessed with midfield bulls in Ebony Marinoff (voted the AFL Women’s website player of the season) and Anne Hatchard, who came second only to Emily Bates in the AFLCA award.

They will, however, be without Eloise Jones on the wing, whose appeal against her ban for a dangerous tackle failed.

The Crows’ other secret weapon is the venue and crowd.

Fremantle have never played at Adelaide Oval, while the Crows have turned the ground into something of a fortress; South Australians have arguably supported women’s football like no other state, with 53,034 showing up to the grand final against Carlton in 2019.

If Adelaide can draw another big crowd for the preliminary final, the atmosphere will be something to behold.

Fremantle Dockers

The Dockers know they have the game to match it with the Crows.

When the two sides met at Fremantle Oval in late February, the hosts went down by just nine points in a low-scoring, high-pressure, finals-like contest.

They’ve also seen proof that the minor premiers are not indestructible, with a wily Bulldogs outfit getting the better of the Crows by a solitary point in one of the games of the year in round six.

The Dogs provided a blueprint for how to defeat the Crows, locking down Adelaide’s midfield at the start of the match and defending their lead in the dying stages with manic, all-in, selfless pressure.

One thing you can guarantee is that the Dockers will bring the pressure: they laid 72 tackles to 38 in the game between the two sides earlier this season.

In this regard, Fremantle have arguably the biggest weapon in the game in Kiara “Turbo” Bowers, who shared last year’s best and fairest with Bri Davey but is ineligible for this year’s award after being suspended earlier in the year.

Despite playing only seven games, Bowers is still second on the tackle count with 82 for the year (behind Brisbane’s Cathy Svarc).

She looms as a formidable pairing with new captain Hayley Miller, who has shone in the role and leads the competition for metres gained.

Miller will play her 50th AFLW game this weekend, and is the first Docker to reach the milestone.

How can I watch the games if I can’t attend?

All of the AFLW finals matches will be broadcast live on the Seven Network, Fox Footy, Kayo, and via the AFL Official App.

Matches will also be streamed live via womens.afl and the AFLW Official App.

What if COVID strikes again?

The AFL have kept their cards close to their chest on this one, saying only that they will work closely with the clubs involved prior to any decision being made.

You would assume another re-schedule is likely should another outbreak occur, but touch wood it isn’t necessary.

When and where is the AFLW grand final?

One of AFLW’s unique traditions is that the grand final is hosted by the team which wins through to the decider and finished highest on the ladder.

Following that logic, the game will be held in Adelaide if Adelaide win. If Adelaide lose, the game will be hosted by whoever wins the Melbourne v Brisbane game, given both finished higher than Fremantle.

So, with just over a week to go, the grand final could still be in three different states.

The date and start time is, however, locked in: it will take place on Saturday April 9 at 12:30pm AEDT.