A new AFLW season is on the horizon.
And Sydney Swans AFLW superstar Chloe Molloy is predicting a “smoky” to take out this year’s premiership ahead of the competition’s ninth season.
Molloy’s Swans face off with the co-captain’s former side Collingwood on Friday night followed by a clash between West Coast and Richmond as part of a thrilling season-opening double header.
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Since the inception of the competition in 2017, the same teams have largely dominated the AFLW.
In fact, just four teams have won flags – Adelaide (three), reigning premier Brisbane (two), the Western Bulldogs and Melbourne (one each). Only a further two clubs – North Melbourne and Carlton – have played in grand finals.
Expansion has been rapid since that first AFLW season in 2017 that featured just eight teams. It expanded to 10 teams in 2019, 14 teams in 2020 and 18 teams in 2022 as all AFLM sides are now represented.
While the inaugural, powerhouse clubs still loom large, the emergence of the new generation of AFLW guns across the competition has the potential to shake things up in a period of evolution.
So could a newer club come from the clouds?
“I think the gap between the expansion teams and the teams that have been around since day one is closing,” Molloy told foxfooty.com.au when asked who she thinks will win the 2024 premiership.
“So I think there might be a bit of a smoky. The spotlight is consistently on the inaugural teams like Brisbane and Adelaide, but I’m picking a bit of a smoky to come out of nowhere and take the league.
“I don’t know what team but I just have this instinctive feeling that a smoky is going to make the granny.”
Sydney could be that team.
The Swans were one of the big improvers last year, going from a winless first season to winning a final in their second campaign.
Scott Gowans’ side will look to carry that momentum into 2024 after having a “pre-season before the pre-season” that saw Sydney play five VFLW games.
“We’re trying to bridge the gap against the teams that have been around for many years,” Molloy added.
“I think we’re just so ready to play in front of crowds and give the people what they want. We’re more ready than we’ve ever been.
“We went from really low expectations to higher expectations after what we produced last year. But the beauty of AFLW and why I think it’s so exciting is that you just never know what you’re going to get and the expectations on the league continues to rise.
“We aren’t that season one team, we didn’t know what it felt like to win but we’ve banked that and banked that connection and even a finals win.
“Now we’ve got all that to work off. The program is evolving the way we’re communicating to each other and holding each other to a higher standard and holding each other accountable because we’ve been able to grow a greater connection.”
Ahead of Friday night’s showdown against her old mob, Molloy is tipping Collingwood to bounce back in 2024 and play finals under new coach Sam Wright after missing the top eight last year in a season cruelled by injury.
A combination of having a healthier list and fresh game plan under Wright has created renewed hope within the Magpies camp.
Collingwood AFLW star and Fox Footy commentator Ruby Schleicher, who was among the key guns sidelined for a chunk of last year, noted the Pies have a “new energy” in 2024 led by Wright and his overhauled coaching staff.
“It’s a really young coaching staff of coaches recently out of the game themselves, so they know what sort of headspaces we would be in and what the game is like at the moment,” Schleicher told foxfooty.com.au.
“We’re coming off the most enjoyable pre-season we’ve had, we’re all feeling good.
“‘Wrighty’’s has come in and brought a more exciting, faster game style that allows us to shine as a group but also bring our individual traits.
“I won’t give away too much, hopefully it’ll be on show. It’s probably less predictable to others but more predictable for us to each other.
“We’re not going to shy away from the fact we were disappointed we didn’t play finals last year. It’s something we want to get back to.”
That shift to a more attacking style is resemblant of the regime installed by Collingwood’s AFLM premiership coach Craig McRae when he first took the helm in 2022.
And Schleicher said there’s been a “crossover” between the men’s and women’s programs and McRae has “been incredible” with Wright.
“‘Fly’ (McRae) was part of the recruitment process in finding a new coach and apparently ‘Fly’ left the meeting going: ‘This is the guy’,” she continued.
“They were completely confident in ‘Wrighty’ and that’s been felt across the club.
“There are parts of our program we try to align and if we can play a similar brand because the two coaches think alike, that’s pretty exciting.
“Hopefully our supporters that have gotten behind the men’s team so well can get behind the women’s team as well.”
AFLW 2024 SEASON PREDICTIONS
Chloe Molloy
Breakout player – Ellie McKenzie (Richmond)
Best and fairest – Jasmine Garner (North Melbourne)
Premiers (excluding Sydney) – A “smoky”
Most goals – Kate Hore (Melbourne)
Rising Star – Sarah Grunden (Sydney)
Player you’d love to recruit to your club – Ellie McKenzie (Richmond)
Ruby Schleicher
Breakout player – Lucy Cronin (Collingwood)
Best and fairest – Jasmine Garner (North Melbourne
Premiers (excluding Sydney) – North Melbourne
Most goals – Jesse Wardlaw (St Kilda)
Rising Star – Lucy Cronin (Collingwood)
Player you’d love to recruit to your club – Tyla Hanks (Melbourne)
Source Agencies
