Straight sets heartbreak

A familiar feeling as the Power cause more Hawk heartbreak and shatter our 2025 dreams.

Nov 21, 2024

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SEMI-FINAL: HAWTHORN 6.13 (49) def by PORT ADELAIDE 7.8 (50)

📝 Main recap:

In an absolutely heartbreaking loss, we went down to Port Adelaide by one point at Princes Park bringing our season to a shattering end as we exit the finals in straight sets.

Many of the same problems we saw last week in the Qualifying Final loss against Brisbane persisted as we wasted opportunities only to be left with a truly devastating result.

There is no denying that 2024 has been a record-breaking season for Hawthorn and it’s clear from the stats: we won more games this year than in our first two seasons combined, we broke our highest score record, we broke our biggest margin record and captain Emily Bates broke our highest disposals record.

But on Saturday night, we broke AFLW records for the wrong reasons: we gave up the biggest three-quarter time lead resulting in a loss (22 points) and we had the most ever inside 50s without a win (51).

The two losses in the men’s competition against Port Adelaide of one point in Round 10 of the home and away season and three points in the Semi-Final remain fresh. Add this loss to the AFLW history of Hawthorn and Port Adelaide both entering the competition in 2022 (Season 7), the Hawks-Power rivalry will definitely be one to watch in the coming years across both competitions.

This one will hurt for a while.

🤩 Best on ground – Fleming’s flashy finals footy

Jasmine Fleming brushed off the injury concerns and backed up her great performance against Brisbane with another display proving that she is worthy of finals football, kicking a truly electric goal in the second quarter.

She finished the game with 15 disposals, one goal, nine score involvements and one goal assist.

👀 Things we like to see – Midfield prowess

We were effective in the midfield: fearless leaders Emily Bates (22 disposals) and Eliza West (18 disposals) both had great games and led the disposal count.

We were effective at getting the ball into our forward line, as evidenced by the inside 50 count, it was closer to goal that the real problems emerged.

👀 Things we like to see – Stephenson celebrates 50 games

Forward Louise Stephenson celebrated 50 AFLW games on Saturday night. She was an inaugural Hawk after previously playing for GWS.

She marked her milestone game with 10 disposals, one goal, five score involvements and five tackles.

🛠️ Room for improvement – Forward opportunities

The flaws from the loss to Brisbane stood out even more starkly against Port Adelaide: we wasted opportunities to convert in our forward 50 and could not kick straight. We finished the night with 11% goal efficiency, with only six goals from 51 inside 50s (which was 22 more than Port Adelaide).

In particular, we need to improve at converting when we have control of the game. In another similarity to the Brisbane game, we held Port scoreless for an entire quarter but only managed one goal out of it ourselves.

This will be a big area for improvement in the off-season. Given it was our downfall in both finals games resulting in our straight sets exit, this is a problem that we cannot ignore going into 2025.

Final score

HAWTHORN 2.3 3.8 5.12 6.13 (49)
PORT ADELAIDE 1.0 3.2 3.2 7.8 (50)

GOALS:

Hawthorn: Bodey 2, McDonagh, Fleming, Stephenson, Ashmore
Port Adelaide: Houghton 2, Dowrick 2, Boag, Scholz, O’Dea

What's up next

This Semi-Final loss means that our 2024 women’s season has officially come to an end. Simultaneously, it has been a wonderful journey seeing our team grow so much this year and it does feel devastating to know that it ends this way.

As we officially enter the off-season, the list changes have begun: on Wednesday, we delisted Bridget Deed and Casey Dumont. Deed played six games across the 2022 (Season 7) and 2023 seasons and Dumont had yet to debut. The AFLW Draft is slated for December 16.

20-year-old Jasmine Fleming was named in the AFLW 22 Under 22 Team for the second time after previously being selected in 2022 and being named in the squad in 2023.

Our Best and Fairest will also be taking place on December 5. This is due to be a great celebration given how many of our players have had star or breakout seasons.

Looking to 2025

It’s a long wait between W seasons: the AFLW will be back next year in the week beginning August 11.

The new start date means that the W will start two weeks earlier than this year and it will coincide with Round 23 of the men’s competition. The season will feature 12 games in 12 weeks.

Given our vastly improved performance this year, we will likely be handed a tougher draw. We should also be playing at our brand new AFLW oval at the Kennedy Community Centre at Dingley.

Despite the heartbreaking conclusion to 2024, we will be back fighting for our second finals appearance in 2025.