AFLW 2019 Round 2: The Team

AFLW 2019 Round 2 COLLINGWOOD v MELBOURNE Time & Place: Saturday 9th February, 4:45pm EDT Victoria Park TV: 7mate / Fox Footy 4:30pm EDT Weather: Min 15 Max 21 Chance of rain 70%: < 1mm Wind: WSW 22kph Betting: Collingwood $2.45 Melbourne $1.55

Backs: Jordyn Allen, Ash Brazill, Iilish Ross

Half-backs: Stacey Livingstone, Sophie Casey, Emma Grant

Centre: Eliza Hynes

Half-forwards: Georgia Gourlay, Sarah D’Arcy, Katie Lynch                 

Forwards: Sarah Rowe, Mikala Cann, Cecilia McIntosh

Rucks: Sharni Layton, Stephanie Chiocci, Jaimee Lambert

Interchange: Ruby Schleicher, Lauren Butler, Sarah Dargan, Brittany Bonnici, Erica Fowler.

Emergencies: Holly Whitford, Maddie Shevlin

Ins: Katie Lynch, Eliza Hynes
Outs: Kristy Stratton, Sophie Alexander
Debutant: Katie Lynch

Collingwood News Draftee Katie Lynch will play her first official AFLW game when Collingwood hosts Melbourne at Victoria Park on Saturday. The highly-rated forward was selected by the Pies with pick 11 at the 2018 AFLW draft and impressed in the practice match against the Bulldogs last month. Eliza Hynes will also take to the field for the first time in 2019. As the Pies will be without Kristy Stratton and Sophie Alexander, youngsters Georgia Gourlay and Mikala Cann will move into the forward line.

Roar Katie Lynch (left) with fellow 2018 draftee Jordyn Allen Two first-up losers from round one will be desperate to get on the board when Collingwood and Melbourne face off in what will be the first professional Australian rules football match to be played at Victoria Park for two decades. The last such match played at the venue saw the Collingwood men’s team lose to the Brisbane Lions by 42 points, a result which saw them finish on the bottom of the ladder for just the second time in their history. This Saturday night, their women’s team will be out to avoid the same fate when they face a Melbourne side which wasted a 14-point three-quarter-time lead to lose by four points. The Dees had kicked five goals in a row in the third quarter with the aid of a strong breeze, but, even at this early point in the season, suffered yet another narrow loss which could cruel their chances of reaching the finals, which has been revamped to include preliminary finals for the first time. Further souring their defeat was the knee injury suffered by debutant Shae Sloane (sister of Adelaide Crows co-captain Rory Sloane), which has ruled her out for the season. Meantime, the Pies are coming off a rather frustrating one-point loss to the Geelong Cats, which means they have never won a round one clash since the inaugural season. Things had started brightly for Wayne Siekman’s side, with Sophie Alexander kicking the first goal of the match only to see her day ended when she copped a stray forearm from teammate (and former netballer Sharni Layton) later on. Despite their best efforts, the Pies were then left to rue a scoreless final term, which has already put their season on the back foot. In the end, this contest will come down to whichever side is the more desperate and more willing. Prediction: Collingwood by six points.