AFLW 2020 season preview: Kangaroos

The Kangaroos made an excellent debut to the AFLW in 2019 thanks to some strong recruiting of senior players.

Well balanced across all parts of the field, the Roos were the third-best scoring team in the competition (42 points per game) behind Adelaide and Fremantle, and only failed to make the finals because of the lopsided conference system, and because they didn’t have quite the same depth of the teams that did.

Their biggest loss in the off-season was from the midfield, with Jamie Stanton moving to the Gold Coast. That reduces North’s midfield stocks from three established stars to two, although Britt Gibson is knocking on the door of star status.

That number was promptly bumped back up in the draft by Mia King, who’s the best female player to recently come out of Tasmania, and will one day be a star. She would have been picked far higher than 49 if she’d been in the open draft instead of protected by North’s special access to Tasmanians.

North also took the mature-bodied Ellie Gavalas from the Western Bulldogs’ VFLW side, where she’s been making waves. Combined with one of the very best in Emma Kearney, a player in Jenna Bruton whose continued improvement could see her threaten Kearney for team MVP, plus the big-bodied powerhouse Britt Gibson, and North are going to have at least four very good on-ball mids – possibly five if Gavalas makes the transition from VFLW. Add one of the league’s best rucks in Emma King tapping them the ball, and a very fast Irishwoman Aileen Gilroy on the wing, and the combination improves again.

But the Roos’ defence has also taken a big hit with Jess Duffin sitting the season out due to pregnancy. Kate Gillespie-Jones and Tahlia Randall are very good strong-bodied defenders, and North’s coaching staff call Danielle Hardiman one of the league’s most underrated players.

But Duffin is one of the best marks in the competition and provides North with lots of run and clever disposal out of the back line. She’s also a utility who can play nearly anywhere, and the Roos may struggle to cover her absence.

The forward line’s lynchpin is Jasmine Garner, one of the best tall forwards in the country. She is still only 25 years old and has her best football ahead of her. Kaitlyn Ashmore adds the speed, Daisy Bateman is a promising young small forward, Sophie Abattangelo had some good moments last year and Sarah Wright was drafted from Carlton’s VFLW side, where she was excellent and took plenty of strong grabs in front of goals.

Sophie Abattangelo is a key figure in the Roos’ forward line. (Photo by Kelly Defina/Getty Images)

The wildcard again is an Irishwoman, Mairead Seoighe. I assume all the Irish players will be good, because so far they have been. Obviously a 100 per cent strike rate won’t continue, but if Seoighe makes her mark, she could transform an okay forward line with maybe two stars and some useful contributors into a much more dangerous combination.

My biggest concern about North this year is that even if Duffin were playing, they don’t seem to have improved as much as some of last year’s other top sides, and they don’t have as much natural upside built into their team in the form of young up-and-coming stars thanks to their reliance on taking mature-aged players rather than young draft picks.

North’s midfield looks lethal as always, but losing Jamie Stanton hurts and Mia King may take a little longer than some other young midfield stars to find her feet, not quite being at the Maddy Prespakis level.

On the other hand, last year was this team’s first season playing together, and the coordination of all the different players under a new coach and playing style typically takes longer than one season. Scott Gowans coached excellently last season. His team showed an impressive blend of hard, contested football and fluid ball movement.

If all the pieces start to click even more smoothly than they did last year, the Roos could still be a force in 2020.

Prediction: Fifth.