FOOTBALL
AFLW EXPORTS
BY BLAKE METCALF-HOLT
FOR the second straight year, despite once again finishing inside the top four, Hawthorn has been eliminated from AFLW finals contention in straight sets.
After a dismal loss to North Melbourne in the first week of finals, where the Hawks became the first team to not register a goal in an AFLW finals game, they looked ahead to an elimination final against Carlton to keep its season alive.
The Blues ended Hawthorn’s redemptive year, winning 11.13 (79) to 4.9 (33) at IKON Park on Saturday night.
The Hawks made it five successive quarters in which they were unable to kick a major through the big sticks.
Morwell’s Casey Sherriff finished with seven disposals and two tackles in her final game for 2025.
The 27-year-old finished her eighth AFLW season with averages of eight disposals, 0.9 marks, and 2.6 tackles from 14 games played.
Sherriff has played finals every year besides her debut season with Melbourne back in 2019 (she also won a premiership with the Demons in 2022), and has also featured in Hawthorn’s first two finals series in the AFLW.
The Blues head towards a preliminary final matchup against Brisbane this weekend.
In what is her first finals campaign to date, Foster’s Yasmin Duursma will be anticipating moving one step closer to a Grand Final appearance when facing the Lions.
On the opposite side of the bracket, North Melbourne takes on Melbourne, with both sides featuring Gippsland talent.
Warragul’s Jasmine Ferguson is eyeing back-to-back AFLW premierships with the Kangaroos, while Bairnsdale’s Megan Fitzsimon and Cora Lynn’s Tyla Hanks (Melbourne vice-captain) are searching for their first flag since 2022 with the Demons.
