Nathan Schmook - afl.com.au [19/10/2026]

Mark Duffield (0:11)

This is Mornings with Mark Duffield on SENWA.

Welcome back to the SENWA studio out here at Optus Stadium. Monday morning in Perth, 18 degrees outside. The race for the top eight in the AFLW is a hot one. There are five teams in that race. Freemantle currently holds eighth spot after the weekend. Mixed results for our teams at the weekend. West Coast losing. Freemantle winning to reclaim eighth. To talk about it, afl.com.au's Nathan Schmook joins us on the line. Schmookie, welcome.

Nathan Schmook (0:49)

Duff, go to talk with you.

Mark Duffield (0:51)

Mate, I knew that Geelong were good, but I have to say I was a little bit taken aback by just how good they looked against West Coast at Sullivan Logistics Stadium in the weekend.

Nathan Schmook (1:04)

They were powerful, weren't they, Geelong? And particularly through that midfield. I mean, we know they're good. They've been lost since round one, but to see Georgie Paspakis, Nina Morrison, a former eagle in Michaela Bowen in action, the way that they linked up with their hands, burst through the corral, they were pretty powerful.

The cats and yeah, made for a tough afternoon slash evening for the Eagles.

Mark Duffield (1:30)

So West Coast slow start to the season. They were 0-4 to start with. Then there was the purple patch that followed up to that culminating in the win in the Derby. But it feels like that there's too much for them to do and too little time to do it in the run into finals now.

Nathan Schmook (1:51)

I think, yeah, you're spot on. They're 2 games now outside of the top 8 The percentage has taken a real hit this season. So yeah, there's teams ahead of them. Adelaide and Horthorn are both out of the top 8 as well, just on percentage. So I think with a toughish run home now for the Eagles, they take on Sydney this week. It's, yeah, there's the mathematical chance, but I think once we're talking about mathematical chances, they're probably not going to make it the Eagles. But they've done really well, I think, to recover their season from that 0-4 point and salvage something, place them really strong footy, but it feels for them like a small step backwards this season and hope that their young players can regather and drive them back up the ladder next season.

Mark Duffield (2:38)

Yeah, mathematical chance of making finals is a bit for a team, is a bit like having the full support of the board for a coach, isn't it? It's sort of, it's possible, but it's not necessarily exactly as it sounds. Do you think Schmook, that Daisy Pierce's AFLW team has improved this year?

Nathan Schmook (3:01)

Well, no, not from last year, because they played finals last year. And I think what we've seen from their younger players has probably been a step back in the footy that they've played, but we know they're talented. So, yeah, to start the season and 4, I don't think we can say that they've improved, but we do know, in footy, we've seen it with our AFL teams over here, that that improvement isn't always linear when you're a building team, a rebuilding team. So, yeah, it feels to me like this season was a small step backwards to the Eagles. And yeah, like I said, there is hope that they've got that young talent now on the list that they'll be able to drive back up the ladder next season.

Mark Duffield (3:41)

Yeah, it's interesting. If you look at the, just from an AFL fantasy standpoint, to do a shallow dive, I guess, into what happened at Sullivan Logistics Stadium at the weekend. Eight of the 10 top ranked players on the ground were Geelong players, and the two West Coast players were Charlie Thomas and Ella Roberts, who are the two you'd almost most expect to be the, you know, two of the best West Coast players. So it feels like there is growth to come. Which players do you think are the young players on the list that are capable of giving them that growth?

Nathan Schmook (4:19)

Well, I was so excited last season by the footage that the cheer-painter played as a young player, and they've moved her into the midfield a lot this season. And, yeah, I think that her trajectory is going to be rapid once she picks up the game, gets used to the standard at AFLW a little bit more, and they moved her forward against the cats with Amy Franklin out of the team. And, yeah, she worked hard, the delivery just wasn't there for her. So I think if she gets better delivery as a forward target, she's going to be a really exciting player. We've seen that from her at her best. So she's one that I would highlight. And Ella Roberts is still so young. She's an outstanding player, but I think she's got the feeling of being the standout player in this competition. So she'll continue to go from strength to strength with the amount of work that she puts into her footy.