AFLW 2025: Essendon star Madison Prespakis braced for ‘tough’ midfield war with West Coast Eagles

Essendon star Madison Prespakis is bracing for a midfield war against the Eagles as West Coast head to Melbourne this weekend.

The Bombers are fresh off their highest AFLW score after routing Greater Western Sydney by 56 points as they unveiled four debutantes.

But Prespakis, who has established herself as one of the game’s best and had a career-high 26 touches and a goal against the Giants, said they were ready for a “tough” outing against the Eagles.

The Daisy Pearce-led West Coast won their season opener for the second year running, seeing off Gold Coast by 15 points as All-Australian midfielder Ella Roberts starred and first-gamer Lucia Painter lived up to her hype with three majors in seven minutes to earn the first Rising Star nomination.

The Eagles also have the wood over Essendon, beating them last year, a fact Prespakis has hardly forgotten.

“I feel like the last couple of years we’ve had some good battles with the Eagles,” she said.

“What Daisy’s done with that team has been pretty awesome. They’ve just come out of the blocks really quickly.

“They’re an exciting young group similar to us. They’ve got some really young girls on their list and their draftees had a huge impact last week.

“So, we expect it will be a battle, especially inside the midfield, but also around the whole ground, and I’m excited for it.

“They beat us last year, so we’re looking forward to a tough contest this week, but we want to beat them at home. It’s our first game at Windy Hill, so we want to start well there.”

West Coast are set to unleash another debutant at Windy Hill, Kayley Kavanagh named to start.

The Victorian, who grew up down the road from Essendon’s base, was taken with pick 14 in last year’s draft.

“It feels amazing,” Kavanagh said of her selection against the Bombers.

“I’ve worked so long and so hard, especially after missing last season with an ACL, so it’s such a good feeling to finally be getting out there with the girls.

“I’m really looking forward to debuting in my home State and running out at Windy Hill, which is just five minutes from my house in Melbourne.

“Hopefully all my friends and family can be there to cheer us on.”

Roberts and Prespakis will be a must-watch contest on Sunday. However, the Bombers will also need to shut down intercept defender Charlotte Thomas.

Thomas is the focal point of the Eagles’ counterattacks, entrusted to cut the ball off and move it quickly into the middle, having gathered 333 metres gained last week, while skipper Bella Lewis will also be better for the run after returning from injury against the Suns.