Mikayla Bowen and Annabel Johnson hug Georgie Prespakis (centre) after her match-winning goal. Photo: AFL MEDIA
With four expansion clubs playing their first-ever matches and a grand final rematch on the cards, this round of AFLW couldn’t possibly avoid being historic.
Newcomer sides Essendon and Hawthorn staged a battle at Marvel Stadium every bit as intriguing and entertaining as the meeting between last season’s grand finalists Adelaide and Melbourne.
History repeated itself in two distinct ways: At Glenelg, the previous season’s runner-up toppled a reigning premier; while in Perth and North Sydney, the ugly spectre of serious knee injuries — so prevalent in the past year — again haunted two teams’ key players: Kellie Gibson for West Coast and Sydney’s No. 1 draft pick Montana Ham.
Off the ball, though, more heart-warming history was made at Marvel Stadium. Fittingly, in a competition devoted to encouraging and empowering girls to chase and realise their footy dreams, Emma Stark, a 16-year-old Northern Territorian, earned an AFLW promotion from adjudicating junior matches to become the youngest field umpire of any gender ever to officiate an elite-level professional football contest.
COLLINGWOOD 5.6 (36) def CARLTON 3.0 (18)
The traditional AFLW season opener between these two clubs proved anti-climactic after scores had been level early, when the Magpies kicked away to a 14-point lead at the major break, then cruised to a comfortable, three-goal victory. Collingwood had five players contribute one goal each, including Jordan Membrey, making a triumphant return from an ACL injury. Ruby Schleicher was her characteristically rock-solid self down back, gathering 20 touches to lead her side, while Jaimee Lambert racked up 16 before suffering an ankle injury. For the Blues, last season’s Rising Star winner Mimi Hill led all comers with 26 disposals, but suffered a corked quad, while defender Lucy McEvoy had 23 disposals and took 10 intercept marks.
MELBOURNE 6.8 (44) def ADELAIDE 4.2 (26)
Fun fact: The AFLW premier had never, in six seasons before this match, ever won a grand final rematch the next season. Make that seven. In this round’s marquee bout, the Demons gained a measure of redemption and revenge, getting the better of their tormentors, running out 18-point winners on the road. Last season’s AFLW leading goalkicker, Adelaide’s Ash Woodland, picked up right where she left off, kicking the opening goal, one of her three majors on the night, but Dees’ captain Daisy Pearce struck the crucial blow: a third-quarter snap after crumbing a bungled set shot by a teammate, to give her side an 11-point advantage. Melbourne’s Karen Paxman kicked the sealer, to complement her 24 disposals, which only the Crows’ Anne Hatchard matched.
NORTH MELBOURNE 6.4 (40) def GOLD COAST 2.2 (14)
Call this episode “Resilient Roos” or “Same Old Suns.” North Melbourne showed absolutely no ill-effects of having two dynamic small forwards leave for rival clubs, as their forward pressure was ferocious. Roos’ All-Australians Jasmine Garner and Emma Kearney — each celebrating her 50th AFLW match — were brilliant at Hobart’s Blundstone Arena. Garner ruled the middle of the ground: Her 27 touches included seven clearances, six inside 50s, and a goal, while Kearney gathered 18 possessions, overshadowing star Ash Riddell’s solid, 14-possession, seven-tackle effort. Tahlia Randall was a force up forward, kicking three goals. The Suns mustered just 15 inside 50s. Alison Drennan was their best, piling up 20 possessions and laying six tackles.
WEST COAST 6.4 (40) def PORT ADELAIDE 4.4 (28)
For three quarters of a rainy afternoon at Mineral Resources Park, this contest was an arm wrestle. Scores were level at the major break, but the Eagles soared to a 12-point lead at quarter time, while the Power surged to a nine-point advantage going into the final term. West Coast overcame the deficit, thanks to a four-goal haul, starting with Aisling McCarthy’s brilliant snap after selling candy in the forward pocket and weaving between two opposition defenders. Eagles’ skipper Emma Swanson racked up 21 possessions and had seven clearances in the win, spoiling the West Australian homecoming of Dockers-turned-Power key forward Gemma Houghton, who kicked Port Adelaide’s first-ever AFLW goal. The Eagles now must anxiously await scans on Kellie Gibson’s knee.
PLEASE HELP US CONTINUE TO THRIVE BY BECOMING AN OFFICIAL FOOTYOLOGY PATRON. JUST CLICK THIS LINK.
ST KILDA 8.8 (56) def SYDNEY 4.3 (27)
Even if St Kilda’s unexpected scoring burst came against an expansion club playing its first-ever match, the Saints happily took the victory before a raucous, partisan North Sydney Oval crowd. Kate Shierlaw dominated in the air, taking three marks and kicking a bag of four goals for the Saints, including two in two minutes in the second term. At ground level, Nicola Xenos conducted a crumbing clinic, pouncing on two, then snapping them home. While former Giant Rebecca Privitelli kicked the first-ever Swans AFLW goal early in the first term, in the dying minutes of the final stanza with the game safely in St Kilda’s hands, Montana Ham — who had 11 touches, eight tackles, and two clearances — suffered what appears to be a serious right knee injury after her snap for goal was smothered by an opposition player.
ESSENDON 7.11 (53) def HAWTHORN 4.3 (27)
Finally, Bombers supporters have something to cheer about: their women’s side’s historic first win in their maiden match. From the outset, Essendon’s Maddy Prespakis (game-high 26 disposals and a goal) and co-captain Bonnie Toogood (game-high seven marks and two goals), former stars of Carlton and Western Bulldogs respectively, played as if they’d been liberated from heavy burdens. Former Lions premiership player Jess Wuetschner opened the Bombers’ account with a sweet first-term snap off her left boot. In two separate, first-half emotionally gripping moments, two Hawks coping with the recent deaths of influential women in their lives — Sophie Locke (mother) and Sarah Perkins (aunt) — booted goals. Essendon led by a straight kick at the major break, but scored 20 points in the second half while holding the Hawks scoreless.
WESTERN BULLDOGS 6.5 (41) def GWS 5.4 (34)
The daughters of the west won a nail-biter in their first “home” game at the Blues’ Ikon Park, while their home ground undergoes a redevelopment, outlasting the Giants in a highly physical contest. Bulldogs captain Ellie Blackburn (21 disposals and six tackles), forward-ruck Celine Moody (three second-half goals), and Richelle Cranston with a crucial, late final term dribble kick that went for a major, were the difference-makers. GWS’s Alyce Parker nearly single-handedly dragged her side over the line, accumulating a match-high 25 possessions, laying six tackles, and kicking an important final term goal that brought her side within a straight kick. Giants “usual suspect” goalkicker Cora Staunton notched three, including a brilliant snap after playing on from a mark, to elevate her career AFLW goalkicking tally to 50.
BRISBANE 11.10 (76) def FREMANTLE 4.3 (27)
The lurking Lions reminded the competition how much of a premiership threat they remain, crushing Fremantle by 49 points at the Gabba. After an even first term, a goal-saving tackle by Fremantle’s Janelle Cuthbertson early in the second on All-Australian small forward Greta Bodey proved an omen, as the Lions would become frequent visitors to their goalsquare, putting Docker defenders under siege. Brisbane tall forward Jess Wardlaw kicked the first of her three majors, Bodey converted a flying shot and livewire Courtney Hodder snapped one of her own. In the third term, Orla O’Dwyer booted two majors in rapid fire succession to open a 38-point Lion lead. The Dockers — sorely missing the on-field impact of injured married couple Ebony and Kara Antonio, and the skills of Houghton and winger Steph Cain, now playing elsewhere — fought back with three straight third-term goals, but now appear in imminent danger of having their once-open premiership window slammed shut.
GEELONG 2.3 (15) def RICHMOND 1.5 (11)
The Tigers learned the hard way in the dying minute of the last term, that if the Cats’ Georgie Prespakis’s left boot doesn’t get you, the right one will. Geelong’s second-season sensation, the sister of Essendon’s Maddy, snapped truly to break Tiger hearts in a low-scoring war of attrition that Geelong couldn’t seem to break open. Surely, Richmond would have found its prolific, All-Australian goalkicking captain Katie Brennan to have been a handy addition, but she is sidelined with an ankle injury. In the end, not even Mon Conti’s 24 possessions and four tackles or Sarah Hosking’s 22 touches and seven tackles was enough to stave off the Cats, buoyed by ball-winners Amy McDonald and Nina Morrison, who combined for 47 possessions and 12 tackles.
