St Kilda debutante Alice Burke and her father, Bulldogs’ coach Nathan Burke, share a family moment. Photo: AFL MEDIA.

AFLW’s opening round shows what a fickle character history is. It does a bit of strange magic where football is concerned — it often repeats itself, even as it creates new scenarios.

In the opening round of the new season, some big-time stars who missed some or all of last year refreshed our memories of how good they actually are. Senior coaches moved around their magnets hoping to jump-start their scoring power. One senior coach proudly watched as his daughter ran out for the first time in her AFLW career — for the opposing side.

Three leading flag contenders put their boots down, a fourth side out of last year’s finals reiterated its claim to this year’s flag, and a fifth flag contender found out it has lots of work to do — as do the young sides, which showed flashes.

There may not be any players named Deborah on any current AFLW lists, but heaps of “debbies” played their first league matches.

And of course, each round, one rule always repeatedly pops up for discussion and debate — this round, it was stepping over the mark and whether in the women’s game it’s fair that it cops 50 metres instead of 25. It’s a lot to wrap your head around, as you read this round-up.

COLLINGWOOD 5.3 (33) d CARLTON 4.3 (27)
Call it “deja Blues”: Carlton last year rued not knocking off its arch-rival and the feeling last week under the lights in a marquee matchup on its home deck couldn’t be much better. After both sides struggled to shake off a rusty first term, the Pies swooped in the second, kicking three goals in a three-minute burst – two of them to Chloe Molloy – en route to a 26-point lead. Carlton superstar Maddie Prespakis just couldn’t get off the chain and her frustration showed in a heated boundary line skirmish with former Blues captain-turned-Pie Brianna Davey. Maybe that was the spark that made the Blues red-hot, as they fought back with four goals in seven minutes in the third term. At one point, with Prespakis fighting to break free and gathering plenty of ball, she hit up teammate Jess Hosking, who then converted a set-shot to pull the Blues within eight points. But Hosking and Blues’ teammates Georgia Gee missed shots late in the piece, while Darcy Vescio came within centimetres of out-marking Pies’ ruck Sharni Noder in the goal square, only to have the ball hit the post. Britt Bonnici was terrific for the Pies with 22 touches and four tackles.

ST KILDA 8.3 (51) d WESTERN BULLDOGS 6.6 (42)
Like the old Christine Anu song, it was sunshine on a rainy day in Moorabbin as the visiting Doggies sought to break a five-game losing streak dating back to last year. It didn’t help their cause, though to concede a 50-metre penalty in the opening seconds to gift St Kilda’s Caitlin Greiser the first goal. The “G-Train” would add another goal later, but the match really belonged to Saints Georgia Patrikios (23 possessions, four tackles and a goal) and Tarni White (18 possessions and two tackles). Former Melbourne Victory defender and lifelong Saints fan-turned-player Jacqui Vogt had a beautiful moment when she booted a goal from her first AFL kick as St Kilda turned a three-point first term deficit into a 13-point half-time advantage. Bulldogs’ senior coach Nathan Burke swung defender Isabel Huntington forward to good effect, as she took seven marks and kicked two goals – the second of which was on the three-quarter time siren to bring the Dogs within eight points. In the losing effort, Bulldogs Elle Blackburn was arguably best on ground, collecting 21 possessions, laying six tackles, and kicking two goals. The sweetest moment, though, was the post-match embrace Burke shared with his daughter Alice, the debutant Saint, who wears her dad’s famous No. 3 jumper.

MELBOURNE 9.2 (56) d GOLD COAST 5.5 (35)
While the Dees eventually romped home, credit a young, plucky Gold Coast side, whose ferocious pressure led to a seven-point advantage at the quarter-time break and appeared to have Melbourne on the back foot … until four-time All-Australian Karen Paxman took the game over. In an astounding second term, it was as if Paxman brought her own ball to Metricon Stadium. She gobbled up 13 possessions – eight of them contested – helping shift the Dees into attack mode as they kicked five goals to surge to a 22-point half-time lead. While the Suns unveiled five debutantes, the Dees’ own, midfielder Eliza McNamara, may very well earn a NAB Rising Star nomination. Only teammates Paxman, with 25 touches, and Lily Mithen (22) eclipsed McNamara’s 18. For Gold Coast, former Crows premiership player Sarah Perkins shone bright, kicking two goals and looking every bit the veteran leader her club needs.

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ADELAIDE 8.8 (56) d WEST COAST 2.6 (18)
They may not have started this season as premiership favourites, but technically, since no team was crowned 2020 champion, Adelaide – beset by injuries last year – is still the reigning premier. Crows’ senior coach Matthew Clarke’s seismic magnet-shifting seems to have worked wonders: Erin Phillips to the middle, Stevie-Lee Thompson down back, former Dees’ defender Ashleigh Woodland forward, where she was joined by star Chelsea Randall, who missed all of last year due to injury. Fittingly, it was the foundational star Phillips – also bitten last year by the injury bug – who opened the scoring. She and Woodland helped themselves to two goals each. Last year’s possession queen Anne Hatchard came into the match banged-up, sporting a soft helmet after a head clash in training, and then suffered a corked calf which forced her to the bench for the fourth quarter. But Randall, returning to her native Western Australia, more than picked up the slack with 19 possessions. And Ebony Marinoff, whose successful 11th hour tribunal appeal avoided a three-game ban for her hit on GWS’s Brid Stack, showed just how valuable she is to her side with 21 touches, four inside 50s and a goal. Dana Hooker led the Eagles with 17 touches and her speedy, former Gaelic footballing teammate, Niamh Kelly, appears to be a real find.

NORTH MELBOURNE 11.5 (71) d GEELONG 1.3 (9)
For one quarter, for the league’s highest-scoring team, a king was queen. To say Roos’ ruck-forward Emma King dominated the first term would be an understatement. Her numbers were ridiculous: three goals from eight touches, to go with nine hit-outs. King seemed to do everything but drive the team bus to GMHBA Stadium. At times this match seemed downright unfair, as Roo Ellie Gavalas ran riot, with 19 possessions, three tackles and three goals, and Jasmine Garner had 18 touches and chipped in two goals of her own. The inexperienced Cats didn’t register a score – a minor one, at that – until three minutes into the final term, while Aasta O’Connor kicked the lone Cats’ goal with two minutes left

BRISBANE 5.11 (41) d RICHMOND 1.6 (12)
Punt Road Oval was decked out in all its glory as the Tigers looked for their first win in AFL competition after ending their inaugural season winless. Richmond hung in there for the first half, but even as inaccurate as Brisbane was in front of goal, the Lions proved too good. Maybe “inaccurate” is too harsh a term to apply to either side, as the breeze from the Brunton Avenue end made it appear as if both sides were kicking into a wind tunnel. The Lions’ Dakota Davidson finally broke through in that regard in the final term. Greta Bodey booted two of the Lions’ five majors, while Isabel Dawes gathered 21 possessions. It was a frustrating day for Richmond’s Katie Brennan, who got 12 touches, but kicked 0.3.

FREMANTLE 8.10 (58) d GWS 4.4 (28)
Not even the cooling “Fremantle doctor” breezing in from the Indian Ocean could chill the Dockers’ flammable forward line in this contest, as it combined to account for seven of the team’s eight goals. Fitter-than-ever, two-time All-Australian Gemma Houghton was best on ground, often sending fans’ hearts racing with her running, bouncing bursts. She kicked three goals, but Houghton could have doubled that haul had she kept her feet and taken a bit more time in other situations. Two other All-Australians, Kiara Bowers (21 possessions, 10 tackles) was at her ball-hunting, crunch-tackling best, despite missing some second quarter minutes with a corked thigh, and Sabreena Duffy crumbed like it was going out of style, adding three majors, including one on the final siren. But even with all the attacking, defender Janelle Cuthbertson excelled, repelling countless GWS attacks with intercept marks. Rebecca Beeson and Alyce Parker starred for the Giants, each collecting a league-leading, round-high 28 possessions apiece. It was an emotional day for the Giants, as many were in tears during a pre-game ceremony honouring their late teammate, Jacinda Barkley.