Richmond and North Melbourne players react after the siren signalled a draw at Arden Street on Sunday. Photo: AFL MEDIA
WESTERN BULLDOGS 5.4 (34) d CARLTON 4.7 (31)
Playing the part of “hero” has mixed results for injured stars playing through their pain to help their respective clubs, but in this case, it worked out for banged-up Doggies’ captain Ellie Blackburn and her teammates. Down by three points to the Blues with under two minutes remaining and a finals berth on the line, the Dogs were desperate for a hero and Blackburn assumed the role. Blackburn, who didn’t train during the week, pounced on an errant handball, cleverly sidestepped an opponent, and unleashed a long-range snap that went through for the match-winner. Blackburn’s goal was her second of the match and her match-high 23rd disposal, to go with nine clearances and seven tackles. The Blues held a 14-point edge after the first term, and a 10-point lead entering the final term, led by Mimi Hill, Abbie McKay, and Kerryn Peterson, all of whom had more than 20 touches, and Elise O’Dea’s and Poppy Schaap’s two goals each. The Dogs, though, wouldn’t be denied, holding the Blues scoreless in the second and final terms and fighting back to win. The Dogs’ win locks in seventh spot and they’ll play an elimination final against Collingwood at Victoria Park.
BRISBANE 8.7 (55) d COLLINGWOOD 1.4 (10)
In this home-and-away finale, played in sultry tropical heat, the mighty Lions clung to top spot and captured the minor premiership whiles showcasing how many ways they can beat an opponent. As a defensive unit, Brisbane kept the Pies goalless until the dying minutes of the match, while in their forward 50, the Lions unleashed ruthless, relentless pressure. The Lions’ Courtney Hodder was especially ferocious — her game-high nine tackles helped create scoring chances for teammates, while she also helped herself to two goals. Brisbane’s Ally Anderson boosted her credentials for AFLW best-and-fairest, amassing 26 touches, while Jesse Wardlaw booted two goals to equal the Crows’ Ash Woodland’s single-season record of 19. Jaimee Lambert was the only Pie to hit the scoreboard. Brisbane finishes on top and will host Richmond at Metricon Stadium in a qualifying final. The Magpies’ loss drops them to sixth spot, which ensures a home elimination final against the Western Bulldogs.
MELBOURNE 11.13 (79) d WEST COAST 0.1 (1)
Though they entered this contest in second spot, tied with Brisbane for the season’s best win-loss record, the Demons were the longest of longshots to overtake the Lions and win the minor premiership — until they ran out and dominated, and the Eagles ran scared and capitulated. With Lauren Pearce (10 hit-outs and nine clearances), Olivia Purcell (21 possessions, five clearances), and Lily Mithen (19 possessions, five clearances) winning the ball for the Dees, Kate Hore and Eden Zanker led Melbourne’s scoring assault, kicking two goals each. Six other Dees kicked major scores, while the Eagles managed only 14 inside 50s for the match on their way to scoring one paltry point. Melbourne finished just 0.3 percentage points behind Brisbane for second spot on the ladder, and plays Adelaide in a qualifying final at Ikon Park.
ADELAIDE 4.5 (29) d ST KILDA 2.1 (13)
As they’ve done so often this season, the Crows flicked on the goalkicking switch when they needed it most. This time it came in the third term, courtesy of Danielle Ponter’s right boot. With her side goalless and trailing by four points, Ponter played on from a set shot and kicked a running goal for Adelaide’s first major. Just a minute later, Ponter expertly read a Saints’ kick, took an intercept mark and without breaking stride, in pouring rain, snapped truly. St Kilda’s Georgia Patrikios replied with a set shot goal of her own after being taken high, to bring her side within two points, but it wouldn’t register another point from there on, while the Crows added 2.2 in the final term. Adelaide’s one-two, ball-winning punch of Ebony Marinoff (29 touches, nine clearances, nine tackles) and Anne Hatchard (21 touches, four tackles) was again prolific in victory, which locks in third spot and a qualifying final date against Melbourne.
GEELONG 15.12 (102) d SYDNEY 4.3 (27)
Were these the same Cats that had established themselves and shaken years of misery this season through miserly defence? While footy scientists remain baffled, Geelong happily reaps these rewards: finishing fifth on the ladder; recording its largest-ever victory margin (75 points) and becoming only the second AFLW club to break 100 points in a match. The Cats’ only disappointment would come on Sunday, as North Melbourne’s and Richmond’s draw earned the Tigers the fourth spot the Cats would have held had the Tigers lost. Geelong stars Amy McDonald (34 touches and 11 clearances) and Georgie Prespakis (27 touches and five clearances) ran rampant, while Chloe Scheer was on fire for the Cats, kicking a bag of four, while her partners in crime Shelley Scott and Jacqui Parry booted two each. In a potentially serious blow, though, Prespakis’s status for finals is cloudy after injuring her right ankle in the final term. The Swans, meanwhile, made the wrong kind of history, becoming the third club in AFLW history to suffer a winless season, as Gold Coast did in 2021 and Richmond did in its inaugural 2020 campaign.
PLEASE HELP US CONTINUE TO THRIVE BY BECOMING AN OFFICIAL FOOTYOLOGY PATRON. JUST CLICK THIS LINK.
FREMANTLE 7.7 (49) d HAWTHORN 7.2 (44)
Which retiring star played it better — the host Dockers’ Kara Antonio, or the visiting Hawks’ Jess Duffin? In a thriller between these two bottom sides, it was Antonio by a nose. While each player kicked 2.2 from under 10 touches on the day, Antonio’s fourth quarter snap with Fremantle trailing by five points put the Dockers ahead to stay. If not for it being Antonio’s swan song, her performance would have been overshadowed by two teammates’ blinders: Emerging tall forward Aine Tighe kicked a bag of four goals and superstar Kiara Bowers collected a match-high 34 touches while setting a new AFLW record for most tackles in a match (22), surpassing the previous standard of 21 set by the Crows’ Ebony Marinoff and the Lions’ Cathy Svarc. For Hawthorn, Tilly Lucas-Rodd collected 26 touches, six clearances, and laid seven tackles in the narrow loss.
ESSENDON 5.7 (37) d PORT ADELAIDE 1.4 (10)
The Bombers rudely, quickly, and easily dismissed their hosts, thumping them by 27 points, and with their fourth win earned the distinction for recording the most victories of any of this year’s quartet of expansion clubs. The Power, meanwhile, finished with a second-worst win-loss mark of 1-8-1. Essendon superstar Maddy Prespakis sensationally wrapped up her first year at Windy Hill with 24 disposals and seven tackles, while teammate Daria Bannister booted two goals. Jacqui Yorston was Port Adelaide’s standout player, accumulating 22 possessions, laying 10 tackles, and registering five clearances. Shockingly, Power captain Erin Phillips, whose 50 career goals coming into this campaign had her among the AFLW’s all-time top five, ends it without a single goal to her name.
NORTH MELBOURNE 3.9 (27) drew with RICHMOND 4.3 (27)
The Tigers remain unbeaten in their last eight matches, locked in fourth spot on the ladder with a double chance and a qualifying final date with the Lions — just not the way they hoped or expected. The Kangaroos, meanwhile, will again lament woeful, wayward shots on goal that sent them plunging to eighth because of this draw. North Melbourne’s third term was a microcosm of its season — completely dominating play with 11 inside 50s to Richmond’s one, but kicking 1.5, with one gettable set shot missing the lot. The Tigers thwarted several North advances in the final term, but also squandered their chances to win it, a rushed behind from Courtney Wakefield’s potentially match-winning set shot which had fallen short of goal tieing the scores. In the highly-anticipated battle between the Tigers’ Mon Conti and the Roos’ Jasmine Garner, the AFLW best-and-fairest favourite Conti was the clear winner, with 21 touches, nine tackles, to Garner’s 13 possessions and five tackles. North Melbourne’s Ash Riddell had 21 disposals of her own and six tackles, and lively forward Sophie Abbatangelo threatened to win the match off her own boot in the third term, booting an important goal — but missing two other shots. The Roos now face an elimination final against Geelong at GMHBA Stadium.
GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY 7.2 (44) d GOLD COAST 4.8 (32)
Granted, dead rubber matches aren’t easy for players to get up for but credit the Giants for bringing their best in a decisive victory over the Suns, who at best were a longshot going into this final home-and-away round to grab eighth spot on the ladder. Georgia Garnett was an offensive star for the Giants, kicking three goals, benefitting from the ball-winning Alyce Parker (24 touches and six clearances). Greater Western Sydney stalwart Cora Staunton, the AFLW’s all-time third leading goalkicker playing in her 50th — and at age 40, perhaps her last — AFLW match, added a goal. With the loss, Gold Coast misses a chance to record more wins than losses in a home-and-away season for the first time in its history. The Suns’ Charlie Rowbottom and Alison Drennan shared the match high for possessions with 27, and they may have uncorked a future star in electric small forward Ashanti Bush, who kicked the first two goals of her career — including a brilliant, running goal of the year contender — and narrowly missed two more.
