North Melbourne’s Brooke Brown grabs the ball during the Kangaroos’ huge win over Sydney. Photo: AFL MEDIA
Timing, it’s said, is everything and that adage rang true in round six.
Brisbane’s reality check last round in its shock loss to Richmond seemed to reawaken it, as it was once again dominant in a smashing of Essendon.
Meanwhile, timing couldn’t have been worse for Port Adelaide to meet its arch rival Adelaide in the first Showdown, one week after the Crows’ almighty belting of GWS, and the Power paid a heavy price.
Timing seemed terrible for Geelong’s AFL Coaches Association MVP votes leader Georgie Prespakis to get suspended for two matches, as the Cats make their move for a top-eight berth but, instead, they held on for a critical one-point victory over the Bulldogs on the road.
Finally, the timing of two players was the difference in two other nailbiters — if St Kilda’s Nic Stevens had only realised she had heaps more time to kick a sealer through an open goal, she might not have sprayed it, while Emelia Yassir perfectly timed her pouncing on a loose ball to deliver a big win for Richmond.
HAWTHORN 6.8 (44) d WEST COAST 6.5 (41)
After winning their first-ever match last round, Bec Goddard’s Hawks made it two wins on the trot, as the Eagles’ fatigue from constant zigzagging across Australia may be catching up with them. Hawthorn rode the momentum of a four-goal second term to overtake West Coast’s three-goal lead at quarter-time. Aileen Gilroy (15 disposals, 10 tackles, four clearances), Tilly Lucas-Rodd (14 touches, seven tackles, four clearances and a goal) and Jess Duffin, who kicked three second-quarter goals off the back of three strong contested marks, all were instrumental in the fightback, which led to the Hawks’ razor-thin margin of victory. The Eagles managed just two goals after the first quarter. West Coast’s Bella Lewis followed a terrific Western Derby last round with 24 touches, 10 tackles and one goal, while Sarah Lakay dominated the ruck, racking up 29 hitouts, but ultimately, they fell just short.
ADELAIDE 8.15 (63) d PORT ADELAIDE 0.3 (3)
Although playing INXS’s rollicking, classic power ballad ‘Never Tear Us Apart’ has become an Adelaide Oval tradition before the opening bounce at Port Adelaide home matches, it seemed inappropriate as new kid Port faced reigning premier Adelaide. Last round the Crows allowed just a solitary behind to GWS in their record 96-point smashing. This round, they were a tad more charitable — allowing the Power three minor scores. Crows captain Chelsea Randall wouldn’t let her star teammates, Ebony Marinoff (24 touches and a goal) or Anne Hatchard (23 touches and a goal) outshine her this week, as she led all comers by collecting 27 possessions and kicking three goals. It’s never really a great sign for any club when a key defender is its biggest ball-winner of a match, but that was the case with Port Adelaide in this contest, as Alex Ballard got 18 touches in this 60-point belting.
GWS 4.5 (29) d CARLTON 1.6 (12)
As Cora Staunton goes, so go the Giants. Last round, the Crows held her — and the entire GWS side — goalless, but this week the Irishwoman would not be denied, even while Blues’ star defender Vaomua Laloifi was minding her. Laloifi took 14 intercept marks in the previous round, but in this contest, Staunton booted two of her side’s four majors on her, while Emily Pease accounted for the other two. As she often does for the Giants, Alyce Parker led the way as their leading ball-winner, amassing 18 touches. Gabriella Pound kicked the Blues’ only major, while Abbie McKay (23 possessions) and Mimi Hill (21 possessions) could also hold their heads high. The Blues are injury-wracked, but this was yet another dismal performance from them.
GEELONG 5.7 (37) d WESTERN BULLDOGS 5.6 (36)
Now hear this: The Cats have their collective backs arched, claws out, and are loudly hissing at opponents with their tails twitching. Geelong followed its most complete performance last round in a 50-point win by claiming a firm stake in the top eight. But the Cats only held on by a whisker to defeat a hard-charging Bulldogs side that roared to life after the Cats took a commanding 19-point fourth-quarter lead in Ballarat. Cats fans must be thinking the phrase, “the Scott and Scheer Show” must have a nice ring to it, as Shelley Scott and Chloe Scheer followed their combined six-goal effort last week with more great teamwork against the Doggies. Scheer kicked one major and applied plenty of forward pressure, while Scott booted two goals: one, a beautiful running goal while evading traffic, and a second, a brilliant snap. Julia Crockett-Grills effectively sealed the deal by converting a long-range set shot, but the Cats needed all nine of their lives to win, as the Doggies’ Elle Bennetts snapped home a goal on the final siren to make the Cats’ victory margin one point. With Amy McDonald (15 possessions and nine tackles) copping plenty of attention, Nina Morrison (21 disposals and 10 tackles) stepped up and was influential. For the hosts, captain Ellie Blackburn was her productive best, touching the footy 25 times and kicking a goal, Jess Fitzgerald gathered 25 possessions, and Alice Edmonds ruled the ruck with 35 hitouts.
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COLLINGWOOD 4.12 (36) d ST KILDA 5.4 (34)
St Kilda was up by three points with just under three minutes left in the match and about to pull off a massive upset. Nic Stevens was all alone, racing toward an open goal — but her potentially match-sealing left foot snap skittered across the face of the square and went through for a behind. That miss opened the door for the wildly inaccurate Magpies to recapture the lead, off a miraculous Eliza James snap from the pocket, assisted by a kind bounce in the square. For James — the 19-year-old who kicked two brilliant goals last round — her match-winner on the weekend was the metaphoric icing on her actual birthday cake. Mikala Cann and Jaimee Lambert did enough, with their 21 possessions apiece, and Ruby Schleicher, with her 20 touches, to keep the Pies in it, while Chloe Molloy helped the Collingwood cause with great centre clearance work. St Kilda’s Hannah Stewart was an absolute wrecking ball, getting 25 touches, kicking two goals and laying five tackles, while her teammate, AFLW leading goalkicker Kate Shierlaw, continued her streak of kicking a major in every match this season.
RICHMOND 3.5 (23) d GOLD COAST 3.1 (19)
Credit Yassir for her presence of mind that led her to win this match off her boot. She adhered to one of footy’s golden rules — even if play appears to have stopped, play on until the umpire blows the whistle. So, after Yassir’s teammate Grace Egan went down in Daisy D’Arcy’s dangerous tackle inside the Tigers’ attacking end, with about two minutes left before the final siren and the Tigers down by two points, Yassir realised the umpire had ruled play-on advantage to her side. Yassir then hunted the footy, scooped it up and snapped truly to give Richmond the winning victory margin. It was a physical, hard-earned, come-from-behind win for the Tigers, who saw captain Katie Brennan soldier on and kick a goal after sustaining an eye injury, and Maddie Shevlin and Jess Hosking also suffering injuries. The Suns, meanwhile, paid the price for not producing a four-quarter effort. Richmond held Gold Coast scoreless in the final term, which paved the way for its win. Mon Conti was characteristically brilliant for Richmond, with 23 disposals and eight tackles, while Shevlin kicked the Tigers’ other goal. Charlie Rowbottom was again the Suns’ best, with 24 disposals and eight tackles.
BRISBANE 8.14 (62) d ESSENDON 3.0 (18)
The Lions showed no ill-effects from their upset defeat last week to Richmond by reclaiming top spot on the ladder with a blowout of the Bombers. They were back home and firing, with Ally Anderson collecting a match-high 23 possessions (11 contested) and laying six tackles, Emily Bates (19 touches) decisively winning the ball and Tahlia Hickie and Jess Wardlaw kicking goals on a wet deck. Brisbane dominated the first half, with 30 inside 50s to one and holding the Bombers scoreless until the third term, when Essendon finally opened its account by kicking two goals. But Wardlaw helped quash whatever momentum the Bombers were building, kicking her second goal — her equal career-best 11th — on the three-quarter time siren, to push Brisbane’s lead out to an insurmountable 36 points. Anderson reached a significant milestone, becoming only the sixth AFLW player — and first Indigenous one — to register 1000 career disposals. Greta Bodey’s 1.4 epitomised the Lions’ inaccuracy. In a bizarre note, the Lions hit the post five times — Bodey herself must’ve felt as if both the goal post and the Sherrin had hidden magnets inside them, as three of her shots on goal smacked against the woodwork. Maddy Prespakis continued her stellar season for Essendon, kicking a goal to go along with 20 touches and nine tackles.
MELBOURNE 10.6 (66) d FREMANTLE 5.6 (36)
Just when the Dockers thought they might have this match within their grasp, trailing the Dees by four points in the final term, Melbourne’s depth surfaced. It wasn’t the Dees’ frontline players who stepped to the fore in the moment, but rather an emerging talent, a strong support cast member and a Docker castoff. Olivia Purcell had a second huge game in a row, with 26 disposals, Kate Hore kicked three goals, and Sabreena Duffy, who Fremantle delisted after she sat out season six, because of a combination of other professional commitments and injury, haunted her old side by kicking two majors. In fact, it was goals from Purcell and Hore in less than a minute, early in the fourth quarter, which ballooned their lead to 16 points. Tyla Hanks also starred for the Dees, with 21 possessions (eight contested) and six tackles, while Lily Mithen equalled Hanks’ possession total. Kiara Bowers was Fremantle’s best on ground with 26 disposals, 12 tackles and a goal.
NORTH MELBOURNE 9.13 (67) d SYDNEY 0.1 (1)
Oh, how the Swans wish they’d lured North’s Sydney-born megastar Ash Riddell back to the Harbour City. Riddell put on a clinic, gathering 13 touches and four clearances by half-time, and Jasmine Garner added 11 touches and two goals by the major break, helping North Melbourne bolt to a 31-point lead in an eventual 66-point shellacking of the still-winless Swans. Riddell ended up with 25 possessions, Garner tallied 18, to go with 10 tackles, and Tahlia Randall kicked a bag of three goals, as the Roos’ recorded their biggest-ever win. Ella Heads, meanwhile, led the young Swans with 16 possessions.
