Jesse Wardlaw played a starring role in Brisbane’s big win over the Eagles. Photo: AFL Media.
With the first third of the season now in the books, two undefeated sides made the loudest statements in their respective, highly anticipated heavyweight bouts.
In the undercard, the feisty Demons upset North, holding off the Roos’ grandstand finish, to announce themselves as legitimate flag contenders.
In the main event, Fremantle cemented its credentials as a juggernaut and premiership fancy, thumping two-time premier Adelaide by five goals and extending its winning streak to 10.
Brisbane stayed atop the ladder, with a hefty 502.9 percentage by making road kill of the Eagles. Collingwood, meanwhile, took advantage of the still-winless Tigers to stay unbeaten. Somewhere in the din of the various clubs’ noisemaking, Carlton’s voice also was audible, announcing, “we’re baaaaaack,” in a convincing win over St Kilda.
WESTERN BULLDOGS 3.6 (24) d GEELONG 1.3 (9)
The Doggies finally pulled away from the Cats in the final term, turning a one-point, three-quarter-time lead into a 15-point win, but the lasting impression of the evening might be an egg and two shiners on the faces of two of the Doggies’ girls. Kristy Lamb sported one shiner over her right eye, while her teammate Ashleigh Guest — whose start to last season was delayed by knee and ankle injuries — copped an egg and a shiner over her left eye after a horrific third quarter injury from a collision with the Cats’ Richelle Cranston. In the end, it was the Doggies’ usual suspects leading their club to grind out a victory — Ellie Blackburn racked up 25 touches and laid nine tackles, Jess Fitzgerald created magic from scratch, getting on her bike and kicking an early goal of the year contender, and Izzy Huntington took a career-high nine marks and added a goal of her own. The Cats, meanwhile, now comfortably own the league’s lowest percentage, at 24.3.
GWS 2.6 (18) d GOLD COAST 1.2 (8)
The Giants chalked up their first win of the season, after dropping their first two, against a Gold Coast side now desperately trying to find its way, after making finals last season. Alyce Parker (24 touches) and Rebecca Beeson (23 touches, seven tackles) continued their ball-winning ways, while Alicia Eva kicked one of GWS’s two goals, from 15 possessions. Gold Coast at least mustered a goal this round, after recording a history-making low score of just two behinds in the previous round, as Jamie Stanton kicked the Suns’ lone major score. Alison Drennan shone brightest for Gold Coast, swooping for 22 touches and laying a match-high 12 tackles. The Giants had only three more inside 50s than the Suns on the day, but the combinations of the Giants repelling attacks and the Suns squandering opportunities proved the difference.
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CARLTON 6.4 (40) d ST KILDA 2.4 (16)
It took them two matches and the first quarter of their third to make the announcement, but Blues are officially back. Elise O’Dea (21 touches) played across the ground, opening Carlton’s scoring with a goal and played her best game to date in the navy blue jumper. Maddie Prespakis was at her best, too, adding a goal with her 24 possessions, and breaking a Cat Phillips tag. Grace Egan (24 touches) and Abbie McKay (17 touches) benefitted from Breann Moody’s sensational rucking, frequently giving her Blues teammates first use of the ball with 18 hitouts, using her big fist to hammer it out of the center square, as the Blues dominated the clearances, 31-17. Carlton’s Nic Stevens got bang for her buck, nailing two goals from 10 touches, as the Blues never looked back after their three-goal second term. St Kilda kicked just one goal in the previous round, and in this one managed just one better, as they again struggled to move the ball into their forward 50. Saints’ skilled goal-kicker Caitlin Greiser was starved of supply, only getting three touches. She kicked one goal, but late in the match, after lining up for a set-shot, couldn’t seem to decide whether to go for goal or pass. Greiser appeared not to take the full 30 seconds, awkwardly half-trotted forward, then blasted a set-shot straight into the woman on the mark, Blues’ defender, Vaomua Lalofi, as surprised star Saint Georgia Patrikios (20 touches, five tackles) looked on nearby, as she was re-tying one of her boots.
MELBOURNE 9.6 (60) d NORTH MELBOURNE 8.3 (51)
Talk about your instant classics. This easily was one of the best matches in AFLW history and not only because it had one of the young competition’s highest aggregate scores. This was an exciting heavyweight match between challenger and favourite, with the challenger making a statement about its flag-readiness to the rest of the competition — but not before the favourite nearly pulled a victory out of the fire. The inside 50, contested possessions, and clearance counts were mostly even, and while free kicks didn’t decide the match, North conceded a fatal three in the last two minutes — one to the Dees’ Daisy Pearce during a last-roll-of-the-dice, forward 50 entry and another to her teammate, Shelly Scott, who then converted a set-shot at the final siren — that extinguished whatever hopes it had of a miraculous victory. The Dees trailed the Roos by four points after an arm-wrestle of a first quarter, but with ball-hawks Karen Paxman (25 possessions) Tyla Hanks (23 possessions), and Lily Mithen (21 possessions) setting the tone, Melbourne exploded in the second, equalling a league-record six-goal bonanza. Jacqui Parry kicked three majors in the term, helping the Dees build a formidable 27-point half-time lead. But in the third term, the Roos responded with four goals of their own. Ashleigh Riddell picked up eight of her 17 touches and Tasmanian Daria Bannister — whose AFLW career has been cruelly injury-prone — turned heads with two crumbing goals within 30 seconds, to close the deficit to a mere seven points. That disadvantage might’ve been only one point, but for some possible Paxman craftiness. After the umpire paid Paxman a free kick for an Emma Kearney high tackle, did Paxman then take just a bit of an extra backward step to make it appear that Kearney’s toss of the ball back to her would bounce short and look half-hearted, prompting a 50-metre penalty? Whatever the case, Paxman easily drilled the resultant set-shot. A thrilling passage of ball movement by the Roos late in the final term — from Kate Gillespie-Jones to Jasmine Garner (15 touches, 12 tackles), to Sophie Abbtangelo, culminating in an Isabella Eddey snap for goal — brought them to within a tantalizing two points, with just two minutes left. But the Roos conceding a free to the Dees’ Alyssa Bannan for a chop of the arms would be a precursor to their comeback falling just short.
FREMANTLE 7.1 (43) d ADELAIDE 1.7 (13)
If this was a “statement” game for the Dockers, consider it a Ned Kelly-style manifesto to the rest of the competition, candidly expressing their fearlessness and expectation to be crowned premiers. Freo may have never beaten the two-time flag-winning Crows on the road before this contest, but from the opening bounce, the Dockers played the entire match on its terms — despite a scoreless first term — en route to dominant, five-goal drubbing, and holding the Crows to their lowest final score in their five years in the competition. Kiara Bowers was at her characteristic best for Fremantle, amassing 23 touches and laying 13 tackles, while Hayley Miller (15 possessions) and Ebony Antonio (13 possessions) were at their influential best, with the latter frequently breaking the lines and setting up attacks. With Freo defender Evie Gooch remaining in WA to fulfil her firefighting duties, forward pocket Ashley Sharp replaced her in the side and made her presence felt, booting two goals, one set up by her partner in crime, Sabreena Duffy (one goal) and the other, a sensational snap from her non-preferred left boot. Sharp benefitted from the Crows defenders devoting most of their attention to Gemma Houghton, who they double-teamed for most of the match. Houghton, though, broke free in the final term for two goals — one after converting a set-shot after taking a strong contested mark, and the other, a signature running snap. The Crows had plenty of chances in the third term, but inaccuracy cost them. Anne Hatchard (21 possessions) had an impressive performance, but missed a set shot early, Stevie-Lee Thompson (12 touches) provided plenty of run off halfback, but managed only two behinds in the term, which ended with superstar Erin Phillips’s minor score from a set-shot, on the three-quarter time siren. Ebony Marinoff paced Adelaide with 23 possessions, but Rachelle Martin (14 touches) stepped up as a spark plug with her pace and attack on the ball. For Freo, Steph Cain played perhaps her best match, collecting 15 touches and taking a team-best six marks.
COLLINGWOOD 7.6 (48) d RICHMOND 4.7 (31)
The Tigers’ fledgling AFLW existence continues mirroring the classic ‘80s U2 song: They still haven’t found what they’re looking for — a victory. As if the footy gods conspired against Richmond, the latest COVID-19 lockdown switched its fixture, necessitating a date with the in-form Magpies, instead of the winless West Coast Eagles. Collingwood bolted quickly to a two-goal lead, with Breana Davey (25 touches, seven tackles) and Sophie Alexander kicking majors. Richmond’s Courtney Wakefield answered with one of her own, but the Pies’ Irish import Aishling Sheridan ended the first term scoring with a major, deflating whatever momentum Richmond was building. That further eroded after joyous Tigers’ ruck Gabrielle Seymour (16 hitouts) beat Pies’ All-Australian defender Stacey Livingstone for a contested mark in the goal square — despite Livingstone’s vociferous claims to the umpire that Seymour pushed her in the back — then promptly missed a soda. Nearly the same scenario repeated moments later. This time Richmond’s Sarah Dargan took a brilliant contested mark from teammate Katie Brennan’s kick into the forward 50, but sprayed the resultant set-shot into a stiff breeze for a behind. Joanna Lin later snapped truly for the Pies, helping them bolt away before half time. Sheridan, the former Gaelic footballer, opened the third-term scoring for the Pies with a brilliant running goal, and Chloe Molloy effectively sealed the match after being paid a 50-metre penalty and converting a set-shot from the goal square. Give Richmond credit for not putting the cue in the rack and fighting back with two goals in the fourth quarter. Monique Conti continued fighting hard for the Tiges, ending up with a team-high 25 possessions, but Collingwood’s Davey and Jaimee Lambert also had that many, while the Pies’ Britt Bonnici had a match-high 31. Meanwhile, Brennan’s goal-kicking hoodoo continues. With her one behind, the Tigers’ captain has now kicked just 1.9 in a season-and-a-third for Richmond.
BRISBANE 10.5 (65) d WEST COAST 2.8 (20)
After a first-quarter catnap, in which they recorded just one scoring shot to the visiting Eagles’ six and trailed by five points, the Lions mauled West Coast in the second and third terms, en route to a 45-point smashing. Brisbane dominated the centre clearances after the first quarter and pretty much did as it pleased the rest of the way. Dakota Davidson soared to the top of the goal-kicking table with two goals (one after taking a brilliant diving mark in the pocket from a Jess Tawhiao-Wardlaw pass), while Taylor Smith — rescued from a Gold Coast delisting in the off-season — kicked her first three majors of her career. Lauren Arnell (18 touches) and Sophie Conway (15 touches) were Brisbane’s major ball winners. Aisling McCarthy, the Eagles’ prized off-season recruit from Western Bulldogs, collected 17 possessions and kicked one of her club’s two goals.
