Fremantle superstar Kiara Bowers tackles Western Bulldogs midfielder Kirsty Lamb. Photo: AFL Media
While all 18 clubs are set to run out this weekend and next, sporting exquisitely designed jumpers celebrating the two-part Indigenous Round, there’s a mighty elephant in the room – the mounting injury toll on the competition’s best players.
Polite conversation be damned, it’s too prevalent a subject to be changed or swept under the carpet.
Gold Coast vice-captain Jamie Stanton is the latest bright light whose season has been snuffed out by a knee injury, while Port Adelaide boom recruit Gemma Houghton incurred a syndesmosis injury that puts her in danger of missing the remainder of the season too.
Those two join a constellation of stars such as GWS big-name recruit Izzy Huntington, Collingwood duo Brianna Davey and Britt Bonnici, 2021 grand final player of the match Kate Lutkins (Brisbane), season six goal of the year winner Ebony Antonio (Fremantle) and No.1 draft pick Montana Ham (Sydney) who are sidelined because of varying degrees of knee damage.
If they can’t play, it’s not ideal for a competition trying to build brand awareness and sustain fan interest on the back of newly established household names, and it forces to the fore young and untried talent whose development has been expedited prematurely.
While the league soldiers on, the injury crisis demands a meeting of the minds between top medical specialists, physios, team doctors, club officials and players to find possible solutions. The elephant isn’t going away.
But on a more positive note, heated local rivalries unfold this weekend both in Sydney, with the Swans and Giants battling for Harbour City supremacy for the first time, and in Brisbane, with the Lions and Suns squaring off in the annual Q-Clash.
WESTERN BULLDOGS v FREMANTLE (Princes Park, Friday 5.10pm local time)
Just two years after recording the competition’s only undefeated season, the Dockers have plummeted to the bottom of the ladder. Their measly score of 0.1 (1) at home last round has sandbagged them with a paltry percentage of 27.2. The Bulldogs sit fifth in the early going, with two wins on the trot. Injuries — there’s that elephant again — have forced Fremantle linchpins Ebony and Kara Antonio, and more recently, Gabby O’Sullivan and Janelle Cuthbertson all out of the side. With high-flying forward Roxy Roux dropped, Fremantle is depending on a heap of inexperienced players to fill their roles. The Doggies’ hardened veteran core, led by captain Ellie Blackburn and Kirsty Lamb, is poised to take the Dockers to the woodshed.
GIL TIPS: Western Bulldogs
ADELAIDE v NORTH MELBOURNE, (Unley Oval, Saturday 12.40pm local time)
The reigning premiers awoke last round just in the nick of time, as Richmond had them well and truly on the ropes couldn’t land the knockout blow due to costly mistakes. But this week, Adelaide can’t get away with “flicking the switch” late in the piece against a quality side like North Melbourne. An almighty midfield battle awaits, with the Crows’ Anne Hatchard and Ebony Marinoff keen to bring their best against the Roos’ Jasmine Garner and Ash Riddell, with Adelaide’s Sarah Allan in the backline trying to keep North Melbourne’s Tahlia Randall from hitting the scoreboard. It’ll likely be a close one, but the Crows’ numerous forward line weapons, such as goalkicking machine Ash Woodland, and last week’s Rising Star nominee Abbie Ballard, will prove the difference.
GIL TIPS: Adelaide
SYDNEY v GWS (SCG, Saturday 2.40pm local time)
Look for this rivalry to go the opposite way of how it did in the men’s competition, with the Swans dominating the Giants for the first few years. The ladder might show little separating the two sides, but Sydney is very young and unseasoned, outside of a few key drivers, while the GWS outfit has experience. Giants ball-winning midfielder Alyce Parker had a match for the ages last week, but Cora Staunton would be keen to hit the scoreboard after being held goalless. With former Giant Rebecca Privitelli now a Swan taking on her old mates, things might get a bit spicy in what should be a comfortable GWS victory.
GIL TIPS: GWS
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GEELONG v COLLINGWOOD (Kardinia Park, Saturday 4.10pm local time)
Cats fans, hopefully you’ve enjoyed your club’s top-of-the-ladder run while it lasted. Georgie Prespakis’ Round 1 miracle goal in the dying seconds, then the team’s suffocating Fremantle in Round 2, has the Cattery up and about, but this round Geelong meets perennial finallist Collingwood. The Swans last weekend challenged the Pies early, but Collingwood, with its superior talent, ultimately pulled away. The Pies will likely get Jaimee Lambert on the park, despite her troublesome ankle complaint. The Cats don’t score much and with Collingwood defensive pillars Ruby Schleicher and Stacey Livingstone awaiting their forwards, that’s unlikely to change.
GIL TIPS: Collingwood
BRISBANE v GOLD COAST, (Gabba, Saturday 4.40pm local time)
Kudos to the Suns for recording their first victory of the season last week, in a belting of a resilient Eagles side. But matching it against their Queensland neighbours on their home deck will be a bridge too far. Don’t be fooled by Geelong’s or St Kilda’s early high percentage – Brisbane is the league’s legitimate offensive juggernaut, spearheaded by the best forward brigade in the country. And then there’s the matter of which Gold Coast side will show up: the one that capitulated early against North Melbourne in Round 1? Or the relentless outfit from last weekend? It’ll probably fall somewhere in the middle, but the Lions will nonetheless feast.
GIL TIPS: Brisbane
CARLTON v PORT ADELAIDE (Princes Park, Sunday 12.10pm local time)
The Blues have a big chance here to build on their thrilling one-point win over Essendon and make a 2-1 start to the season. Carlton is at home, Darcy Vescio showed flashes of their vintage best last week and the Blues won’t have to contend with Port Adelaide’s dangerous Houghton in front of goal. This could be the round when Power captain Erin Phillips opens her goalkicking account, but her side is still trying to find its feet.
GIL TIPS: Carlton
ST KILDA v MELBOURNE (Moorabbin, Sunday 2.10pm local time)
The Saints might have played against two expansion teams in the first two rounds, but even still, few pundits would’ve picked them to have the No.2 ranked offence in the league at this point of the year. That trend stops this weekend. St Kilda is taking on a flag fancy in the Demons, who will be very keen to utilise their versatile arsenal of talent to rudely brush the Saints aside. Melbourne’s Tayla Harris has a real shot to kick her first bag of the campaign, while ball magnet Karen Paxman will be primed to run her opponents off the ball.
GIL TIPS: Melbourne
RICHMOND v HAWTHORN (Punt Road Oval, Sunday 4.10 pm local time)
Even without injury-stricken goalkicking captain Katie Brennan, the Tigers — who seriously challenged Adelaide until the dying minutes last week — should comfortably beat a Hawthorn side that was belted last week by the Saints. It should be a field day for Richmond’s Mon Conti who is primed to amass heaps of possessions against a new, developing side, and distribute the ball at will to her attacking teammates.
GIL TIPS: Richmond
WEST COAST v ESSENDON (Mineral Resources Park, 6.10pm local time)
Essendon very narrowly missed out on pulling off an upset against Carlton, peppering the sticks the entire second half while holding the Blues at bay. An inspired Maddy Prespakis played at her ball-winning best and other veterans Bonnie Toogood and Steph Cain lead the troops. The Bombers will bring that momentum and energy out west, where the Eagles are coming off an uninspired performance against Gold Coast. West Coast zigzags back home after the long trip to Queensland and is vulnerable to a charged-up Essendon side which has proven it can capitalise on scoring chances and kick goals at will.
GIL TIPS: Essendon
