Brisbane has jumped to the top of the table with a 44-point win over Essendon, responding in style after last week’s shock first loss of the season.
The Lions surged out of the blocks in the opening half, demolishing the Bombers at the coalface with 18 clearances to just 7, putting Essendon’s already injury-hit defence under enormous pressure.
Brisbane locked the footy in their attacking end with 27 inside 50s to just 2 along with a lopsided 36-0 disposals inside 50 count.
Trading Day begins 5pm EST on Fox Footy, Monday October 3 – daily news and analysis of the AFL trade period. Stream it live or on-demand on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
Brisbane registered 15 scoring shots to zero in the opening half and had it not been for wastefulness in-front of goal – with 3.12 – the game could’ve been over in a blink of an eye as the helpless Dons had no response for the Lions ferocious start.
Remarkably, four of their 12 opening-half behinds came from Lions players hitting the post and a fifth came in the second half from the boot of Greta Bodey – who hit the woodwork three times throughout the contest.
In the end, it was Brisbane’s commanding start which helped set the tempo and ultimately set up the game for the Lions, who bounced back in style after their shock loss to Richmond.
The win catapults the Lions back above Adelaide and Collingwood and on to the top of the AFLW ladder, as they head into the final month of the home and away season with the equal-best record in the league and a hefty percentage in tow.
ANDERSON MAKES HISTORY
The scoreboard wasn’t the only thing ticking over in Burpengary as Brisbane’s Ally Anderson chased history on Sunday afternoon.
Anderson came into the game needing 20 disposals to become not only the sixth player in AFLW history to reach 1000 career disposals, but also the first Indigenous player to reach the milestone since the competition’s inception in 2017. Given Anderson came into the game averaging 20 disposals a game, achieving the feat against the Bombers was right within reach.
The gun Lions midfielder raced out of the blocks with 12 disposals in the opening half and reached the feat in the final minutes of the contest, finishing the afternoon with 23 disposals to go with six tackles.
Anderson isn’t the only Lions player to reach the milestone, with teammate Emily Bates getting to 1000 possessions earlier this season.
HAPPY RETURNS AT EITHER END
Brisbane were given a major boost at either end with Kate Lutkins and Jesse Wardlaw returning to the side on Sunday afternoon.
Earlier this year, Lutkins tore her ACL in round one of season six, which was a major blow to Brisbane’s hopes of going back-to-back while also putting her out of action for the first five games of season seven.
Remarkably, the defensive general made her recovery from the injury in just under nine months and took her place right in the heart of Brisbane’s defence after 266 days on the sidelines. Her first disposal was met by a raucous ovation from the Lions fans and most importantly got through the game unscathed.
Meanwhile, at the other end, Wardlaw was a more than handy return for a Lions attack who sorely missed her services in their loss to Richmond last week – booting 2.3 and was a handful for the undersized Ashleigh Van Loon all afternoon.
SIGNS OF LIFE
It was a tough afternoon for Essendon, who were on the end of their first hefty defeat since the side’s inception earlier this year.
Throughout their first five games, the Bombers had been competitive in each and every contest so far this season, even in defeat – not losing by more than 11 points in all of their three defeats prior to Sunday.
However, for much of the contest, it looked dire Essendon, who went scoreless for much of the contest but to their credit, the Dons didn’t roll over and found a much-needed spark in the second-half, to help at least take something positive from their first trip up north to Queensland.
The Bombers matched the Lions at the coal-face and began to finally get the ball forward of centre, thus giving themselves at least a chance to get some scores on the board – which they did through consecutive goals from Joanne Doonan and Maddy Prespakis.
While it’s a third consecutive defeat, Essendon’s hopes of playing finals in their first year still have a pulse, but will need to build on the positives that emerged from their strong finish when they face the in-form Cats next Sunday.
SCOREBOARD
BRISBANE 2.7 3.12 6.12 8.14 (62)
ESSENDON 0.0 0.0 2.0 3.0 (18)
GOALS Lions: Wardlaw 2, Hickie, Conway, Hodder, Svarc, Bodey, Farquharson. Bombers: Doonan, Prespakis, Phillips
BEST Lions: Anderson, Bates, Conway, Wardlaw, Grider, Hickie, Svarc. Bombers: Prespakis, Toogood, Phillips, Cain
VENUE Moreton Bay Central Sports Complex
PLAYER OF THE YEAR VOTES
1. A. Anderson (Bris)
2. E. Bates (Bris)
3. M. Prespakis (Ess)
BIG AWAY WIN KEEPS DEMONS IN TOUCH
While Melbourne searches for its consistent best, it is managing to stay in touch with the top two teams on the AFLW ladder.
The Demons piled on four goals to nil with the aid of the breeze in the final term to grab a 30-point win over Fremantle at Fremantle Oval on Sunday.
But it took last season’s runners up three quarters to shrug off the Dockers, who only claimed their first win of the season a week earlier.
Melbourne did kick its biggest score of the season in the 10.6 (66) to 5.6 (36) victory, but it was a struggle.
The Demons also allowed the Dockers to record their highest tally for AFLW 7 too.
The result keeps Melbourne on five wins from six games, along with Brisbane, Adelaide and Collingwood.
It is in third position on the ladder though with the Lions and Crows boasting percentages superior to all the other teams.
An important game looms for the Demons next week when they take on sixth-placed Western Bulldogs, who lost a one-point thriller against Geelong on Saturday.
It took two goals from the boot of Kate Hore in the final term on Sunday to ease the pressure on the Demons.
Tayla Harris kicked the first goal of the game, following up the three she booted against Carlton a week earlier. Then she was terrific for the Demons in defence and in the ruck.
It was the run of Melbourne’s midfield, mainly Tyla Hanks and Olivia Purcell, that was too much for the Dockers to keep up with in the fourth quarter.
HORE THE KEY FOR DEMONS
Kate Hore looms as a crucial cog in Melbourne’s bid to go one better than last season and win the AFLW flag.
She showed why only 15 seconds into the third quarter against Fremantle on Sunday when she finished off the terrific ruck and follow-up clearance work done Tayla Harris to kick a goal to start the second half.
Hore had been rarely seen in the first half, but that goal put the Demons in front by 18 points.
The Demons had led at the main break by the two goals that had come from the boot of Eden Zanker.
Earlier, Hore’s one shot at goal sprayed out of bounds on the full and she handed another long scoring opportunity to a teammate that amounted to nothing.
But she recovered to kick two more important goals in the final term to help settle the result, finishing the day with 3.0.
If Hore can continue to finish off that good work done further up the ground, Melbourne is going to be tough to beat. And she could challenge the league‘s top goal kickers.
Hore is such a danger inside 50 for Melbourne, but needs to finish that good work off.
She went into the Round 6 clash sitting 10th on the AFLW goal kicking table, with a return of 5.10.
The two leaders, Adelaide’s Ashleigh Woodlands (9.3) and St Kilda’s Kate Shierlaw (11.2) have not had as many shots at goal, but have much better conversion rates.
BOWERS’ BRILLIANT BEST
Fremantle’s challenge of recovering from player departures during the off-season is being made a lot easier by the standard being set by its captain Kiara Bowers.
A previous winner of the AFLW best and fairest honour is having as good a season as any.
And she was outstanding again on Sunday, leading her side as it pushed one of the top sides in the competition, Melbourne.
Bowers finished with 26 possessions, 13 of them contested. She led the game for clearances (six) and inside 50 entries (eight). The Dockers had not won the clearances battle in any of their games prior to the Round 6 loss to Demons.
They came into the game against the Demons on the back of their first win of the season, against cross-town rival, West Coast.
That was also the only time this season, before Sunday, they’d finished in front of their opponents with inside 50 entries too.
At half-time against the Demons, Fremantle had been in their forward 50 area four times more and led clearances by six.
And Bowers led the way in both of those categories and had also collected 18 possessions.
But they couldn’t get their noses in front during the tight first half, drawing level four times and they trailed by 12 points at the main break.
The late goal before the half-time siren was a dagger for the Dockers, as it came off the boot of their former teammate Sabreena Duffy, who added another late in the game.
NO MOMENTUM CARRIED FORWARD
Melbourne coach Mick Stinear left Perth disappointed that his team was unable to carry momentum forward from its Round 5 win against Carlton into Round 6.
The Demons beat the Blues by just eight points but were happy with a consistent effort over four quarters in difficult conditions.
That did not transfer to Perth a week later. Fremantle turned up the dial on intensity and after scores were level at quarter-time, only trailed by two goals at the main break.
That margin was cut to just five points at three-quarter-time after the Dockers won only their sixth quarter for the season.
But five of the quarters the Dockers had lost have been in their five final terms – that now extends to six.
Stinear said the game had been a struggle until the final term.
“It took us to then to click as a full team,” he said.
“Our forwards were out of play for periods in that third quarter, so we struggled to get time in our forward half. That was mainly due to Fremantle work rate.
“It was a bit disconnected for the majority of the game.”
Again, Melbourne used handball to try to get field position, however Fremantle tried to target the ball carrier. This resulted in rushed disposals.
The Demons use handball much more than any other team in the competition, by an average of almost 50 per game.
SCOREBOARD
DOCKERS 2.1 3.2 5.4 5.6 (36)
DEMONS 2.1 5.2 6.3 10.6 (66)
GOALS Dockers: Bowers, Tighe, Kauffman, Franklin, Miller. Demons: Hore 3; Zanker 2, Duffy 2; Harris, Pearce, Purcell.
BEST Dockers: Bowers, Strom, Miller, East, O’Sullivan, Runnalls. Demons: Hanks, Purcell, Harris, Hore, Mithen, Birch.
INJURIES Dockers: Hyde (leg).
UMPIRES: Simmonds, Evans, Wharton
VENUE Fremantle Oval.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR VOTES
3. T. Hanks (Melb)
2. K. Bowers (Fre)
1. O. Purcell (Melb)
