It was more like a Q-Smash than a Q-Clash as Brisbane relentlessly and ruthlessly showed who was top dog in Queensland women’s football with an emphatic 73-point thrashing of the Gold Coast at the Gabba on Saturday.
The contest was like the adjoining Stanley St – one-way traffic – as the Suns crashed to their worst-ever loss in the AFLW while the Lions finished one-point short of their biggest ever win.
The rampaging Lions had 62 points on the board before the Suns registered any score in the third quarter through a Jacqueline Dupuy goal during a brief period of Gold Coast resistance.
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The Lions roared to a 21-0 lead at quarter-time with three unanswered goals and doubled-up with another 3.3 return in the second term to establish a commanding 42-0 buffer at the main break. They held a comprehensive 61-point cushion at the last change.
By halftime, the numbers told the story as Brisbane dominated the disposal count (127-87), inside 50s (22-11), tackles (46-25), clearances (16-7) and contested possession (62-49) to set-up their third-straight win to open the season.
It was equal parts brutal and brilliant from Brisbane who warmed up for their clash with fellow powerhouse Melbourne in Melbourne next weekend.
BRISBANE SEEK REDEMPTION
The Lions have long memories. And they do not forgive or forget. The first-ever AFLW match-up between the Gold Coast and Brisbane in 2020 was a 28-all draw in with the Suns celebrating like they had won a grand final after raiding the Lions’ playing and coaching ranks in the off-season.
It did not sit well with the Lions. Since that draw, Brisbane has mercilessly belted the Suns at every opportunity.
In 2021 in sweltering conditions at the home of the Wilston-Grange Gorillas in Brisbane, the Lions cruised to a record 65-2 victory.
And they backed it up with a comprehensive 85-16 victory at Metricon Stadium earlier in 2022.
STARS SHINE IN QLD
Judges for the best-on-ground medal had their work cut-out with a host of Brisbane players staking claims for the individual hardware.
Emily Bates jumped out of the gates with nine disposals while Cathy Svarc had nine touches in the second term while Orla O’Dwyer was everywhere for the home side.
Jesse Wardlaw had four goals to her name while Ally Anderson was a ball-magnet in the midfield for Brisbane who had winners all over the ground.
Bates claimed the honour with 21 disposals, 10 tackles, eight scoring assists and four inside 50s as she brought up her 1000th career disposal in the AFLW early in the second term.
LION STANDS UP
X-Factor Courtney Hodder had a quiet night up forward for Brisbane but Zimmorlei Farquharson delivered the magic for the Lions with her first goal catching the eye.
Farquharson left her direct opponent for dead with a lightning quick lead, cleanly grabbed the Sherrin, spun on a dime and snapped the ball truly.
She proved it was no fluke with a clever goal in the second term with another nice snap.
SCOREBOARD
LIONS: 3.3, 6.6, 10.8, 12.10 (82)
SUNS: 0.0, 0.0, 1.1, 1.3 (9)
GOALS
Lions: Wardlaw 4, Bodey 3, Farquharson 2, Smith, Svarc, Anderson
Suns: Dupuy
BEST
Lions: Bates, Anderson, Svarc, O’Dwyer, Wardlaw, Bodey
Suns: Rowbottom, Bella, Ahrens
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
3 E. Bates
2 A. Anderson
1 C. Svarc
PIES’ WINNING WAYS ROLL ON
It wasn’t easy, or pretty at times, but Collingwood remains undefeated after the Pies fought their way clear of miserly Geelong to score a four-point win at GMHBA Stadium.
The Cats were shooting for three wins in a row for the first time in the club’s history on Saturday, but a late rally wasn’t enough to maintain their own unbeaten start to the season.
The clash of the undefeated sides produced just three goals, which was perhaps unsurprising given Geelong restricted Richmond to one major in Round 1 and kept Fremantle goalless last week.
Jordyn Allen booted the last of the goals of the intensely fought contest, her set shot from 40m out midway through the final term proving the sealer.
Allen was pivotal for the Pies with 17 possessions, with Mikala Cann and Chloe Molloy also prominent.
Rebecca Webster, Amy McDonald and Georgie Prespakis toiled hard in the trenches, but couldn’t will their side across the line in a frantic final term when Geelong went inside attacking 50 10 times to the visitors’ two.
STREAK OVER
Since her debut in Round 4 of the 2017 season, Jordan Membrey booted 14 goals without blemish, but the Magpie forward’s remarkable streak of accuracy ended in the first quarter.
Having marked strongly in front of teammate Sabrina Frederick, Membrey had a golden opportunity to make it 15 in a row from a 45-degree angle about 15m out.
Membrey had converted much tougher chances, but she pushed her shot wide to the right.
It would be her side’s only score for the term despite a dominance that saw the visitors go inside attacking 50 six times before the Cats ventured inside their own forward line where Kate Darby missed her set shot to register the home side’s only score for the first half.
Collingwood continued to enjoy the upper hand in the second term, but couldn’t break through for the game’s opening goal.
The Pies were well on top in possessions (103-88), marks (31-12) and inside 50s (17-6) but only led by two points at the end of a goalless first half.
GUNS BLAZING
The third quarter seemed a shootout in comparison to the barren first half, with both sides hitting the scoreboard.
Collingwood’s Alana Porter took matters into her own hands when she pounced on a loose ball at pace and slotted an impressive goal – the first of her career – five minutes after the restart.
But the Cats worked into the contest well and deserved their first minutes later when Sarah Rowe gave away a free kick to Georgia Clarke that she converted from the goalsquare.
SABRINA’S 50 UP
Frederick played her 12th game for the Pies and the 50th of her AFLW career, after 23 matches with Brisbane and 15 with Richmond.
The two-time All Australian was lively, finishing with 12 possessions and 11 hitouts.
“We knew that Geelong was going to come out with that pressure … they do it every week,” Frederick told FoxFooty.
“I’m just proud of our girls for sticking with it.
“It’s been an amazing opportunity to get to my 50th game with this group.
“These are my best mates, I feel like they get the most out of me, and they’re a really special group.”
SCOREBOARD
CATS 0.1 0.1 1.3 1.5 (11)
MAGPIES 0.1 0.3 1.3 2.3 (15)
BEST
CATS: A McDonald, Webster, Prespakis, Friswell, Emonson, Fuller.
MAGPIES: Allen, Cann, Molloy, Butler, Chiocci, Schleicher.
GOALS
CATS: Clarke.
MAGPIES: Porter, Allen.
INJURIES Nil
Venue: GMHBA Stadium
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
3 J. Allen (Coll)
2 M. Cann (Coll)
1 A. McDonald (Geel)
GIANTS TAKE SYDNEY DERBY HONOURS
It was a day for making history as the Sydney Swans and GWS Giants faced off in the first ever AFLW Sydney Derby, in what was Sydney’s first ever game at the SCG.
But it was the team from the other side of town that created the most desirable mark of all by kicking their highest ever score in their seventh season in the competition, for their first win of the campaign
There aren’t too many areas in the AFL whereby the Giants have the jump on the Swans but as a foundation side, the women’s game is one of them and they hammered that home with a thumping 47 point victory in front of several thousand passionate fans at the iconic stadium.
In doing so, the Giants – who kicked 9.11.65 – eclipsed their highest ever score of 56 – back in round four, 2020 against Richmond.
“That’s awesome. We’ve been vocal that we have a new game plan and want to score more. The belief is building in the group anyway but when you add that on top of it, the proof’s in the pudding isn’t it,” said Giants coach Cam Bernasconi.
BACK WITH A BANG
Nicola Barr is one of the star names for GWS but after missing the first two rounds with a knee injury the former number one draft pick shone in the first half and made history with the first ever goal in an AFLW Sydney Derby in her first appearance of the season. The 41 game Giants veteran, who spoke this week about how much the derby meant to her as a NWS footy product, capped of a flowing move with a right foot snap on the run from 20 metres out with the first ever major between the two local combatants.
FAMILY AFFAIR
Zarlie Goldsworthy was the Giants number one pick in this year’s AFLW draft and after being forced to wait until round three to make her debut, due to injury, the 17 year old capped off the occasion with a brilliant snap from the pocket at the start of the third quarter to extend the Giants lead further. As a former young Matilda she channelled her soccer playing youth by running off to her sign waving family in the crowd to celebrate, who were parked right in front of where the goal was kicked.
A GIANT PERFORMANCE
Ally Morphett was one of three former Giants to take on her old side and so her former coaches and teammates would have known all about her quality, but that counted for little in the attempts to stop her. The Swans ruck was a dominant performer in a team that battled throughout with 18 hitouts and 13 disposals.
“She’s 19 and you forget that when you look at her. She’s going to be an absolute superstar when she learns about her body and work rate and gets her fitness to a level where she can impact for four quarters.” Said Swans coach Scott Gowans.
SCOREBOARD
SYDNEY 0.2, 1.4, 2.5, 2.6 (18)
GWS3.4, 5.5, 8.6, 9.11 (65)
GOALS:
SYDNEY: A.Hamilton, Lochland
GWS: Barr, Goldsworthy, Staunton 2, Garnett, Doyle, Pease
BEST:
SYDNEY: Morphett, Eastman, Sheppard, Szigeti, Woodward
GWS: Parker, Barr, Eva, Brazendale, Pease, Evans, Goldsworthy
Injuries: Sydney: Cynthia Hamilton (head knock)
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
3 A. Parker- GWS
2 A. Eva – GWS
1 M. Brazendale – GWS
ADELAIDE’S DEFENCE BACK ON TRACK
After a sputtering start, Adelaide’s premiership defence is back on track after the Crows ground out a 14-point win over North Melbourne on Saturday.
Ebony Marinoff led all comers at Unley Oval with 29 possessions and Danielle Ponter booted two goals as the reigning premiers notched back-to-back wins.
Adelaide opened the season with a scratchy loss to Melbourne in the grand final rematch and was behind at three-quarter time against Richmond last week, but Matthew Clarke’s side overcame a sluggish start against the Roos to improve to a 2-1 record.
“It was obviously a really tough, tense, tight battle … low scoring throughout, but our ability to come through in the last quarter was really pleasing,” Clarke said.
“It’s a brand-new season, even though it is in the same year, and the reality is that we have to start again.
“We’ve come up against good quality opponents and I’m sure that we’ve got some improvement to come.
“I’m enjoying the way the team is building and embracing the challenge.”
Jasmine Garner had 17 touches in the first half and finished with 24 after Chelsea Randall applied a hard tag in the second half and Ash Riddell and Emma Kearney impressed, but the visitors didn’t manage a goal after a bright first quarter.
“It was a really good start but we felt from the second quarter it was more on their terms,” North coach Darren Crocker said.
“They play a very ballistic sort of a game and we felt they were getting the game looking that way.
“We hung in there and the game was there to be won but the most disappointing aspect was the last quarter where they really dominated.”
TURNING THE SCREWS
The question of how the Crows would cover the loss of superstar Erin Phillips in attack appeared the burning issue ahead of the season, but Clarke’s headaches were at the other end of the ground in the opening two games.
The Crows rode a stingy defence that allowed just over 19 points a game to the club’s third flag, and they were back to their miserly best against North after quarter-time.
It looked set to be a tough day for the home side’s defenders when North booted the opening two goals to lead by 11 points at the first break.
First, Alice O’Loughlin pounced on a loose ball and snapped truly in traffic then Irish recruit Vikki Wall booted her first AFLW goal after a goal mouth skirmish.
NOWHERE TO HIDE
After keeping the Crows goalless in the first quarter, North’s Sarah Wright let them into the contest with a two-fold howler.
Wright was perhaps a little unlucky that her toe-poke was ruled out of bounds on the full, but then she dropped the ball instead of giving it back to Hannah Munyard.
The resulting 50m penalty took Munyard from outside scoring range to the goalsquare where she opened Adelaide’s account.
With her side enjoying the momentum in the second term, Ponter slashed the margin to one point at half-time with a spectacular checkside goal from the boundary.
Ponter ensured a win in Indigenous Round for her side when she expertly gathered a loose ball, evaded two defenders and slotted a superb goal in the final term.
OUCH!
Amy Smith didn’t take part in the second half after she copped an accidental, full-blooded kick to the head from Marinoff.
Crocker confirmed she suffered a concussion and will miss next week’s clash against Geelong in Launceston.
Hannah Button could miss Adelaide’s clash against Collingwood depending on the Match Review Officer’s view of her tackle that left Kearney dazed in the second quarter.
The star Roo was slung full circle and hit her head on the ground, but was able to see out the match.
SCOREBOARD
CROWS 0.2 2.2 2.4 4.6 (30)
KANGAROOS 2.1 2.3 2.4 2.4 (16)
BEST
CROWS: Marinoff, Randall, Ponter, Hatchard, Gould, Allan.
KANGAROOS: Garner, Riddell, Ferguson, Kearney, Bruton, M King.
GOALS
CROWS: Ponter 2, Gould, Munyard.
KANGAROOS: O’Loughlin, Wall.
INJURIES KANGAROOS: Smith (concussion).
Venue: Unley Oval
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
3 E. Marinoff (Adel)
2 C. Randall (Adel)
1 J. Garner (NM)
