Amy McDonald has led Geelong to a history-making start to its AFLW season.
Fresh off claiming a second consecutive club best and fairest, McDonald has hit the ground running in season 7.
Geelong is reaping the rewards of her work, ticking off two firsts when beating Fremantle by 26 points at Fremantle Oval on Saturday.
Watch every match of the AFLW Season LIVE on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
The Cats had never won their first two games of an AFLW season before now.
And they had not beaten the Dockers before, losing both of their two previous contests.
McDonald has been a catalyst to the Cats positive start to the season.
She was let to run amok by the Dockers, picking up a career-high 29 possessions in tough conditions.
She had 10 touches in a dominant third term.
The Cats managed to add only 0.5 for all of their efforts in that term, but they kept the Dockers match score at 0.0.
McDonald’s performance backed up from her 24 touches (including 13 contested) against Richmond in Round 1.
Coach Dan Dan Lowther said Geelong was reaping the rewards of McDonald’s hard work.
“She is brilliant. She has worked so hard,” he said.
“She has also worked so hard with our young midfield group to be in line and understand how we want to play. She has driven those standards.”
Efficiency going forward and goal kicking have not been a feature of the Cats great start to the season though.
They picked up the four premiership points on Saturday with a 3.9 (27) to 0.1 (1) scoreline.
They beat Richmond despite kicking the second lowest score of all 18 teams across the nine games. Obviously, the Tigers were the lowest.
Here are three other talking points from Geelong’s win:
CAT NINA IS BACK
After a goalless opening term from both Geelong and Fremantle, it was Nina Morrison that kicked the first major of the game.
It was only Morrison’s second AFLW goal in 17 games, her first also coming against the Dockers, also in Fremantle, in 2020.
Saturday’s moment was a declaration that Morrison was back after two knee reconstructions.
The 2018 Number 1 draft pick looks to have shrugged off her injuries and is back playing with confidence.
She finished with 13 possessions and eight tackles to be among Geelong’s best in the win.
Coach Dan Lowther was full of accolades for her performance.
“Because she has missed so much footy, she is making up for lost time,” he said.
“Courageous, tough, are the words that come into my mind to describe her.
“Today there were moments where she was tackled multiple times and stood up.
“She is a fiery competitor.”
DOCKERS BACKWARD STEPS
Fremantle’s score of 0.1 against the Cats is the first time it has been kept goalless in its history.
They are left dwelling with a 0-2 start to an AFLW season for the first time since 2017.
A new and young group is yet to find their feet after an interrupted and short pre-season.
Coach Trent Cooper doesn’t think there were steps taken forward on Saturday after the big loss to Brisbane in Round 1.
“Last week, against a really good side, we showed some patches where we linked up well,” he said.
“Today, in the first quarter, we were good in the contest, but after that, not a lot.
“To be honest, this definitely was not a step forward in any way. The group is aware of that and turn it around as soon as possible.”
One area of focus will be trying to get the ball more into their forward line.
Against the Lions, the Dockers had the ball in attack only 17 times. That rose to only 20 against the Cats.
Cooper said they also needed the ball at that end of the ground a lot more.
“We had eight entries to one in the first quarter. If we get a couple of goals, then things can change,” he said. “But it didn’t happen.
“We definitely need a lot more supply to our forwards and then keeping it there for longer to give our backs a break.
“At the moment, they are under siege. They did well to keep Geelong to three goals.”
BOWERS CATCHING UP
Fremantle has the dual challenge of trying to replace the players that left to play with expansion clubs and having a couple of their stars catch up after interrupted pre-seasons.
Dockers midfield star Kiara Bowers is one of those, who had COVID in pre-season and is trying to find her feet.
The AFLW best and fairest winner and three times All-Australian was one of the Dockers best in their Round 1 loss to Brisbane. She had 11 contested possessions in her 17 touches and laid five tackles.
But she was obviously short a run.
In the 26-point loss to Geelong on Saturday, she hit the ground winning, with seven possessions and seven tackles in a goalless opening quarter for both teams.
The wet and windy conditions were more suited to Geelong, but Bowers didn’t seem to mind them either.
She slows up a bit, but was still terrific, finishing with 18 possessions (15 of them contested) and 12 tackles.
Coach Trent Cooper said they needed a lot more to step up and help Bowers in the midfield, who he made rest in attack.
“That was, you’re not going to the bench to rest, you’re staying on the ground,” he said. “COVID didn’t really affect her, she has been good. But she hasn’t played with that same spark.
“And we can’t rely on her being everything.
“We need to share the load. We can win when she has a bad day, but we need a more even spread.”
— Bradley Elborough
BALLARD THE HERO AS CROWS FINISH ON TOP
Richmond led at every break and dominated the game for three quarters, but cometh the moment, cometh Abbie Ballard.
With the Crows finally getting on top in the territory battle they needed a goal kicker to stand up and get them home 36 (5.6) to 27 94.3).
Ballard nailed two clutch set shots to do just that.
The first was the best, kicking from 35m out on a tight angle the 20-year-old worked it back to perfection on the breeze togive the Crows a one-point lead, before she sealed the deal with goal from a free kick just minutes later.
Here are three other talking points from Adelaide’s win:
MARINOFF BOUNCES BACK
She went missing when it mattered in last week’s grand final replay, but Eb Marinoff bounced back in fine fashion with a dominant midfield display.
The four-time All-Australian had her lowest disposal return in four years against Melbourne, but returned to her industrious best, driving the Crows forward often when they were under siege.
She was also able to clamp the Richmond midfielders in the last quarter after they had got the better of the Crows for three quarters.
Marinoff finished with 22 touches, 11 tackles and a game-high 487m gained.
WAKEFIELD’S DAY OUT
At times it seemed Courtney Wakefield or bust for the Tigers, who won inside-50s by a staggering 18 in the first half but could only muster three goals.
Such was the dominance of the 35-year-old in the first half, she had kicked all of Richmond’s score with the exception of a sensational Emelia Yassir snap goal from 45m out on the boundary.
Wakefield’s contested marking was a highlight of her game, especially considering she was often outnumbered in the air by red, blue, and yellow jerseys.
Ironically her first goal came with a cheeky soccer off the ground from the goal square, but her second brought the house down after a huge pack mark and cool finish from 25m out.
Wakefield finished with 2.2, six tackles and two contested marks.
MOCO LEADS THE WAY
Richmond’s midfield did something not many can say they have, get the better of Adelaide’s vaunted engine room.
Monique Conti led the way for the Tigers, and it was her second and third efforts that helped drive her side forward.
She almost got on the end of her own work for the goal of the year, starting with a kick on the wing to half forward and following it up with another chip forward to Wakefield, but the key forward couldn’t release a handball back to Conti for a goal.
Conti, who was best on ground, finished with 26 disposals, seven tackles, five clearances and 423m gained.
The addition of former Blue Grace Egan has already paid off for Ryan Ferguson’s team, with the 22-year-old’s contested work and link-up play a huge positive for Richmond.
Egan finished with 16 disposals, 10 contested touches, and 209m gained.
— James Mottershead
DOGS GET HOME… BUT YOUNGSTER SUFFERS HORROR INJURY
A gruesome leg injury suffered by Western Bulldogs youngster Britney Gutknecht overshadowed her side’s 19-point win against Port Adelaide, with the result spoiling the Power’s first-ever AFLW game at Alberton Oval.
Play was stopped for just over 30 minutes on Saturday after Gutknecht suffered a broken right leg when Port youngster Abbey Dowrick fell across her lower leg while attempting a smother approaching half-time.
The sickening incident occurred just inside the boundary line near the interchange benches, with the 21-year-old treated by SA Ambulance paramedics, with ground staff erecting a banner to shield fans from the upsetting scene.
Dogs coach Nathan Burke consoled his players from his position on the bench, with skipper Ellie Blackburn the first player by Gutknecht’s side.
“She was in so much pain, the poor thing,” Blackburn told Fox Footy at half-time.
“I was just trying to get her to look at me and distract her a bit and get her to take a couple of deep breaths.”
The dreaded ‘green whistle’ painkiller was quickly administered and the anaesthetic clearly did its job, allowing a smiling Gutknecht to wave to applauding fans as she was loaded into the ambulance along with her concerned mother.
Players from both sides did their best to warm up with play resuming with 96 seconds before the half-time break.
Here are three other talking points from the Bulldogs’ win:
HERSTORY IN THE MAKING
Gutknecht’s injury cast a pall over what was a big day for the proud South Australian club.
‘Herstory in the making’ was the slogan splashed across the t-shirts given away to fans who flocked to Port’s spiritual home and there was no mistaking the sense of occasion at the storied venue on Saturday.
The ‘Sold Out’ sign was hung out on the morning of the game with the 5,367 fans in attendance creating a hostile environment for the visiting Dogs.
The passing showers before the opening bounce did nothing to dampen the carnival atmosphere at the ground although the inclement weather did wreak havoc with the banner that was in tatters by the time Erin Phillips led her side onto the hallowed turf for the first time.
The ‘Never Tear Us Apart’ anthem was greeted loudly and enthusiastically, but home fans didn’t have a lot to yell about early.
ROCKY’S BIG GOAL
The Power’s Hannah Ewings missed her opportunity to make history with the first AFLW goal at the ground when she sprayed her set shot, but the Bulldogs were equally wayward at the other end.
The visitors won the territory battle in the opening term, but booted four behinds to lead by three points at the first break.
Rocky Cranston etched her name in the history books with the first major coming from a downfield free kick early in the second quarter.
The veteran Bulldog’s opening goal was greeted by silence, but Gemma Houghton gave the home fans something to get excited about when she pounced on a loose ball to slot the first Power goal on home turf, a week after she booted her side’s first-ever AFLW goal in a loss to West Coast.
But it would be the home side’s only major for the day, with the Power trailing by five points at half-time and 10 at the final change before the Dogs powered home.
BLACKBURN BLITZ
Blackburn showed outstanding leadership when Gutknecht went down and she also starred with the ball in hand.
The veteran onballer finished with 18 possessions and two score assists, with Kirsty Lamb forming a potent one-two punch through the middle with 18 disposals of her own.
Phillips had the opportunity to kick the goal the fans craved in the third quarter but drew groans from the crowd when she hit the post, the skipper finishing with 12 possessions.
Ange Foley was a rock in defence for the Power, but the former Crow gave away the free kick and 50m penalty that allowed Elle Bennetts to boot the sealer with just over five minutes left in the contest.
— Jason Phelan
