AFLW Week 7: All the action and news from Super Saturday
Carlton have pulled off a thrilling win in Perth as the AFLW’s top-four race intensified on super Saturday. See all the results and news here.
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The AFLW’s super Saturday was a beauty, with a couple of thrillers in amongst a terrific day’s action.
The Hawks, Tigers and Lions strengthened their top-four credentials while the Dockers stumbled against the Blues.
See how the action unfolded below.
BLUES STEAL WIN IN WEST
Carlton has kept its AFLW season alive with a remarkable last-gasp victory over Fremantle out west.
One of the more inconsistent teams to date this season, the Blues wrestled victory from the jaws of defeat after Keeley Sherar put Carlton ahead with less than a minute to play.
In pride round, Darcy Vescio was the architect of the hearts-stopping four point win, having a hand in several scoring opportunities late as the Blues stormed home.
Outnumbered two to one, Vescio’s pressure set up Breann Moody’s goal, the first of the final term and the major that put Carlton back within a kick. Then they took Carlton’s only mark inside 50 of the match but couldn’t convert.
Sherar benefitted from the Blues’ forward pressure, finding space out the back after the Dockers were drawn to the drop of the ball.
SHERAR PUTS THE BLUES IN FRONT!#AFLWFreoBluespic.twitter.com/WDcg9Ws4T5
— AFL Women's (@aflwomens) October 12, 2024
And Vescio had the chance to put an exclamation mark on the win but their kick just faded left under pressure, still having an impact in attack after spending some time on the wing earlier in the game.
The victory leaves Carlton just one win outside of the top eight with St Kilda (four wins) still to face Melbourne on Sunday.
Fremantle had the game in its hands in the third quarter, recording 15-1 inside 50s. But the Dockers were unable to capitalise on their opportunities when they had the wind and didn’t kick a goal without it, also lacking effort, heart and execution.
Carlton meanwhile kicked three against the wind in the first quarter and two with it in the final term, setting up a memorable victory with its pressure and refusal to give in.
Fremantle also missed vice-captain Hayley Miller who was a late out with calf soreness.
Keeley Skepper was influential for Carlton with two first quarter goals while Madeleine Guerin finished with 24 disposals, 452 metres gained and six clearances.
ANOTHER SLOW START
If you feel like you’ve read this next section before, you’re not mistaken. We need to talk about Fremantle’s slow starts – again. The Dockers are yet to win a first quarter so far this season and in their first seven games, Fremantle kicked a grand total of 2.5 in first terms. Coach Lisa Webb has blamed the wind at stages this season. But in the first quarter against Carlton, the Dockers were kicking with the breeze. The good news is that Fremantle kicked two quick goals, both courtesy of veteran Ebony Antonio who celebrated one of them with a ‘griddy.’ But just when it looked like the Dockers might have finally started a game on the front foot, Carlton hit back with three rapid fire goals of their own, Keeley Skepper kicking two. Despite Fremantle dominating time and possession in forward half, Carlton hit the lead at the first break thanks to a stark improvement in contested possession and inside 50s. The Dockers needed to make more of their early dominance.
A BIT OF BRAZ
Fremantle coach Lisa Webb has spoken at length this season about how Ash Brazill’s left foot gives the Dockers a different look coming out of defence. But how about in attack? Brazill was the talk of Fremantle Oval after slotting one in the third quarter from the John Gerovich roundabout, her first major in purple. A defender so far for Fremantle, Brazill pushed higher up the ground to give the Dockers some spark in attack and she delivered, producing the highlight of the day with a technically superb goal from the boundary. It was Brazill’s sixth goal of her AFLW career, her other five coming for Collingwood. And it underlined the retired netballer’s credentials as one of the recruits of the year given she also nullified Carlton’s Breann Moody.
LIONS WIN QCLASH AGAIN
Brisbane has extended its QClash dominance over little sister Gold Coast with a 16-point win on Saturday.
But the Suns went down swinging.
Meeting for the sixth time on a humid day at Brighton Homes Arena, the closest the Suns have ever come to victory is a draw in the inaugural edition of the Queensland rivalry back in 2020. Since then, Brisbane has enjoyed an average winning margin of 60 points and Gold Coast has never gotten closer than 36 points.
With the Lions in the hunt for another top four finish and the Suns yet to win a game in 2024, history looked set to repeat itself. But Gold Coast refused to go away, continually threatening Brisbane around the contest and ending the Lions’ record streak of 22 quarters in a row scoring a goal.
Gold Coast captain Tara Bohanna kicked the opening goal of the fourth quarter to bring the margin back to a single kick.
But as the rain started to tumble, Lions spearhead Dakota Davidson kicked the sealer to secure Brisbane its seventh straight win. It was Brisbane’s first goal since the second quarter as Davidson marked strongly in the slippery conditions.
Brisbane midfielder Belle Dawes won the QClash medal as the best player on the ground, finishing with 27 disposals, seven tackles, seven clearances and 306 metres gained. Ally Anderson (31 disposals, six clearances) also found plenty of the footy.
Tensions spilt over on the three-quarter-time siren after a clash between Charlie Rowbottom and Cathy Svarc. The latter was tasked with tagging the former, holding her to six disposals in the first half before the star Sun came to life in the second half.
Gold Coast and Brisbane players came from everywhere to be involved, setting the stage for a tense final term.
QUEENSLANDER
While some rivalries are manufactured, the Suns and Lions is home-grown. There were 27 local Queensland products in action on Saturday, a sign of just how strong the northern talent pathway has become. Most recruiters even rate Queensland the second-best breeding ground of AFLW talent behind Victoria. Gold Coast and Brisbane’s academies play a big part - the Suns set to get first dibs on top three draft prospect Havana Harris in this year’s draft. But it’s a credit to how much work has been done by AFL Queensland to raise the profile of Aussie Rules and transform it into the first-choice sport for female athletes.
Oliver wins the running race and kicks a ripper!#AFLWLionsSunspic.twitter.com/qmFHRCa7XF
— AFL Women's (@aflwomens) October 12, 2024
SURPRISE PACKET
Gold Coast has struggled to find the scoreboard so far this season, never kicking more than five goals in a game. But the Suns might have found a new option in attack in Taya Oliver. Playing just their third AFLW game, Oliver didn’t just kick their first AFLW goal, but they kicked two in the space of 10 minutes to get the Suns off to a stellar start in the first quarter. Since joining the club, Oliver has trained in several different positions given their versatility. But stationed alongside captain Tara Bohanna (two goals) in attack, Oliver gave the Suns presence and a touch of class up forward.
TIGERS WIN CRUCIAL THRILLER
Richmond have consolidated their position in the AFLW top four after winning a seesawing thriller against Geelong by seven points at Punt Road Oval on Saturday.
The match was an arm wrestle for its entirety, with the margin failing to exceed single digits either way. All up, there were eight lead changes, including five in a pulsating final quarter.
“It was a bit of a heartstopper for the people involved but it must’ve been great for the spectators,” Richmond coach Ryan Ferguson said.
Richmond headed into three-quarter time a couple of points down, but got their noses back in front with the first three scoring shots of the final term.
However, none of those were goals, and when Jacqui Parry made the most of her free kick at the seven-minute mark, the Cats led by five points.
Both teams proceeded to go goal-for-goal and when Richmond’s Emelia Yassir (three goals) was paid a dubious free kick for a supposed dangerous tackle against Georgie Rankin, she threaded the needle from a sharp angle to put the hosts up by two points with 3:21 remaining.
The Cats had the chance to re-take the lead with 2:30 left, but Mikayla Bowen’s quick kick under pressure from 10m out was off target.
With under a minute to go, Richmond captain Katie Brennan iced the result with a magnificent set shot from 40m out in swirly conditions.
The 6.10 (46) to 5.9 (39) result has all but assured the Tigers a second finals appearance in three seasons. Meanwhile, after back-to-back top-eight finishes, including a narrow four-point preliminary final loss last year, Geelong will almost certainly miss out on this year’s finals action.
“We hit the lead with four-and-a-half (minutes) to go and we thought, ‘OK. Well, let’s just try and consolidate here and make some good decisions’, and it just didn’t work out that way for us in the end,” Geelong coach Daniel Lowther said.
“Yassir gets a nice shot on goal and then Brennan puts the icing on the cake which makes it a bit frustrating to watch.
“We’ve played in a few of those games, haven’t we, this year? Where we’re going OK, the game looks OK, but we’re just not getting the win that we’re chasing which is a bit annoying.
“What let us down in the last quarter was we just didn’t adjust to the tempo or the game scenario that we need to try and dictate how it was played and our fundamentals let us down at times.”
Ultimately, Richmond’s strength in the middle of the ground, which saw them finish with advantages in contested possessions (106-97), clearances (32-29) and centre clearances (8-5), proved decisive.
“I like the variety we’ve got in there. We’re complementing each other well,” Ferguson said of his on-ball brigade.
“There were ebbs and flows in the midfield battle, and I think it’s just a marvellous experience for us to have as well. We’re only going to be better for that.”
Mon Conti was brilliant as usual, producing another best-on-ground performance that saw her register 27 disposals (13 contested) and seven clearances. She had the chance to make her display even more spectacular, but her inaccuracy (1.3) got in the way.
Grace Egan was also busy with 23 possessions while Poppy Kelly was instrumental in the ruck as she recorded 15 disposals (11) and 40 hitouts.
“The thing I’m pleased with at the moment, is it’s not individuals – it’s everyone taking their moment at a certain time,” Ferguson said.
Geelong’s Irish sensation Aishling Moloney wasn’t far behind Conti, racking up 23 touches (11), six marks (three) and a goal in another stellar game, while Nina Morrison ended up with 22 touches and seven clearances, and Rebecca Webster chimed in with 21 disposals (10).
YASSIR STANDS TALL
The Tigers didn’t look like kicking a goal in the first half, but it was Yassir who sparked them into action with a courageous mark backing back into the pack with the flight of the ball. Yassir had little regard for her own safety, but that was the price she was willing to pay. She finished off the play with a converted set shot from 20m out.
GUNJACA IN THE WAY
Richmond looked like they were guaranteed a goal early in the final term when Geelong defenders ran over the ball on the last line. Tigers forward Caitlin Greiser pounced and handballed it to Brennan in the goal square, but the former Bulldog didn’t get enough elevation on her kick and Geelong’s Claudia Gunjaca got a desperate finger on the ball on the goal line to deny the Tigers.
MESSY MORRISON
The most glaring example of Geelong’s wastefulness in the first half was when the usually reliable Morrison ran into the open goal, but from 20m out, missed to the right to give her team a seven-point lead instead of a two-goal buffer.
KEARNS CONCUSSED
Geelong’s Rachel Kearns suffered a concussion in the second quarter after coming off second best while laying a heavy tackle on Mackenzie Ford. It led to a clash of heads, which also gave Kearns a sizeable black eye. She will miss next week’s game against Brisbane at a minimum.
HAWKS CONTINUE RISE
AFLW surprise packets Hawthorn have provisionally taken top spot of the ladder after registering their biggest ever victory in a 66-point smashing of West Coast in Frankston on Saturday.
The first quarter was a tight affair, but from that moment on, it was all the Hawks who blew open the floodgates to kick the last 10 goals of the game and run out convincing winners.
The Hawks have been the story of the season so far under new coach Daniel Webster, and the 11.8 (74) to 1.2 (8) result was the latest thrilling chapter in what has been a remarkable breakout year for the club.
They are now assured a debut finals appearance, having extended their club record winning streak to five matches, and are shaping as a legitimate threat to the stranglehold that the old firm of Adelaide, Brisbane and North Melbourne have applied on the competition.
“Fundamentally for us ... we want to play finals, we want to win finals, we want to win premierships,” Webster said.
“That’s what we want to do. We’re not going to shy away from that.”
But he admitted he didn’t expect his team to be going so well at this stage of the season.
“A lot of that was built around not knowing what the group was going to be capable of,” Webster said.
“We said at the start we’re going to have a really open mind around what we could achieve and we’ve obviously done well to this point in time.”
The exciting and entertaining Hawks are the highest scoring team in the AFLW this season and have now registered their five biggest ever scores and wins in 2024.
Under Webster, they continue to lead the way in how women’s footy should be played: attacking, free-flowing, quick and aggressive – attributes that were sorely lacking in the three-goal snooze fest that Essendon and the Western Bulldogs produced just 18 hours earlier.
Webster said that keeping the ball moving at all costs had been a big focus for his side.
“It was good to get a bit more free-flow football going and a bit more speed on the ball which we always like,” Webster said.
“We want to play fast where we can ... it’s something we want to continue to do and we think with our run that we’ve got, it suits how we want to play.”
Meanwhile, West Coast will probably need to win their last three matches to secure a maiden finals bow in coach Daisy Pearce’s first season in charge.
The AFLW legend described the heavy loss as a “step back” for her team.
“They were impressive,” Pearce said of the Hawks.
“Credit to Hawthorn and how quickly they’ve been able to develop. Their ability to work all across the field, their fundamentals, they were just clearly better than us.
“You can walk away from it dejected or go, ‘Well, there’s a really good blueprint as to how you can improve quickly’.
“We’ll be honest, it wasn’t our best performance, and we’ve got a lot of work to do ... and it’s our job not to shy away from it.
“As good sides do, they were just able to keep exploiting what we gave them ... a bit overwhelmed by Hawthorn’s work rate today.”
HAWKS OVERWHELM EAGLES
Hawthorn’s trademark relentless, breakneck game style was in full swing on Saturday and the Eagles stood no chance as they went down by 66 points.
West Coast were overwhelmed and struggled to get out of their backline all day. Hawthorn set up superbly behind the ball, which was a key reason behind them smashing the Eagles for forward entries (50-17).
Despite finishing with more disposals (235-190), the Hawks also destroyed the Eagles in the tackle count (70-45), which underscored just how red-hot their pressure was.
The undisciplined Eagles also gave away far too many free kicks, especially in defence, and finished 10 behind in that ledger (26-16).
BRILLIANT BATES
Emily Bates was outstanding the Hawks, finishing with 22 disposals (12 contested), eight clearances and two goals, while key forward Aine McDonagh could’ve had a day out, but had to settle for 1.3, and two shots that failed to score, from her 20 possessions (14 contested).
Eliza West was also prominent, racking up 21 touches (16), nine clearances, seven tackles and a goal, while Irish star Aileen Gilroy was lethal with a game-high three goals from her 13 disposals.
GILROY MAGIC
Gilroy kicked the match off in spectacular style as her snap shot inside the first minute from 50m out on a sharp angle, while being tackled by West Coast captain Emma Swanson, dribbled past a diving Eagles defender in the pocket and miraculously kept bouncing all the way through for a goal.
HAWTHORN MRO WORRIES
The win could come at a cost for the Hawks because Jess Vukic might have something to worry about after her sling tackle on Jess Hosking forced the latter off with a blood nose late in the final quarter. And Ainslie Kemp might also be looked at for a strong push to Kellie Gibson’s chest which floored the West Coast forward for a long time and led to her being helped from the field in the hands of trainer in considerable pain.
Originally published as AFLW Week 7: All the action and news from Super Saturday
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