AFLW: All the results and match reports from Round 5
An attempt at humour by Chloe Molloy didn’t go down well with her coach, who responded by moving her from the midfield into the forward line. The result was a near best-afield display in a dominant Collingwood win. EVERY AFLW RESULT
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Collingwood coach Stephen Symonds called Chloe Molloy on Thursday and asked her one simple question – where do you play your best footy?
“I was a bit of a smart alec and said, ‘On the footy field’,” Molloy said.
“He goes, ‘Well, we’re going to chuck you down forward’.”
Molloy returned to the forward line after a month in the midfield in the first of several structural changes for the Magpies.
They had just lost Ash Brazil (ACL), Georgia Gourlay (ACL) and Ruby Schleicher (wrist) to injury, but were determined not to lose their way.
Early in Sunday’s clash against Western Bulldogs, Molloy paddled the ball in front of her about 55m from goal and took off.
Molloy fumbled her running bounce, but it didn’t matter. She already had enough separation to recover in her first flash of class for the day.
Molloy, 21, clunked six marks and converted 2.1 from four scoring shots in a dominant first quarter.
Eleanor Brown’s defensive job on Molloy – who finished with seven score involvements – for the next three quarters was impressive.
But the damage was done, and as Brianna Davey and Jaimee Lambert got to work in the midfield the game started to crack open like an Easter egg.
“I actually had an inkling that I might go backline, but (Symonds) said, ‘No, we need you in the forward line’ and Jordyn Allen end up going to the backline,” Molloy said.
“I played my secondary role today. I was actually drafted as a forward initially and Wayne Siekman put me in the backline, so it was nice to feel like a forward again.
“It’s pretty nice to make a statement after those significant injuries.
“I can speak first-hand – injuries like that is really disheartening and it can kind of bring a vibe down, especially because it was three injuries we had.”
DOG DIVE …
Western Bulldogs, along with Melbourne, were the trailblazers for women’s footy. It was their exhibition games before the AFLW began that put the country’s best players on the main stage. But ever since the Dogs lifted the 2018 premiership they have been on an alarming downward spiral. They have now lost nine of their past 10 AFLW matches, along with 2018 league medallist Emma Kearney (North Melbourne), co-captain Katie Brennan (Richmond), Monique Conti (Richmond), Libby Birch (Melbourne) and premiership coach Paul Groves.
… BUT SOME SIGNS OF LIFE
Brooke Lochland grew up with roller-skates dreaming of ice-skating at the Winter Olympics. Well, she plays her footy in a similar manner. The livewire is a ball of infectious energy, and while Lochland couldn’t quite get on the end of any goals, she is always a lot of fun to watch. With Kirsten McLeod also playing with spark there is a nice dash of splash in the Dogs front half, but yesterday the efficiency going forward wasn’t quite as slick as the Magpies. As for Isabel Huntington, the No.1 draft pick is starting to look at home bouncing out of the backline.
COLLINGWOOD 3.0 4.2 6.3 8.5 (53)
WESTERN BULLDOGS 0.1 0.2 2.3 3.3 (21)
GOALS
Collingwood: Molloy 3, Alexander 2, Rowe 2, Membrey
Western Bulldogs: McLeod 2, Lamb
BEST:
COLLINGWOOD: Davey, Molloy, Lambert, Rowe, Chiocci, Bonnici
WESTERN BULLDOGS: Blackburn, Lamb, Newton, Huntington
VOTES: 3. Brianna Davey (Coll), 2. Chloe Molloy (Coll), 1. Jaimee Lambert (Coll)
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DEES DEMOLISH EAGLES
Chris Cavanagh
Defence wins premierships.
The old adage has been wheeled out by many a football coach in recent decades.
If it is true, Melbourne is in the box seat to win this year’s AFLW premiership.
The Demons are easily the hardest team to score against in the competition.
They conceded just 1.1 (7) against West Coast at Casey Fields, taking their total points against for the season to 84 points from five games – an average of less than 17 points.
Despite being injury-hit, Melbourne has onball strength the envy of much of the rest of the competition and again enjoyed the luxury of playing star midfielder Daisy Pearce off halfback against the Eagles.
Karen Paxman was prolific with 21 disposals, Elise O’Dea did plenty of grunt-work with 13 disposals and Niamh McEvoy (14 disposals) did plenty of nice things.
The midfield dominance meant West Coast recorded just 12 inside-50s for the match.
And Melbourne did not exactly have any trouble scoring at the other end, putting 10.6 (66) on the board from nine individual goalkickers.
ROAD AHEAD
ONE of the AFLW foundation teams, Melbourne is, incredibly, yet to play finals.
But that looks set to change as the Demons sit right in contention to not only finish in the top-three in Conference B but potentially even claim top spot after scoring a fourth win from five games and a 66.2 percentage points boost.
A top-placed finish would see Melbourne enjoy the first week off and book itself for a home preliminary final.
However, some bigger challenges come in the form of Carlton and Fremantle over the next fortnight before a clash with the struggling Gold Coast Suns in the final round.
WELCOME RETURN
Melbourne young-gun Lily Mithen made a welcome return for the Demons after the midfielder missed the first month of the season with an ankle injury.
The injury happened in a pre-season practice match and required surgery, but Mithen was back doing what she does best on Sunday.
The 22-year-old started on the bench but worked her way into the game to record 12 disposals and four marks.
Expect Mithen to only get better across the remainder of the season, having been one of the Demons’ most valuable and reliable players over the past three seasons.
COMEBACK CAMEO
A fan-favourite in AFLW, 2017 Adelaide premiership player Sarah Perkins got her chance to make a cameo comeback for Melbourne.
Perkins had been training with the injury-hit Demons for the past month as a train-on player and was enlisted as a top-up player for Sunday given Melbourne could not fill all 23 positions required.
After 17 games with the Crows, Perkins was delisted at the end of the 2018 season and played VFLW for Hawthorn last year.
But the 26-year-old showed she had not lost her trick bag, setting up Melbourne’s first goal for Eden Zanker and selling some candy soon after to evade an opponent and bomb the ball deep inside 50.
Perkins finished with nine disposals, two score assists and a goal after the final siren.
MELBOURNE 2.0 3.0 8.3 10.6 (66)
WEST COAST 0.0 1.1 1.1 1.1 (7)
GOALS
Melbourne: Zanker 2, Lampard, Hore, McEvoy, Scott, Emonson, Cunningham, Parry, Perkins
West Coast: Collier
BEST
Melbourne: Paxman, Zanker, O’Dea, McEvoy, Scott, Goldrick
West Coast: Hooker, Swanson, Bowen, Smith, Laurie
Reports: Nil
Crowd: TBC at Casey Fields
LIONS LOSE TOP SPOT AFTER FIRST DEFEAT
Greg Davis
A five-goal first-quarter blitz from Fremantle handed Brisbane their first loss of the 2020 AFLW season with the fast-starting Dockers claiming an 18-point win over the Lions at Fremantle Oval.
Brisbane also lost top spot in Conference A with North Melbourne’s victory over Adelaide allowing the Kangaroos to leapfrog over the Lions who were left to lament a sluggish first term against the Dockers.
Fremantle only kicked two goals after quarter-time but the five majors in the opening term gave them enough breathing room to maintain their unbeaten record and first place in Conference B after five rounds with the 7.8 (50) to 4.8 (32) victory.
Sabreena Duffy was the star for the Dockers with four goals while Emily Bates had 27 touches for Brisbane who will host Collingwood at Hickey Park this Saturday.
Despite kicking with the wind in the third term, Fremantle was only able to add the solitary behind to their halftime score with Jess Wuetschner booting the only major for the quarter with a clever snap in traffic to close the Dockers’ advantage to 10 points at the last change.
Fremantle held a 39-21 buffer at halftime thanks to their dominance in the opening term when their quick and direct style was aided by the breeze.
Lions key forward Jesse Wardlaw kicked the first goal of the match after soccering through the Sherrin from close range after Brisbane forced a turnover in the middle of the ground and Cathy Svarc burst out through the pack to send the visitors deep into attack.
It was all the Dockers after that with Freo piling on four unanswered goals with Duffy to the fore for the home side and the likes of Ashley Sharp and Ebony Antonio chiming in with majors.
A set shot from Brisbane’s Rheanne Lugg stop the bleeding before quarter-time when the Dockers led 32-14.
And the Lions closed the margin again when Wuetschner scored from long-range in the opening salvos of the second term after senior coach Craig Starcevich called on his players to lift their defensive pressure.
Duffy’s third goal for the match allowed Fremantle to reassert some authority on the contest before the main break.
FREMANTLE 5.2 6.3 6.4 7.8 (50)
BRISBANE 2.2 3.3 4.6 4.8 (32)
GOALS
Fremantle: Duffy 4, Sharp 2, E. Antonio
Brisbane: Wuetschner 2, Wardlaw, Lugg
BEST
Fremantle: Duffy, Bowers, E. Antonio, Miller, Sharp, Houghton
Brisbane: Bates, Anderson, Lugg, Svarc, Wuetschner, Davidson
INJURIES
Fremantle: Roux (eye)
Brisbane: Nil
HARFORD’S ENVY OF ‘MATURE’ HARRIS
Lauren Wood
Blues are in tune and humming towards a second straight finals berth.
Just don’t ask their coach.
Daniel Harford joked almost 12 months ago that his women were “just that Conference B crap team that can’t play”, referencing suggestions the Blues’ pool was the less competitive of 2019, they’re more than showing the damage they’re capable of inflicting.
It was a 21-point win over the Saints that rocketed the Blues to a 4-1 record and on the path to April action – a true team victory under lights at the club’s historic home.
With matches still to be played on Sunday, the Blues sit atop the Conference B ladder, shaping next week’s clash with Melbourne in Alice Springs as vital to the immediate future of both teams.
But Harford is adamant that finals remains a distant prospect.
“Nup,” he declared when asked if it was a tempting thought.
“I’m struggling to think what’s happening tomorrow, let alone what’s happening in three or four weeks’ time.
“Melbourne are a really good team, so all my attention goes to Melbourne in Alice Springs. They are a serious threat.
“We’ve still got to play Freo, West Coast as well … there’s a lot of water to go under the bridge before we worry about what’s happening after that.
And everyone is doing their bit.
Forward Tayla Harris remains in All-Australian contention with another performance with presence in attack. She eats criticism for breakfast and is showing it has only fuelled her further in her fourth AFLW season.
Teammate Sarah Hosking did her bit with two goals, while Madison Prespakis delivered another brilliant showing in the middle to further her case as one of the game’s premier midfielders in just her second year in the competition.
But it was defender Kerryn Harrington who took out the now-famed chocolate frog, awarded by Harford’s wife Rebecca.
“She walks away with three frogs, because the big ones weren’t in the shops – there’s been a run on them as well as the toilet paper,” he said.
RISING TIDE IN BAYSIDE
Could the Rising Star award be going to Moorabbin?
Early nominees Georgia Patrikios and Caitlin “G-Train” Greiser only continue to build their repertoire in their first season in the competition.
Patrikios finished with 18 disposals and two tackles.
Fellow Round 1 nominee Lucy McEvoy took a little while to work into the game and while she was restricted to four touches, she laid eight tackles including one bone-cruncher as the Blues wrested momentum.
SAINTS MADE TO PAY … AGAIN
For a second week running, the Saints were made to pay a heavy price for a split-second brain fade.
Lucy McEvoy – who had a quiet first half – was gifted a third quarter goal to extend the Blues’ lead after a Saint entered the protected zone, resulting in a 50 metre penalty.
Just hours after premiership coach Bec Goddard declared it would be “patronising” to reduce the penalty to a suggested 25 or 30 metres, Burke said some just shouldn’t be paid.
“It had no bearing on the play whatsoever,” Burke said on ABC Radio.
“You have a feel for the game and just let those go.”
CARLTON BLUES 3.0 4.1 7.2 8.2 (50)
ST KILDA SAINTS 2.0 3.0 3.2 4.5 (29)
GOALS
Carlton: S Hosking 2 B Walker G Egan G Gee L McEvoy N Stevens T Harris
St Kilda: C Greiser 2 K Shierlaw R Watt.
VOTES: 3. Madison Prespakis, 2. Kerryn Harrington, 1. Olivia Vesely
LAUREN WOOD’S BEST
Carlton: Prespakis, Harrington, Vescio, Harris, Egan, Hosking
St Kilda: Vesely, Patrikios, Dillon, Exon
INJURIES
Carlton: Nil
St Kilda: Nil
Venue: Ikon Park
ASHMORE FIRES ROOS TO VICTORY
Kaitlyn Ashmore has slotted four goals for North Melbourne, which has thrashed Adelaide by 42 points in Tasmania to notch a fourth-straight AFLW triumph.
Ashmore thrived in the wet and slippery conditions at North Hobart Oval, scoring in each of the first three quarters, including a tight set-shot from the pocket, as the Kangaroos won 9.9 (63) to 3.3 (21).
The Crows were kept scoreless in the second term, when the Kangaroos broke the contest open with 21 points after a tight first quarter.
Emma Kearney was at her ball-hungry best and picked up 26 possessions, followed by Jenna Bruton (25) and Jasmine Garner (24) for the ‘Roos.
Garner also kicked the first two goals of the final term.
The Crows struggled in the midfield without superstar Erin Phillips, who sat out the game with knee soreness after her return last round from a torn ACL.
Ebony Marinoff tried hard in the centre and ended up equalling Kearney’s 26 touches.
Adelaide opened the scoring with Danielle Ponter and were in the contest at 14-7 down at the first break.
But it was all downhill from there as the Kangaroos ran in nine goals straight.
Adelaide looked on track to eclipse their lowest score, 17 points against the Western Bulldogs in Round 1 last year, until Stevie-Lee Thompson nailed the last two goals of the match to finish on a positive note.
The loss is Adelaide’s second in a row and leaves them on eight points, level with Geelong which meets North Melbourne next round.
NORTH MELBOURNE 2.2 5.5 7.8 9.9 (63)
ADELAIDE 1.1 1.1 1.2 3.3 (21)
GOALS
North Melbourne: Ashmore 4, Abbatangelo 2, Garner 2, King
Adelaide: Thompson 2, Ponter
BEST
North Melbourne: Ashmore, Garner, Kearney, Abbatangelo, Bruton, Wright
Adelaide: Hatchard, Marinoff, Foley, Rajcic
INJURIES
North Melbourne: Nil
Adelaide: Nil
LATE CHANGES
North Melbourne: Nil
Adelaide: Najwa Allen (calf) replaced in the selected side by Chelsea Biddell
Reports: Nil
Crowd: 2843 at North Hobart Oval
STILL NO WIN FOR TIGERS
Richmond’s miserable winless debut AFLW season continued in Wagga Wagga, where Irishwoman Cora Staunton’s career-best haul helped Greater Western Sydney cruise to a 45-point victory yesterday.
Staunton, in a remarkable return this season after breaking the tibia and fibula bones in her right leg, starred with four goals on Saturday as the Giants triumphed 7.14 (56) to 1.5 (11).
GWS booted the club’s highest score in AFLW history and enjoyed their biggest win — and it might have been an even more-emphatic shellacking if not for a serious case of the yips.
“We knew we needed to come back after a poor performance last week against the Lions,” Staunton told Fox Footy after helping the Giants to clamber into Conference A’s top three.
“A nice win but it probably should have been bigger. We kicked 14 behinds and that’s an improvement we need to look at this week.”
There had been fears the 38-year-old, who has won four All-Ireland Gaelic football titles, might be forced to retire after last year’s horrific setback.
Instead, she is spearheading the club’s push to take part in finals for the first time.
One of the notable narratives of this AFLW season has been the cellar-dwelling struggles of expansion sides Richmond, St Kilda, West Coast and Gold Coast.
The other three newcomers have at least sung their respective songs.
Based on yesterday’s performance, it is entirely possible the Tigers will go through the season without a win.
Captain Katie Brennan was an enforced omission at Robertson Oval because of concussion.
Monique Conti, Sabrina Frederick and Phoebe Monahan all had their moments but, otherwise, Richmond was simply outclassed all over the park.
The Tigers’ frustration bubbled over on multiple occasions, including a scuffle late in the final quarter.
The only blemish for GWS, outside of its inaccurate goalkicking, was Nicola Barr’s hamstring injury. Barr is likely to be on the sidelines for a couple of weeks.
Elle Bennetts returned to the field after an injury scare in the third term, when her left leg twisted awkwardly in a tackle.
— AAP
GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY 2.5 3.8 4.13 7.14 (56)
RICHMOND 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.5 (11)
GOALS
Giants: Staunton 4, Privitelli 2, Halvorsen
Richmond: Bernardi
BEST
Giants: Staunton, Parker, Beeson, Privitelli, Tully, Bennetts
Richmond: Conti, Monahan, Dempsey
INJURIES
Giants: Nicola Barr (hamstring)
Richmond: Nil
Reports: Nil
Crowd: 3,377 at Robertson Oval
CATS DIM SUNS
Geelong has sweated out a second-straight AFLW victory, skipping away from Gold Coast on a steamy Friday night in Mackay to win by 20 points.
The Cats held tough as the Suns controlled proceedings in the first half before prevailing 5.8 (38) to 2.6 (18).
The Suns led 16-10 at halftime, Kalinda Howarth dominating for Gold Coast and Jamie Stanton rewarded with a goal after going close on three occasions in the first quarter.
But the Cats took over after the main break, Howarth kept quiet as Georgia Clarke’s set shot gave the visitors back the lead.
Richelle Cranston’s snap as the siren sounded for three-quarter time was a crucial moment, Cranston obliging when some Suns defenders appeared to clock off in the final seconds of the term.
Nina Morrison was a standout for the Cats with 14 contested possessions among 23 disposals, while Phoebe McWilliams kicked her team’s first two goals and Olivia Purcell further enhanced her reputation with 21 touches.
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The win followed Geelong’s decisive breakthrough over Richmond last weekend and shot them to fourth — and ahead of the Suns — in a crowded conference headed by Brisbane.
“It’s huge, two wins in a row should put a lot of confidence into the group,” Morrison said.
“All our forwards just made a contest … it was a bit of a territory game at times.
“They’re a really contested team, tackle pressure they pride themselves on so we really just wanted to match that.”
Purcell said the side’s improved form had plenty to do with their effectiveness up front.
“They pluck some bloody good marks and if they can’t mark it they bring it to the ground for us small forward, they’ve been amazing for us this year,” she said.
— AAP
GOLD COAST 0.3 2.4 2.6 2.6 (18)
GEELONG 1.2 1.4 4.6 5.8 (38)
GOALS
Gold Coast: Yorston, Stanton
Geelong: McWilliams 2, Clarke, Cranston, Teague
BEST
Gold Coast: Howarth, Stanton, Prejelj, Yorston, Perry
Geelong: Morrison, Purcell, Cranston, M.McDonald, Crockett-Grills
INJURIES
Gold Coast: Nil
Geelong: Nil
Reports: Nil
Crowd: 2788 at Great Barrier Reef Arena (Mackay)