Collingwood win AFLW upset after ‘lovely tribute’ to Jacinda Barclay

The AFLW season has kicked off in front of a capacity crowd but there were emotional scenes before the game as a star was remembered.

The Carlton and Collingwood players remember Jacinda Barclay.

The AFLW season has kicked off with the Collingwood Magpies claiming a 5.3 (33) to 4.3 (27) win over Carlton in a

But before the game, the teams gathered together to share a minute of silence for Jacinda Barclay, the GWS Giants star who died in her Perth home in October 2020.

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Barclay was an AFLW player, five-time World Cup baseballer and American football player with the outpouring of grief from the Australian sporting community.

She kicked 11 goals in 23 games and was described by her family after her death as a “shining comet that soared through this world casting her radiant light of love on all she met”.

The two teams, the officials and the crowd stood for what Fox Footy host Sarah Jones called “a lovely tribute”.

Great scenes before the AFLW season kicked off.

It comes after the Giants and Crows held a minutes silence after their practice match just under a fortnight ago, in what was the first match for the Giants’ AFLW side since the 29-year-old’s death.

The Giants will have the number 34 on their jerseys throughout the 2021 season and will have a minutes silence before the season opener against Fremantle in Perth on Sunday. The players and staff will also wear black armbands.

The Giants’ first home game will also see special commemorations of Barclay’s life.

But with Carlton and Collingwood opening the season, social media was quick to acknowledge the loss.

Players and umpires take a moment before the bounce to honour the memory of Jacinda Barclay pic.twitter.com/o52mrZgpOM

— Daniel Cherny 📰 (@DanielCherny) January 28, 2021

A minute's silence for late GWS player Jacinda Barclay #AFLW pic.twitter.com/9e6CYmLjfE

— Oliver Caffrey (@ollycaffrey) January 28, 2021

Vale Jacinda Barclay 🧡 pic.twitter.com/o6I3hXTqHV

— Meg Hutchins (@hutchy_25) January 28, 2021

The Magpies got off to a perfect start, going into halftime leading 4.2 (26) to 0.0 (0) against the highly fancied Blues, exploding in the second term after scoring just a single point in the first quarter.

But after being stunned in the first half, the Blues weren’t about to lay down with Nicola Stevens starting the response from Carlton as they kicked three goals in the third quarter.

The Blues just couldn’t keep the ascendancy going, falling a goal behind in front of a sellout crowd of 6712 fans at Ikon Park.

— with NCA NewsWire