AFLW: Demons hammer Brisbane, Adelaide overpower Geelong

Melbourne dished out a thrashing to Brisbane and the Crows were too powerful for Geelong.

Adelaide’s Erin Phillips gets her kick away from Geelong’s Renee Garing. Picture: Sarah Reed

Melbourne have kept pace in a stacked AFLW conference A, sending Brisbane crashing back to earth with a 39-point flogging.

The Lions, grand finalists in the previous two seasons, were completely outplayed as the Demons notched a landslide 9-6 (60) to 3-3 (21) victory at a packed Hickey Park in Brisbane’s north.

Nippy midfielder Aliesha Newman led the way with three goals, including the first two of the match, as the visitors kicked five unanswered goals in the second quarter.

The loss followed a 27-point defeat to Fremantle last weekend and dropped Brisbane (1-2) to third in Conference B, replaced by Geelong on percentage despite the Cats also losing on Sunday.

The Demons moved to 2-1 and looked far slicker than the Lions. But in the new conference system they also find themselves third, behind the unbeaten Dockers and North Melbourne, and equal on points with the dangerous Adelaide.

Brisbane battled for parity in the first half and looked to have succeeded before the floodgates opened in the 10 minutes before halftime.

Karen Paxman, Eden Zanker, Newman and a runaway Bianca Jakobsson all booted goals as the Lions’ defence opened up.

Brisbane were held scoreless in that quarter, with young ruck Jesse Wardlaw the lone goalscorer of the half for the home side.

Lions focal point Sabrina Frederick-Traub was silenced while Jakobsson rubbed salt into the wounds when her set shot somehow snuck through the pack on the line to end the third term.

At Horthwood Oval a ruthless and hard-running Adelaide team firstly stunned and then dominated a young Geelong outfit as the Crows racked up their second win for the season and registered their highest ever AFLW score.

Adelaide owned the ball from the opening bounce and never looked threatened while racking up 10.6 (66) to Geelong’s 6.1 (37) to engineer the Crows’ second win for the season and first at home this year.

With speedster Hannah Martin (lower leg) a late withdrawal and the temperature hovering in the mid-30s, Adelaide turned up the heat from the off with co-captains Erin Phillips and Chelsea Randall dominating at opposite ends of the ground.

Phillips (3.1), who had eight possessions in the opening term, ignited the Crows’ rush, booting two goals in four minutes roaming from the midfield to deep in attack, while Randall dictated affairs in defence with brilliant anticipation, strong marking and relentless work claiming rebounds.

Both teams came in to Round 3 with a win and a loss on their record but it was the Crows who brought the focus and physicality of a top side.

Adelaide dominated possession in the first half (135-86) and repeatedly flooded into attack with tight teamwork and pace to lead the inside 50s by 19-6 to the main break when they led by 29 points.

The Crows’ cohesion and tough tackling continued in the second half and apart from two unanswered goals late in the third quarter — to Danielle Orr and Kate Darby — Geelong had little to be enthused about in their first interstate trip as an AFLW team.

The Cats, who had four players aged 18, could not cope with Adelaide’s fierce approach, pressure on the ball carrier and cohesion, although Richelle Cranston — back after a two-week suspension — Meghan McDonald, Sophie Van De Heuvel, Hoare and Madeline Keryk fought out the full four quarters.

However, the Cats forwards rarely found space in the confined space of Norwood Oval, which played right into Adelaide’s hard-tackling, pressure style.

AAP