AFLW 2022: All the latest news and injury updates for round 2

One of the AFLW’s top athletes says she was offended by conditions players faced after being forced to share one “gross” toilet and walk across the ground in sport bras to shower.

Olympic gold medallist turned AFL Women’s player Chloe Dalton has lashed conditions for players in the opening weekend of the competition as “the most offensive” she has ever experienced as an athlete.

Greater Western Sydney took on the Western Bulldogs at Ikon Park on Sunday where Dalton says Giants players were afforded “one gross toilet”, a handful of portable toilets and were forced to walk across the ground “in towels and sports bras” in order to shower in private.

Speaking on her podcast, The Female Athlete Project, Dalton said changerooms were “old” and “run-down”.

“Arriving at Marvel Stadium (Essendon and Hawthorn players were) entering premium changeroom facilities and warm-up areas are all factors which contribute to increased performance,” she said.

“Pretty stark contrast to the conditions that we were greeted with, my teammates the GWS Giants on Sunday at Ikon Park.

“In our changerooms – very old, run-down changerooms – we had one gross toilet and tap.

“Outside, we had portaloos … to prepare for an AFLW game. And then, after the game, after having ice baths in the changerooms, we had to be escorted across the field by a security guard in towels and sports bras to go to the indoor facility to be able to have a shower in a cubicle.

“It was probably one of the most offensive things I’ve experienced in my career as a professional athlete … offensive is probably the best word I can use to describe what it was like.”

Chloe Dalton in action against Western Bulldogs in Round 1.

Dalton, who won gold with the Australian Rugby 7s team at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, said she had been “mostly fortunate” during her career to be provided with brilliant off-field facilities for players.

Ikon Park is currently undergoing a redevelopment with new facilities to be opened upon completion in coming weeks.

The situation is understood to have left some players questioning why matches have been fixtured at the ground until the facility upgrade is complete.

Dalton said “it’s pretty important to understand what effect the off-field facilities have on teams”.

“I wouldn’t call it ‘portaloo boutique’,” she said.

There has been a push in recent weeks for more AFL Women’s games to be played at stadiums such as Marvel Stadium, while Melbourne and North Melbourne have had their Round 2 clash this Friday shifted to the MCG as a double-header with the Demons’ men’s final against Sydney.

Dalton says she was offended by the toilets and showers at Ikon Park.

League women’s football boss Nicole Livingstone this week cited cost as a major barrier to playing more games at stadiums, saying stadium games “cost four times as much to even open the doors and go in”.

Livingstone the league would continue to prioritise “boutique grounds”.

Melbourne foundation player Lily Mithen said on Monday that double or triple-headers could be a potential way to offset such costs while also prioritising conditions for players.

“When you see games like Saturday night at Marvel … the skill and the game style is just so much better,” Mithen said at the MCG.

“I think the product and the opportunities that playing in stadiums presents is so great, and it’s probably an investment that we as players would love the AFL to continue to make.

“I don’t know if there’s opportunities for triple, double-headers to eliminate that cost (versus) playing at suburban grounds, because the product of AFLW is so much greater when it’s played in (stadiums).”

ACL HEARTBREAK FOR LIONS COMEBACK KID

Scans have confirmed Brisbane defender Lily Postlethwaite has ruptured her right ACL in what was her first AFLW game in 553 days.

Postlethwaite will meet with surgeons in the next week to seek advice on her rehab after the 20-year-old’s injury in the Lions 49-point win over the Dockers.

The 3rd pick in the 2019 draft has been dealt some terrible luck in the first few years of her career, lasting less than a quarter in her comeback match from injuring her left ACL in February last year.

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Lions Head of Women’s Football Breanna Brock said the news had rocked the club.

“It’s absolutely heartbreaking news for Lily and the entire team,” Brock said.

“She left no stone unturned in her recovery from her previous injury and played out the vast majority of the recent QAFLW season, so it feels like a particularly cruel twist of fate for her season to end this way.”

Brisbane AFLW coach Craig Starcevich shared a similar sentiment when he spoke post-match of the unfortunate injury.

“She’s got some very close mates in the team who were affected by it. Knowing how hard she has worked to get back to today, it’s just devastating,” he said.

Postlethwaite has only managed 12 games since making her AFLW debut in 2020.

The highly touted youngster from Caboolture is known for her silky skills and burst of speed.

Lily Postlethwaite injured her ACL in her return match.

VESCIO, LYNCH ESCAPE SANCTION FROM AFLW ROUND 1

Carlton star Darcy Vescio and Richmond’s Beth Lynch have both escaped sanctions from the MRO following incidents in the opening round of the AFLW.

Vescio faced scrutiny after their high bump on Collingwood’s Ruby Schleicher early in the first quarter of the Blues’ loss to the Magpies at Ikon Park.

Lynch was in the spotlight for her tackle on Geelong’s Rachel Kearns, which sidelined the Cat with an AC-joint injury.

The incidents were assessed by the MRO, but no charges or fines were laid.

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Darcy Vescio’s bump on Ruby Schleicher came under scrutiny but the Carlton star escaped a sanction. Picture: Michael Klein

Free kick call

The AFL has ruled Geelong young gun Georgie Prespakis should not have been the player to take the downfield free kick which delivered the matchwinning goal against Richmond.

But the AFL determined the free for the dangerous tackle, and the penalty being awarded downfield, had both been correct decisions.

In a controversial finish to Geelong’s opening round AFLW victory over the Tigers at GMHBA Stadium on Sunday, Prepaskis was awarded the last-minute free following a dangerous tackle from Tigers’ star Monique Conti.

Prespakis then converted the set shot in the dying stages of the match to hand the Cats a four-point win in the low-scoring battle.

The league’s umpiring department ruled Prespakis should not have been the player to take the free kick, which she converted for her second goal of the match.

Instead, the penalty should have been taken by the player closest to where the ball landed.

“The decision to pay a free kick for a dangerous tackle and for it to be awarded downfield was correct, with umpire coaches ticking it off due to excessive rotation,” the AFL statement said.

“An error was made in awarding the free kick to Georgie Prespakis. It should have gone to the nearest player where the ball landed.”

Prespakis was one of only two goalkickers for the game alongside Richmond’s Gabrielle Seymour.

Georgie Prespakis celebrates on the final siren after kicking the matchwinner against the Tigers in controversial circumstances. Picture: Morgan Hancock/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

Ham’s luck break

Sydney’s top draft pick Montana Ham is set to be sidelined for up to a month with a knee joint sprain after avoiding more serious structural damage.

The Swans confirmed on Monday the number one draft pick would face between three and four weeks on the sidelines after she averted anterior cruciate ligament damage.

In an early-season blow to Sydney’s inaugural AFLW campaign, Ham sent a scare through the Swans’ camp when in their opening-round clash against St Kilda.

Ham suffered what had appeared to be a serious knee injury in the final term of the 29-point loss at North Sydney Oval on Saturday.

The star youngster was injured when she was tackled and fell to the ground awkwardly with her legs trapped beneath her.

Ham’s injury is set to rule her out of the Swans’ matches against Collingwood, GWS Giants, Port Adelaide and Hawthorn.

Meanwhile, Geelong forward Rachel Kearns will seek further specialist advice about her recovery options after it was confirmed she had suffered a high-grade AC-joint injury.

In an opening-round blow, the Irish star injured her left AC-joint after landing awkwardly following a heavy Beth Lynch tackle in the opening quarter of the Cats’ four-point win over Richmond at GMHBA Stadium on Sunday.

The hard-nosed Cat was in significant pain on the ground after the incident, requiring the green whistle for pain relief.

Kearns, 25, will seek further medical advice on Tuesday to determine if surgery is required, which could potentially end her season.

“(Rachel) has an orthopaedic opinion (Tuesday) morning at which point we will get clarity on the plan for the rest of the season,” Geelong’s head AFLW physiotherapist Erin Nelson said.

Geelong’s first AFLW Irish recruit, Kearns played every game for the Cats in season six.

The Cats meet the Dockers in their round two clash at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

Abbey Dowrick has earned a Rising Star nomination in her debut AFLW game. Picture: Will Russell/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Rising stars shine

Having been overlooked in both the 2020 and 2021 AFLW drafts and given a footy lifeline by Port Adelaide, Western Australian Abbey Dowrick has earned a Rising Star nomination in her debut AFLW game.

She now goes down in the history books as the first Power women’s player to earn a rising star nod.

The 19-year-old midfielder was nominated after a 21-touch game in the Power’s 12-point loss to West Coast in Perth on Saturday.

The Port inaugural player was a Round 1 nominee alongside Essendon’s Paige Scott, who had 16 touches and kicked a goal in the Bomber’s 26-point win over Hawthorn.

Dowrick had 21 touches, seven marks, laid four tackles, had a team-high six clearances and a game-high 416m gained.

Her efforts see her now sitting fifth for most touches in a debut AFLW game, behind the likes of W-Award winner Bri Davey (26 touches in 2017) and five-time All-Australian Karen Paxman (24, 2017).

She remembers her first of 21 touches for the day: “Gemma Houghton handballed it to me and it went a bit high, so I remember trying to bring in to ground, but I managed to actually grab it and kick it and send it deep into our forward line, which I was pretty happy with, because that’s all that Lauren (coach Lauren Arnell), asked me to do, when I get it, just send it down deep”.

But while Dowrick remembers possession No. 1 in the AFLW, she couldn’t believe she’d racked up 20 more across the course of the game, which got her to a team-high 21, and game-equalling count alongside Eagles captain Emma Swanson.

“I had no clue (I got 21 touches),” she said.

“One of my mates actually after the game, told me I had the most disposals and I didn’t believe him at first, but then he showed me and I said: ‘I still think you’re lying’.”

“I was speechless.”

Dowrick’s rise to the AFLW came after the Subiaco product was overlooked in successive drafts and in an effort to be noticed by recruiters, spent three weeks in Adelaide during the 2022 SANFLW season, playing four games for Woodville-West Torrens, averaging 19 touches, 4.5 inside-50s and five tackles.

“Obviously the objective to come over (to Adelaide) was to put my name out there, but I didn’t honestly think that it was going to do much, but it did.”

Dowrick has now permanently relocated to Adelaide from Perth, is working at the club’s merchandise shop at Alberton and is living with fellow Power player Jacqui Yorston.

Dowrick, whose sister McKenzie is on the Crows list, said she was enjoying being in the elite footy environment, where recovery and training were helping lift her game to new heights.

She said the side was now focused on Round 2, which will see Port Adelaide play their first home game at Alberton against the Western Bulldogs on Saturday.

Top pick could still escape serious injury

Sydney’s top draft pick Montana Ham has avoided an ACL injury after a scare was put through the Swans camp in their opening round clash against St Kilda.

In an early season blow to Sydney’s inaugural campaign, Ham suffered what appeared to be a serious knee injury in the final term of the Swans’ 29-point loss to St Kilda at North Sydney Oval on Saturday.

Scan results on Monday will outline the exact diagnosis but the Swans confirmed late on Sunday the star youngster had not suffered the dreaded ACL injury.

Montana Ham injured her knee when she fell awkwardly in the final quarter.

The No. 1 draft pick was injured when she was tackled and fell to the ground awkwardly with her legs trapped beneath her.

Sydney AFLW coach Scott Gowans said after the game the 18-year-old was “in high spirits” despite the injury blow.

“We know it’s a knee,” Sydney coach Scott Gowans said.

“It’s a hard one to tell, the way it happened with the way that the St Kilda player fell across.

“They (the physio) could not even give me an indication.”

Ham was taken with the top pick in the 2022 draft, joining the Swans from the Western Jets Victoria.

Ham is helped off the ground at North Sydney Oval on Saturday night.

Originally published as AFLW 2022: All the latest news and injury updates for round 2