The Western Bulldogs’ AFLW rebuild has hit its first speed bump in an emphatic 63-point defeat to Greater Western Sydney.
Tam Hyett’s tenure as Bulldogs coach started with a loss after the Giants slammed through nine unanswered goals to triumph 10.12 (72) to 1.3 (9) in windy conditions at Manuka Oval on Saturday.
Hyett, an assistant coach in Melbourne’s 2022 women’s premiership season, was handed the job of revamping the Bulldogs after last season’s wooden spoon.
Meanwhile, Cam Bernasconi’s Giants will cherish their biggest-ever victory after recording only two wins to finish 16th last year.
New Giant Eilish O’Dowd produced a goal-of-the-year contender on debut within 15 seconds of the opening siren.
The Irish recruit won the tap against Edmonds and bolted straight through the corridor to open the scoring from inside 30 with her first disposal and set a new league record for the fastest goal scored.
Alyce Parker was outstanding in the GWS engine room and finished with one goal, 29 disposals and seven clearances to mark her 50th game.
Nicola Barr (29 touches), Zarlie Goldsworthy (four goals) and Eilish O’Dowd (two goals) also played starring roles.
For the visitors, former captain Ellie Blackburn (25 disposals, nine clearances) impressed while Alice Edmonds took 37 hitouts to the Giants’ total of nine.
The Bulldogs recorded just one point before the first break, with the hosts leading by eight points.
McKee hit the scoreboard in the second term for the only Bulldogs goal of the game, but Goldsworthy’s goal restored the Giants’ buffer after a 50m penalty was paid against Grigg for encroaching the mark.
GWS then kicked 5.6 to none to build a 44-point lead at third-quarter time.
The Bulldogs notched one more point in the final term to finish with their equal-lowest-ever AFLW score.
Bombers defeat to Freo made worse by horror head clash
Essendon have suffered a horror start to the AFLW season, with captain Bonnie Toogood injured and Amber Clarke knocked out in a sickening collision that headlined a gutting 43-point loss to Fremantle.
The Bombers confirmed Clarke was concussed but cleared of a neck injury, while Toogood had a “knock” to her knee after the incident in Saturday’s 10.4 (64) to 3.3 (21) defeat in front of 2820 fans at Windy Hill.
Key forward Toogood was steaming forward to take a mark inside 50 when she collected teammate Clarke, who had run into her path seemingly completely unawares, in the second quarter.
The pair clashed heads, then Clarke’s head bounced on the ground when she landed. Play was stopped as medics cared for Clarke, before taking her from the field on a stretcher.
Star goalkicker Toogood was visibly distraught on the sidelines and had treatment on her knee.
The Bombers called an end to Toogood’s day but she was cleared of concussion and returned to sit on the bench with ice on her right knee.
Essendon led by eight points at the time — after Daria Bannister kicked the opening goal on return from an ACL tear — but appeared rattled by the incident.
Electric Fremantle took full advantage, reeling off four unanswered goals to take control with Aisling McCarthy and Aine Tighe nabbing two goals apiece.
Bannister kicked her second goal, from a deliberate rushed behind free kick, to cut Fremantle’s lead to 12 at half-time.
Lisa Webb’s Dockers led by the same margin at three-quarter time and nabbed five unanswered goals in the final term to deliver a superb thrashing on the road.
The defeat is an early blow to Natalie Wood’s Essendon’s bid to improve on last season’s maiden finals appearance.
In the twilight game on the Gold Coast, a ruthlessly efficient St Kilda helped itself to a commanding 54-point win over the Suns.
Despite coming out second best in most of the key stats, the Saints owned the scoreboard from start to finish and ran out 11.8 (74) to 2.8 (20) winners.
Star forward Jesse Wardlaw dominated, kicking two goals and setting up four more for teammates.
Marinoff stars as Adelaide down Port
Adelaide’s Ebony Marinoff produced another dominant display to lead her side to a 14-point win against Port Adelaide in their AFLW season opener.
The brilliant Marinoff collected a game-high 29 disposals in the Crows’ 7.7 (49) to 5.5 (35) victory at Alberton Oval on Saturday night.
Adelaide’s co-captain, one of the competition’s premier players, propelled her side inside the attacking 50m zone eight times, won five clearances and laid 10 tackles.
Adelaide’s Jessica Allan booted two goals and ruled the rucks with 30 hit-outs while teammates Anne Hatchard (22 disposals, 12 tackles, one goal) and Madison Newman (19 possessions) were also stand-outs.
Port, winners just three times in their initial two AFLW seasons, showed pluck against the three-time premiership winners.
But Crows star Marinoff was unable to be controlled, the five-time All-Australian setting the tone for Adelaide with a commanding first quarter.
Marinoff gathered eight disposals featuring three inside 50s to help her side create a 12-point advantage at quarter time, 3.1 to 1.1.
The Power closed the gap in the second term with majors to Shineah Goody and Gemma Houghton, punctuated by a goal from Adelaide’s Allan from a ruck infringement.
The Crows held an eight-point buffer at half-time, 4.4 to 3.2, and stretched their lead to 15 points early in the third quarter when Chelsea Biddell marked and goaled.
But the Power struck against the tide when Dowrick sprinted into an open goal from a rare attacking foray.
The Crows, despite having 20 more inside 50s than Port at three-quarter time, led by only 10 points, 5.7 to 4.3.
Ruck Allan’s second goal gave the Crows a 16-point break just two minutes into the final term and settled the result before a crowd of 5194 spectators.
Hore takes control, Harris injured as Dees beat Cats by two points
Melbourne will sweat on the fitness of key forward Tayla Harris after she tweaked her left shoulder in the Demons’ Kate Hore-inspired AFLW round-one win over Geelong.
Melbourne trailed by 11 points midway through the third term before Hore sparked a run of three consecutive goals to snatch a 6.6 (42) to 6.4 (40) win at Kardinia Park on Saturday.
Harris, 27, required treatment on her already heavily strapped left shoulder after innocuous incidents in the first and third quarters.
She left the field at three-quarter time for what she called “precautionary” reasons after dealing with the issue in pre-season.
“Obviously I’ve had some shoulder issues along the way, and just another little incident, it’s round one,” Harris told the Seven Network.
“The girls are doing an awesome job, I feel like it’s an opportunity to watch the show. Yeah, today it is [precautionary].”
The Cats have high expectations after reaching the preliminary final last season, and showcased their ability to apply pressure throughout the game.
The brilliant Hore (three goals, 23 disposals, six clearances) stepped up every time the game swung in Geelong’s favour.
Gun Cats trio Amy McDonald (28 disposals, nine clearances), Georgie Prespakis (21 touches) and Nina Morrison were influential, along with versatile tall Jacqueline Parry (two goals).
Wardlaw shines as Saints beat Suns
St Kilda have made the best possible start to their 2024 AFLW campaign, scoring a convincing 54-point win over Gold Coast.
Spearheaded by goalkicking ace Jesse Wardlaw, the Saints led at every change to secure an 11.8 (75) to 2.8 (20) triumph at Carrara Stadium.
Wardlaw showed no signs of off-season rust and finished with two goals, 17 disposals and nine score involvements, while midfielder Jamiee Lambert (one goal, 17 touches) impressed at the contest.
St Kilda also enjoyed a healthy spread of goalkickers, with midfielders Olivia Vesely and Tyanna Smith among the nine to hit the scoreboard.
Joining the competition in 2020, Nick Dal Santo’s charges will be aiming for their first finals appearances after just missing out last season by percentage.
“It feels amazing, like, obviously missing out on finals just makes us want to make that this year,” Wardlaw told Fox Footy.
“We’ve had a long, hard pre-season. We know why we missed out on finals and what we needed to change to get there, so first round we can tick off and hopefully a few more wins to get us there.”
The result continues a poor streak for Gold Coast, who have never won in round one.
“We fell down in a few spots, it’s fair to say. We got comprehensively outplayed tonight,” Suns coach Cameron Joyce said.
“The way we’ve been preparing and training and playing in the pre-season, I don’t think any of us would have seen that coming.
“That’s not usually our DNA in terms of what we produced tonight.”
AAP/ABC
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