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The Melbourne Demons and Western Bulldogs women’s teams meet for the third time today in the first of two women’s exhibition matches for 2015. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 12:20pm (AEST).
The Demons have been too good for the Bulldogs in both previous meetings, defeating them to the tune of 46 points in the 2014 match.
Their dominance has in no small way been due to their captain and star player Daisy Pearce, the no. 1 pick in the inaugural women’s draft in 2013.
A six-time premiership player and club captain for the Darebin Falcons in the VWFL, Pearce was best on ground in Melbourne’s inaugural women’s match win in 2013.
Both sides were able to retain eight players apiece from their previous drafts and have built their lists back up to a full complement of 25 following the 2015 women’s draft.
The Bulldogs are yet to taste victory in the exhibition match but will rate themselves a strong chance to pull it off for the first time, having drafted talented West Australian ruckman Emma King at pick no. 1 this year.
The Demons also went tall early in this year’s women’s draft, selection South Australian ruckman Danielle Goding with the second pick overall.
Melbourne were comfortably the better side of the two last time around, with strong performances from midfielder Chelsea Randall (23 disposals, two goals) and forward Tayla Harris (three goals).
As the AFL pushes to introduce a women’s competition on a national scale by 2020, today’s exhibition match should again provide us with great insight into the fastest growing area of Aussie Rules footy.
Prediction
These matches are always a little tricky to predict given the players only have a limited time to train together before the match, and with so many new players coming into the sides this year it could go either way.
That said, I’ll tip the Demons to continue their dominance on the back of their star players.
Melbourne by 24 points.
Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 12:20pm (AEST).