Seven-goal star Brooke Lochland has secured a slice of history as the Western Bulldogs showed off their AFLW premiership credentials in a devastating demolition of Carlton.
Lochland unleashed a four-goal blitz in Friday night’s second quarter and added another three after halftime in the 12.14 (86) to 2.1 (13) win in front of 8987 fans, who turned out to celebrate the league’s inaugural Pride Game at Whitten Oval.
No player had managed to kick five goals in a match in the fledgeling league’s history before, with Lochland setting a new mark with her stunning return of 7.3.
Standing at just 158cm, the former ice skater with Olympic ambitions used her speed to put herself in dangerous positions, with Blues defenders largely incapable of stopping her.
“It’s a little bit unreal, but it doesn’t happen unless everyone up the ground is playing their part,” Lochland said.
“I was lucky enough to get on the end of them.
“Everything is such a blur … this game was so much more than just a footy game being the Pride Game.”
The Dogs rocketed to the top of the ladder with the win with an imposing percentage of 200.
On a record-breaking night, the Bulldogs kicked the highest score in AFLW history and registered the largest winning margin.
Emma Kearney (26 possessions), Ellie Blackburn (18 touches and a goal) and Bonnie Toogood (three goals) were also key for the Bulldogs.
“It’s clearly our best (performance) … I’m just rapt with how the girls went about it,” Dogs coach Paul Groves said.
“I didn’t see that coming.
“They just played on instinct, they’re just playing really good footy and I think (Lochland) is the biggest example of that at the moment.”
The Blues were down on star power with captain Brianna Davey out injured and full-forward Tayla Harris suspended.
But it’s hard to imagine the presence of either would have helped much in an inept first-half performance in which the visitors failed to register a score.
Raspberries greeted Carlton’s first score – a behind to Lauren Arnell – with just under four minutes remaining in the third quarter.
She kicked two goals before three-quarter time but that was it for Damien Keeping’s badly outgunned side.
“It’s a really disappointing performance and certainly not the way that we wanted to go about it,” Keeping said.
“We need to really own that, understand it and go away and do some work.”
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