Opinion
It was an emotional opening to the 2021 AFL Women’s season last weekend, with tributes paid to the late Greater Western Sydney player Jacinda Barclay, who sadly passed away last October.
Prior to each Round 1 match, a minute’s silence was observed for a player who strongly supported women in sport and played many sports throughout her short career, which led to the 29-year-old being dubbed the ‘Sonny Bill Williams of women’s sport’.
On the field, North Melbourne thumped the Cats by 62 points at Kardinia Park, Adelaide ran away from the Eagles in the second half to win by 38 points, the Lions took care of the Tigers at Punt Road Oval, while the Dockers overcame a brave and determined Giants side to win by five goals.
Due to Perth’s COVID-19 lockdown, the Crows, Dockers, Giants and Eagles have an unofficial bye this weekend, due to both South Australia and New South Wales implementing strict measures for those arriving from Western Australia, but there is hope these matches could go ahead sooner rather than later.
That means there will only be five matches this weekend.
Here is your preview to Round 2.
Western Bulldogs vs Carlton
The Blues were slow to get out of the blocks against the Pies last Friday night, being held scoreless to halftime, before a competitive second half saw them fall just a straight kick short.
A year after being kept to just one goal by Pies rival Stacey Livingstone, Blues spearhead Tayla Harris was again kept quiet, failing to kick a major, while Maddy Prespakis did all she could to inspire her team, tangling with ex-Blue Brianna Davey on the halftime siren.
On the other hand, while the Bulldogs’ winless run stretched to nearly 12 months, their youth and exuberance was on hand as they went down to St Kilda by just nine points at Moorabbin Oval last Friday night.
Despite the best efforts of captain Ellie Blackburn and former top draft-pick Isabel Huntington, the Dogs crashed to their sixth straight loss against the opponent at the venue whom and where their most recent win came.
A beautiful sight at the end of the match saw the Bulldogs’ coach, St Kilda legend Nathan Burke, embrace his daughter, Alice, who wears the #3 jumper for Saints, as her 323-game father did.
With both teams desperate to get on the board for season 2021, expect nothing but fireworks at Whitten Oval.
Prediction: Carlton by ten points.
Collingwood vs Gold Coast Suns
The Pies kept the Blues scoreless in the first half while kicking four goals of their own to set up a six-point victory. Captain Brianna Davey and Chloe Molloy were among the Pies’ best.
Meanwhile, the Suns started brightly against Melbourne at Metricon Stadium, however ill-discipline conspired against them as they crashed to a 21-point defeat, with the home side coughing up three 50-metre penalties that resulted in Demon goals.
Strong performers for the Suns included Jamie Stanton, who racked up 18 disposals, and Sarah ‘Tex’ Perkins, who kicked a pair of majors in her first match for the club after she’d previously played for Adelaide and Melbourne.
This will be the first time the Suns and Pies face off, the two teams having been placed in separate conferences last year.
At home, the Pies should continue their strong start to the season.
Prediction: Collingwood by 18 points.
Leah Kaslar (Chris Hyde/AFL Photos/Getty Images)
Melbourne vs Richmond
Playing at their spiritual home of Punt Road Oval for the first time, the Tigers managed to keep the Brisbane Lions on a leash in the first half last week, before their more experienced opponents ran away, leaving the home side to wallow in a 29-point defeat.
Their struggle to score was again highlighted – after kicking only 0.3 (3) in their previous match (a 39-point loss to St Kilda at Moorabbin Oval in Round 6 last year), they could only manage one goal against the Lions, courtesy of forward Courtney Wakefield.
Captain Katie Brennan thought she’d kicked a goal in the shadows of quarter-time, only for her shot to be ruled to have been touched on the way to goal.
They will have their work cut out against Melbourne, who produced a strong second-quarter to defeat the Gold Coast Suns by 21 points on the holiday strip.
While the Dees’ second-quarter surge was masterminded by Karen Paxman, who racked up 13 touches, three of their five unanswered goals came via 50-metre penalties, including one on the halftime siren.
It’s the sort of performance coach Mick Stinear would’ve been pleased with, as the Dees look set to go further in season 2021 after reaching the finals for the first time last year.
At home, the Dees should be untroubled as they look to make it 2-0.
Prediction: Melbourne by 20 points.
North Melbourne vs St Kilda
After just one round, you could just about tout North Melbourne as the flag favourites. Stung into action after the pandemic brought their run towards the premiership to a shuddering halt last March, the Roos wasted little time settling into the new season, with three goals from Emma King setting the tone for a brutal afternoon of football against Geelong.
They kept the Cats scoreless to three-quarter time, at which point, despite the embarrassing ease in which they dominated, they still had a percentage of zero.
Ultimately, they allowed the badly-outclassed home side to kick 1.3 (9), with the Roos finishing Round 1 in top spot on the ladder with a whopping percentage of 788.9 – believed to be the highest after one round of a season in VFL, AFL or AFLW history.
Next in the firing line are St Kilda, who opened their account with a nine-point victory over the Bulldogs at home, avenging a defeat to the same opponent from the corresponding round last season.
The Saints’ win was led by last year’s leading goalkicker, Caitlin Greiser, the talented Georgia Patrikios, and father-daughter selection Alice Burke.
It marked the first time they have won consecutive matches, also taking in their 39-point win over Richmond in Round 6 last season. Now the challenge for Peta Searle’s side will be to win consecutive matches in the same season for the first time.
But it will not come easy against North, who hold Victoria’s hopes of premiership glory this season.
Prediction: North Melbourne by 16 points.
Brisbane Lions vs Geelong Cats
The Lions kept intact their perfect Round 1 record, running away from the Tigers in the second half to record a 29-point victory.
On Sunday they will start favourites to defeat the Cats, who endured a tough start to their third season against North at Kardinia Park.
For over a decade, we have been used to seeing a Geelong side dominate their opposition at home (who could forget the Cats’ 186-point win over Melbourne in mid-2011?), but what we saw last weekend was the opposite.
Paul Hood’s side were kept scoreless to three-quarter time, marking the second time this had occurred, before saving face in the final quarter by kicking one goal through Aasta O’Connor in the dying minutes.
It’s left them with a dismal percentage of 12.7 – believed to be the lowest by any team after Round 1 in a season in recent history.
At home, the Lions should show no mercy.
Prediction: Brisbane Lions by 30 points.
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