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Midfield guns rule as Crows edge Dockers, Dees and Cats both win

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26th February, 2022
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Adelaide coach Matthew Clarke has heaped praise on his two midfield guns after Anne Hatchard and Ebony Marinoff produced heroic efforts to lift their side to a nine-point AFLW win over Fremantle. 

Hatchard tallied 31 disposals and Marinoff racked up 30 touches in the 3.7 (25) to 2.4 (16) win on Saturday, with Fremantle restricted to just four inside 50s in the second half.

The win kept Adelaide at the top of the ladder with a 7-1 record, while Fremantle slipped to 6-2.

The Crows booted a wasteful 0.5 and two out-on-the-full in the third term, meaning they turned for home down by two points and kicking against the breeze.

But Hatchard produced a scintillating burst early in the final quarter, tallying nine possessions within the space of a few minutes to set up two match-winning goals.

“Both girls had really strong games,” Clarke said of Hatchard and Marinoff. 

Rachelle Martin of the Crows celebrates her goal with Ebony Marinoff and Eloise Jones and Hannah Button

(Photo by Sarah Reed/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

“Both are having outstanding seasons. They lead the way in terms of that work rate. They’re phenomenal workers on the track, and that leads to their ability to execute on game day.

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“What we spoke about at three-quarter time was just to be really clear that we’d actually just played a really strong quarter, and not to be rattled by the scoreboard.”

Crows forward Danielle Ponter was also damaging with two goals from 20 disposals.

Stephanie Cain collected a team-high 22 possessions for Fremantle, with Airlie Runnalls tallying 20 disposals and a goal.

Dockers captain Hayley Miller was restricted to ten possessions and a goal in her quietest display of the season.

“I think she’s probably taken on a little too much workload herself in Kiara Bowers’ absence,” Dockers coach Trent Cooper said of Miller. 

“Maybe that caught up with her today. She did look tired on occasions.

“We’ll freshen her up during the week. She’s a very proud person. She won’t like that individual performance, and she’ll be out to make amends very quickly.”

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Bowers was due to return from her two-match suspension against the Crows, but a knee injury suffered at training on Tuesday ruled her out.

Kiara Bowers

(Daniel Carson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Cooper expects Bowers to also miss next Saturday’s crunch clash with Melbourne at Optus Stadium. 

Adelaide won the inside-50 count 43-17, and Cooper said the big disparity simply wasn’t good enough.

“That needs to be addressed, because we’re not going to threaten anywhere near the good sides if we’re only getting that many inside 50s,” he said. 

“If we play like we did today, we don’t deserve to be competitive in the finals.”

Adelaide are hopeful of regaining Erin Phillips (knee) and Chelsea Randall (hamstring) in time for the finals. 

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Elsewhere, Melbourne have put themselves in prime position to land a prized AFLW top-two spot after fighting out a ten-point win over North Melbourne at Casey Fields.

The Demons led almost all night and their disciplined defence withstood a barrage of pressure from the in-form Kangaroos to prevail 4.3 (27) to 2.5 (17).

“We wanted to start well, that was really important for us, and other than that it was a good four-quarter effort,” Melbourne coach Mick Stinear said.

“There were periods where North had us covered for clearances and contested possessions in that first half but the girls’ ability to apply themselves on defence (was crucial).

“Second half, I thought we were much better around the ball, then did well to defend that last eight-nine minutes when we were under the pump.

“But good teams find a way to win and play like that.”

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And Geelong have capitalised on a dominant first half to beat Richmond by 23 points and snare their second win of the AFLW season, ending the Tigers’ faint finals hopes in the process.

The Cats set up the 5.3 (33) to 1.4 (10) win at Punt Road Oval with a rampant second quarter, where they booted four unanswered goals, to leapfrog the Tigers into tenth on the ladder.

“We didn’t bring the heat early. Geelong clearly did. They were more hungry, more lively, more energetic and it obviously cost us the game,” Richmond coach Ryan Ferguson said.

“The first quarter I thought they jumped us and we hung in there but the signs were there.

“I was hoping we might be able to do something about it at quarter time but it continued on into halftime before we were able to adjust anything from a mental perspective.”

© AAP

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