Opinion
For over 17 years, the Dreamtime at the G has been a highlight on the AFL calendar.
First held on a Saturday afternoon during NAIDOC week midway through the 2005 season, the fixture immediately switched to a Saturday night timeslot in 2006, and has been held at various dates during May or June ever since.
Some highlights, among others, include the Bombers escaping with the points after Matthew Richardson was penalised at the death for a push in the back, plus Darcy Parish’s record-breaking 44 disposals in a losing Essendon cause at Optus Stadium last year.
The 2020 edition, played in Darwin due to Victoria’s COVID-19 lockdown, saw Shai Bolton, who designed his team’s jumpers for the match, produce a best-on-ground performance to claim the Yiooken Medal.
Now, this Sunday it’ll be the women’s turn to shine, when the Essendon and Richmond AFLW sides face off at North Port Oval in the inaugural AFL Women’s Dreamtime – which will be the pinnacle of Indigenous Round, which is spread across two weekends.
Both sides go into Round 4 on the back of impressive victories, with the Bombers recording their second win from three starts with a convincing win against the West Coast Eagles, while the Tigers took care of expansion side Hawthorn to record their first win of the season.
A devastating first half, during which the Bombers kept the Eagles goalless in the opening quarter, set the tone for Natalie Wood’s side as they cruised to a 52-point win, the second-biggest by any side so far this season behind St Kilda’s 53-point thrashing of Hawthorn in round two.
Madison Prespakis maintained her impressive form for the Bombers with 22 disposals, while Steph Wales and Paige Scott booted three majors each to announce themselves as potential stars of the future.
Their half-time score of 9.4 (58) was the highest by any side in AFLW history and is proof enough that the hype surrounding the club in their inaugural season is real.
Further, they became the first of the expansion sides to beat an established side, though none of them are yet to beat any of the eight clubs from the inaugural season; while Port Adelaide and Sydney face each other this weekend, Hawthorn plays the Western Bulldogs at Box Hill.
The Bombers could so easily have been 3-0 if it wasn’t for a poor first three quarters against Carlton, a match they ended up losing by just a solitary point, in round two.
Otherwise, they could’ve been as high as third on the ladder and giving established sides such as the Brisbane Lions, Collingwood and Melbourne – all of whom they will face later in the season – a good run for their money.
In fact, the Bombers will play the Pies next Friday afternoon – on the Grand Final public holiday in Victoria as part of a massive build-up to the AFL Grand Final – the first to be played in Melbourne since 2019.
On the other hand, after two losses to start their campaign, Richmond were expected to take care of expansion side Hawthorn at Punt Road Oval and did exactly that, winning by 35 points and keeping the Hawks to just 1.3 (9) for the entire match.
Monique Conti was a clear best-on-ground with 23 disposals, as the Tigers dominated in the air to pick up their first win for the season, following on from narrow losses to the Geelong Cats and Adelaide Crows.
They had pushed the Crows hard in their previous match while they were very unlucky to go down to the Cats at Kardinia Park, in which they lost the match in the final minute after Georgie Prespakis kicked the match winner for the home side at the death.
Madison Prespakis of Essendon in action. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)
Still, despite their 1-2 record, there are positive signs that the Tigers may finally perform to their potential this season, and they’ll be hoping to bank on their experience if they are to ground the Bombers on Sunday afternoon.
As for the Dons, they’ll be hoping to continue their impressive start to life in the AFLW and, having already beaten one established side last week, will be hoping to beat another this Sunday as they look to stamp themselves early on in this competition.
As in the men’s Dreamtime, both the Bombers and Tigers will don specifically-designed guernseys for this match, while the match ball will be presented by Deanne Rioli.
However, because the Seven Network will be televising the VFL Grand Final into Victoria, it unfortunately means the inaugural AFLW Dreamtime will be televised on Fox Footy only, though this should change for season eight, whenever the season next takes place.
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