IN a big day of AFL Women’s Brisbane and Melbourne stood tall against Collingwood and Gold Coast respectively in the two AFL Women’s games that took place yesterday. Here are the talking points from the match.

By: Elly Kirlis

In tough, windy conditions in Maroochydore, after a tough start to their premiership title defence, the Brisbane Lions showed their class and sending a message to the rest of the competition why they should not be counted out, winning by 24 points against Collingwood, , 3.5 (35) to the Magpies 1.5 (11). The first quarter set the win up for the Lions, causing the damage for the rest of the game and continued from the second quarter onwards.

TALKING POINTS

Brisbane doing the basics well

With the conditions unsettling for both teams, Brisbane did well to the conditions throughout the game, forcing the Magpies to be unsettled in their system in the first half. The Lions would be happy with how smart they were with the ball, doing the basics well and lifted the intensity including to be smarter with their ball movement.

Another takeaway the Lions will be happy about will be how the Lions kept the ball inside their forward 50 and kicking three goals to set the game up.

Pies youngsters stepping up, still looking for answers

Whilst it was another tough day for Collingwood, Amelia Velardo, Eloise Chaston and the likes of Jamie Lambert were a shining light , including Chaston providing a highlight, going for the loose ball and kicking for goal. The Magpies no doubt will take positives despite the conditions but look to take more steps forward in their next match possibly against the West Coast Eagles and find others to step up.

Greta Bodey continues to shine

Whilst it was a team performance by Brisbane, one player to keep an eye out for the rest of the season is Greta Bodey, being a shining light in the tough conditions in half-forward, being aggressive and giving opportunities to other players. Body finished the game with 15 disposals, six kicks, nine handballs, four marks, along with a goal, but did the little things well and caused headaches for Collingwood and how to stop her.

Next Week

Brisbane will look to continue their winning streak against St Kilda next Friday night, 11 February, pending COVID protocols, whilst Collingwood will look to get back on the winners list, taking on the West Coast Eagles, next Saturday February 12 at Victoria Park.

By: Alyce Collett

Melbourne has bounced back from a poor performance last week against Adelaide to defeat the Gold Coast Suns by 12 points. Despite a late fightback from the Suns, it was not enough as the Dees were able to stave it off and still take the win.

TALKING POINTS

It should have been a very different story on the scoreboard

If Melbourne had converted more of their chances in particularly the first quarter, things could have been very different on the scoreboard.

In the first quarter alone, Melbourne had eight inside 50s and six shots on goal compared to Gold Coast’s two inside 50s and no shots on goal. Melbourne had the majority of the ball, yet didn’t show it on the scoreboard.

The Dees were also very inaccurate with their shots, with many errant kicks resulting in behinds that could have, and quite frankly should have, been goals.

Gold Coast’s twin giants kept quiet

In this week’s preview, it was noted that the Dees had to keep Tara Bohanna and Sarah Perkins quiet in order to get the win.

And kept quiet they certainly were, with Bohanna only having two touches for the match and Perkins only had eight. They were even both thrown in the ruck at stages to try and inject them into the game, but it was ultimately to no success.

Crucially they were also both kept goalless, so credit to Melbourne’s defenders Gabby Colvin and Sinead Goldrick for the stellar work they did in keeping the pair quiet.

Eden Zanker rectifies performance from last week

By anyone’s standards, Eden Zanker had a rather quiet game last week against Adelaide, with only the seven touches. But this week was a totally different story. She already had six disposals by quarter time, and ultimately finished on 18 for the match.

She was also a bull in the midfield around stoppages, and was quite the workhorse in that Dees midfield all night. It was certainly a return to the Eden Zanker Dees fans know and love.

Casey Fields remain a fortress for the Dees

They talk about fortresses all the time in football, and Casey Fields is certainly one for the Dees. The win against Gold Coast was the 10th in a row for the Dees, and a sign that they just know how to play the ground and its conditions so well.

Tackling pressure was intense

The tackling pressure from both side’s was intense, and consistently intense throughout the game. By the time the full time siren blew, Gold Coast had registered 91 tackles and Melbourne had registered 87, which is certainly a sign of how much pressure the player with the ball had at any one time.

NEXT WEEK

Melbourne have another home game against GWS, while Gold Coast come home and play host to the Cats.