FREMANTLE has sent an ominous message to the rest of the competition in the first of the qualifying finals, defeating North Melbourne by 38 points.

North had a much better start, but only took a three-point lead into quarter time. Fremantle really got on top in the second term and really started to gain ascendency. They Dockers held that for much of the second term before North goaled late and began to gain momentum back. They kicked another in the dying few minutes to retake the lead, but Fremantle then kicked two goals to retake the lead, and at the major break the margin was nine points in favour of the visitors.

North had much of the ball and time in their forward 50 early in the third term, but it was Fremantle who kicked the opening goal of the term. The visitors then kicked another to stretch the margin out to 19 points. They kicked a third goal late to hold a 25-point lead as the teams turned for home.

Jasmine Garner kicked the first goal of the final term to bring the margin back down to 19, but Kara Antonio cancelled it out up the other end not even a minute later. Mikayla Hyde then kicked her second to extend the lead out to 31. The rest of the quarter was a mere procession for the Dockers as they continued to run away with the match and took the win.

TALKING POINTS

Kiara Bowers’ quiet start

Kiara Bowers had an extremely quiet first term, not just by Bowers’ standards by in general. At quarter time, the only stat she had to her name was one tackle. No disposals, no marks, nothing else.

But after quarter time she really got into the game more, which corresponded with Fremantle taking control of the match. She touched the ball 13 times in the next two quarters and ultimately finished with 21 touches.

Fremantle’s vast number of goal kicking options on full display

Not only did Fremantle kick a lot of goals, but the Dockerts really shared the load between quite a number of players and really showed how many goal kicking options they have. They kicked 11 goals in the match, but Mikayla Hyde was their only multiple goal kicker with two.

North’s first loss at Arden Street

Before yesterday, the Kangaroos had never lost a match at their home ground at Arden St, and had turned it into quite a fortress for themselves. However, that streak has now been broken. This loss was the first one that North had had at Arden St in their entire history since they joined the AFLW back in 2019.

Neither team came out of the match unscathed on the injury front

The bruising encounter resulted in a number of injuries across both sides. In the first term, first-year Docker Sarah Wielstra suffered an ankle injury, while Kim Rennie got ruled out with concussion at half-time. Emma King also had to be helped off the ground by the trainers in the third term but did return later in the term.

North won a lot of the stats, just not the one that really counted

Despite being comfortably beaten on the scoreboard, North actually won many of the other stats. They had four more disposals than the Dockers, three more inside 50s, three more marks inside 50, and 10 more hitouts than their opponents. Fremantle did have eight more clearances and four more tackles than North though.

NEXT WEEK

North‘s season is done, while Fremantle have a date in Adelaide with the Crows next week.