Bond University has made it two from two to start the 2024 QAFLW season, defeating Southport by 21 points on Saturday evening.

The Bullsharks started slowly but were worked into the game by top-age talents Nyalli Milne and Mia Salisbury.

Southport was brought to life early by the athletic Dekota Baron, who was leaping at every marking contest and taking a few memorable marks early on.

The Bullsharks were too classy with their inside-50 efficiency in the second half and broke away late to take control of a highly contested encounter.

Bond University 6.8.44 d Southport 3.5.23

FIRST QUARTER

Dekota Baron was on the scene for the Sharks as a dominant forward target, generating power in her leads, willing to crash over a pack and put her body on the line for a contested mark.

Baron finished with five inside 50 marks, two of those contested, with a few others showcasing her brilliance to burst through a pack and make it an uncontested mark.

Her goalkicking let her down at points throughout the game, finishing with 1.3, lacking a bit of conviction in her kicking.

There was no lack of ground ball ability, as Baron was able to put her head over the footy in the contest, brush off an opponent, and keep the ball moving forward.

Southport capitalised off Megan Hunt who provided a great offensive presence throughout the game and kicked Southport’s first with a quick soccer tap-in on the line.

Maighan Fogas was productive in the middle for Southport with 19 disposals and five clearances, and similar to Hunt, did the work right on the goalline, making it a brace of soccer goals for Southport in the first quarter.

SECOND QUARTER

Nyalli Milne imposed herself in the second quarter, lifting for the Bullsharks with her drive through the middle in transition.

Milne set up the first goal of the quarter with a running effort through the corridor which made up around 50-60 metres of ground and still managed to lace out a leading forward.

As the game progressed she was able to impact with her tackle pressure and general footy smarts that saw her hold her width well outside the stoppage and wait to generate drive inside 50.

Charlotte Taylor’s energy at the drop of the ball created some dangerous inside 50 entries for the Bullsharks.

A few of Taylor’s ground ball pickups, side-steps, and evasiveness around opponents were eye-catching, but her goal attempts just fell short at times.

Southport’s Dakota Baron finally got some reward for effort late in the quarter, kicking her only goal of the game late in the second quarter, which ended up being Southport’s final goal of the game.

THIRD QUARTER

The Bullsharks were straight out of the blocks, winning it out of the centre stoppage and generating deep inside 50 entries, the first of which fell into the hands of Tahlia Meyer, who sprinted into an open goal.

Southport were able to even out the possession in the contest, but lacked clarity in their transition and final third execution.

The Bullsharks were able to generate deep inside 50 entries and benefited from their repeat entries when Arianna Clarke found herself at the bottom of the pack, slotting through the set shot to swing momentum back to Bond.

The class of Imogen Evans was pivotal in the Bullshark’s corridor dominance, creating her own space and lacing out Meyer, who couldn’t finish.

The Bullshark’s held a narrow four-point lead heading into the last quarter, and whilst the Bond University Oval power outage struck both teams at the end of the third, the contested nature of the battle gave each team an extra 40 seconds to take a breather!

FOURTH QUARTER

Evans maintained her contest dominance, extracting the ball cleanly out of the stoppage, to create an offensive chain that got Havana Harris and Nyalli Milne, who burst away to run into an open goal for the first goal of the quarter.

Havana Harris got herself involved late in the contest, finishing with 13 hitouts and five clearances, providing some strength and tackle pressure in crucial moments throughout the fourth quarter.

Fellow draft prospect Tara Harrington was alert and tactically poised in transition to open the ground up by hand or foot.

Her acceleration out of the contest generated a deep inside 50 entry, which nearly iced the game for the Bullsharks, the following shot touched on umpire deliberation.

The combination of Bond’s young stars capped off the win, as a contest created by Milne to force a turnover on 50 found the hands of Harrington, who turned and streamed into the goals to kick through the sealer from 25 metres out.

AROUND THE GROUNDS

The University of Queensland locked down defensively, defeating Maroochydore by 28 points on Saturday afternoon.

University of Queensland’s Laura Roy was dominant in her contested game, finishing with 20 contested possessions from 21 disposals, along with 12 clearances and two goals.

Maroochydore’s Sophie Peters provided consistent pressure across the ground, seven tackles, and five clearances from her 24 disposals.

Wilston Grange saw off a tense second-half comeback from Coorparoo, holding on to win by two points.

The Gorillas had a good mix of contested and uncontested ball winners, with Zimra Hussain finishing with 26 disposals as a clean ball-winning midfielder, along with Charlize Anderson, who brought her contested game, finishing with four contested possessions, and four clearances from 15 disposals.

Jacinta Baldwick’s 24 disposals were emphasised by her kicking efficiency for the Kings, along with her tackling pressure across the ground with seven tackles.

Aspley was too dominant for Yeronga South, winners by 100 points.

Jessica Stallard had six goals for the Hornets, whilst Alanna Perry was classy with her ball use, going at 87.5% disposal efficiency.