IT WAS the round of upsets over the weekend in the AFL Women’s as several undefeated streaks came to an end. Sydney, Melbourne and Hawthorn all suffered losses across Round 5, as the competition evened out aside from North Melbourne who went about its business blitzing Brisbane in a grand final rematch.

Collingwood 6.7 (43) def. Sydney 2.5 (17)

Collingwood coach Sam Wright:

“I thought we executed really well today and I felt like the girls really came out of our shell with the way they moved the ball too. When you get that sort of defensive effort along with the defensive system, it just allows you to move the ball more freely. I thought they did that all day. You always get nervous in the last five or 10 minutes of the game, but I think just putting ourselves in this position now more regularly where we start to win those games. I thought it was great.”

Sydney coach Scott Gowans:

“Collingwood played very well today, full credit to them. They came out with a very strong gameplan and it took us a while to get into the game, too long to get into the game, and once we were in the game, the game was gone. But we also had a really poor game today and we have to improve. Such a short season, you can’t have two or three weeks like that, so we’ve got a lot to work on.”

Carlton 10.11 (71) def. Gold Coast 4.1 (25)

Carlton coach Matthew Buck:

“I think we showed some maturity in our performance. Tested in the first half, challenged your nerve around your inaccuracy and how that can hurt you in a game and we spoke about how it’s going to require some mature efforts around our groundball game and contest to make sure we get back in the game, so most pleased that we could turn it and get back into it that way and get the run off in the end.”

Gold Coast coach Rhyce Shaw:

“I thought we started really well. I thought we executed what we wanted to in that first quarter. Halfway through the second, we we were a bit behind the eight ball a little bit. I think Carlton came out really strong and they got us in the contest a bit, and then they were able to go forward off the back of that and score…. We won so many of the stats but I don’t think that matters, I felt as though we didn’t deal with the pressure of Carlton the way that we did in the first quarter and I thought we probably got drawn in to their game a little bit and they’re a really quality side.”

Port Adelaide 6.7 (43) def. Melbourne 5.11 (41)

Port Adelaide coach Lauren Arnell:

“The key to today’s performance was really just helping the group get back to what we do best. I think our pressure was the best it’s been all season today, and certainly being bold with our offence and showing up in the contest which to be honest we were so disappointed with our inconsistent we were last week in Perth. Really nice, healthy lesson for our group in what we’re capable of.”

Melbourne coach Mick Stinear:

“They played well today, the game was definitely more on their terms it felt. We just couldn’t quite get into the game or get into a rhythm without conceding a goal. It took us a little while to hit the scoreboard, thankfully we did that just before half-time. Our captain leading the way. Then it looked like we were going to find some rhythm in the second half but it was the story of the game, we couldn’t quite get into it, and kept leaking goals, and I was proud of the team of giving it a really good crack in the last quarter but unfortunately we left it too late.”

GWS Giants 8.2 (50) def. Western Bulldogs 3.11 (29)

GWS Giants coach Cam Bernasconi:

“That’s unbelievable. I’m so proud of the girls, it’s been a long time from doing that and I think the biggest thing I’m proud about is we never wavered, we constantly continued to believe in what we were doing. We tweaked a few things, but when that final siren went, I definitely want to do that again.”

Western Bulldogs coach Tam Hyett:

“We definitely gave ourselves plenty of opportunities. I think inside 50 count we might have been plus-12. Four or five more scoring shots, but the same old story is we’re just not maximising those opportunities and executing. Getting plenty of opportunities to get the ball inside 50 but just not finishing off.”

Essendon 1.2 (8) def. by St Kilda 9.6 (60)

Essendon coach Nat Wood:

“That definitely wasn’t the day and the output that we’d hope to deliver today. Real credit to St Kilda, they came out right from the beginning and set the tone particularly around the ball. Thought a lot of their clearance work and post-clearance contested possessions, their ability to find some chains was really good and it put us on the back foot and then we weren’t able to wrestle much momentum back and then they got even more momentum in that third quarter particularly.”

St Kilda coach Nick Dal Santo:

“Really pleased with today’s performance. We came here knowing that the Bombers had been a really good team, we really respected their first month of football, we knew it would be a big challenge, they obviously bring back their captain in Bonnie (Toogood) today as well so we had to be up for the fight, and this ground is often challenging given the wind.

“I thought we handled ourselves really well, and even in the phases of the game when we didn’t have full control, I thought we showed lots of grit just to hold up really strongly, particularly in defence, and just being able to manage moments and then being able to manage the scoreboard in our favour which we haven’t been able to do this season consistently.”

Richmond 4.5 (29) def. by Geelong 8.11 (59)

Richmond coach Ryan Ferguson:

“Morale’s fine. They are a good group in rising to a challenge. Now we’ve got to get our game going so we’ve got a challenge in front of us. Morale’s not been an issue in terms of week to week, getting at the training week and attacking our game to get better. I’ve got no doubt that we’ll be able to rest up, recover and get into the week really strongly again but we’ve just got to make sure we get better.”

Geelong coach Dan Lowther:

“I’m not going to look that far ahead to be honest. Last week against the Bombers was a step in the right direction. We’ve been playing okay but we’re not discrediting anyone we’ve played against in terms of easy and hard. Everyone has its challenges and last week was no different, the weather was poor but we played well considering what we’ve been trying to do. Today we came into a team that we respect that isn’t a zero and four team, but going in with the right mindset with what we are good at and making sure we are focusing on those things.”

Hawthorn 4.3 (27) def. by Adelaide 7.6 (48)

Hawthorn coach Daniel Webster:

“We were just beaten by a better side on the day. I thought they were very good, we knew they were going to be strong in the contest which they were, but then they were able to control the game on the outside as well. I felt like we kind of chased our tail all day, and their better players got on top of us. Fundamentally we started panicking a bit and just not using the ball or controlling the ball well enough. Good lesson for us, we had to play a high quality team but unfortunately it probably exposed a few things we really need to get to work on.”

Adelaide coach Matthew Clarke:

“I was really happy with that performance. We obviously had the advantage of the breeze in the first but probably didn’t maximise. Obviously Caitlin (Gould) hurting herself in that quarter was the major disappointment of the day but other than that, really happy with the pressure level and probably just our composure improved a little bit. We used the ball a lot better today.”

Brisbane 5.6 (36) def. by North Melbourne 10.5 (65)

Brisbane coach Craig Starcevich:

“I take out of it what everyone else in the comp is taking out of it. We’ve just played a really, really good team, the gap’s about the same as it was at the end of last year from our perspective. I thought our crew were pretty brave just to keep fighting on, they didn’t throw it in. We lost a couple of players along the way, so did they. A bit of a brutal day from that point of view, but the fact that we stuck at it, a lot of people weren’t having their best day but they kept fighting on so I think that’s a positive for you. But we’ve now got the best part of two months to rectify things and work on things and get better, so that’s what we’ll have to do.”

North Melbourne coach Darren Crocker:

“We absolutely value that win. The thing about Brisbane is you know what you’re always going to be up against them and we spoke about them before the game, that they bring great effort and great energy and if we weren’t up for that, they can get you on the hop a little bit. The pleasing thing was at quarter time we came in and we thought yeah absolutely we are able to match them in that area, and eventually we were able to get through and hit the scoreboard. Probably the difference was we were a bit more efficient when we were able to get the ball in our hands.”

Fremantle 3.5 (23) def. West Coast 2.4 (16)

Fremantle coach Lisa Webb:

“Obviously we’ve been challenged a lot over the last few weeks. We took a lot of things from our review and stepped forward today in a growth in some of the areas which was contest and team D. They’re an incredibly talented side and they’ve shown a lot of improvement, so for our girls to be able to adapt and get to work on some of those areas, I thought was a real improvement.”

West Coast coach Daisy Pearce:

“Disappointing result, we come here to win and always a flat feeling but we were up against a really competitive outfit in Fremantle, so a credit to them and their pressure. I think they adjusted to the conditions better than we did earlier in the game. Just their ability to be first to the ball and get it moving their way, we were a little bit off in that department.”