THE VFLW returned on the weekend, with a number of AFLW players playing across the league, hoping to make it back into their respective AFLW sides.

With no AFLW listed players in either the Darebin vs Williamstown, the Essendon v Western Bulldogs game or the North Melbourne vs Hawthorn game, let’s take a look at what happened in the remaining three matches.

Down at Casey Fields, the Casey Demons came from behind to run over the top of Port Melbourne to the tune of 10 points.

Dees fans can start to get excited about the imminent debut of Olivia Purcell in the AFLW side. In her second game back from an ACL injury, she had 20 disposals, four tackles and three clearances. Alison Brown had 10 disposals, three tackles, two marks and two clearances, but then backed up for the Dees AFLW side in the afternoon.

Georgia Campbell had an impressive 6 tackles to go with her 6 disposals, one mark and seven hit outs. Maeve Chaplin had a great game in front of goal. She kicked two goals, took a mark, had a tackle and four clearances as well as 16 disposals. Tahlia Gillard had 13 disposals, two marks, two tackles and five clearances, as well as 11 hit outs. Krstel Petrevski registered a whopping 10 tackles, to go with her 19 disposals and one mark. Meanwhile, Brenna Tarrant had a quiet game with only the six disposals and one mark.

Port Melbourne only had two Richmond-listed players in the side. Sophie Molan had a whopping 14 tackles to go with her 17 disposals and four clearances. Stella Reid had 14 disposals, six tackles and two clearances.

Down at Deakin Uni, the Cats got their season off to a perfect start with a comfortable win over Carlton. Olivia Barber certainly did her chances of an AFLW return no harm. She was great both in front of goal and in the ruck. She had 17 touches, 9 marks, a tackle and a clearance to go with her 12 hit outs and three goals one. Another Cat who had a great game was Claudia Gunjaca, who alongside her two goals three, had 16 disposals, three marks, three tackles and a clearance and a hit out. Danielle Higgins had a mark and two tackles alongside her 14 disposals and did manage to get on the board with a behind.

Georgia Clarke had a quieter game than many of her teammates, but still registered two marks and two tackles alongside her six disposals, and also kicked a goal. Finally, the last AFLW Cat that played for the VFLW side was Carly Remmos. She had 13 disposals, two marks, two clearances and a tackle.

For Carlton, Maddy Guerin had 16 touches, four marks, three clearances and a whopping 6 tackles, and also managed to get on the board with a behind. Brooke Vernon had 10 touches, a tackle and two clearances, but the other AFLW listed Blues that played had much quieter games than Guerin and Vernon. Poppy Schaap had the six touches, four marks and three tackles, but did kick a goal. Annie Lee had 7 touches, three marks, a tackle and a clearance, while Imogen Milford also had seven touches, but had two marks, two hit outs, a clearance and a whopping seven tackles.

In the final game of the round the Southern Saints caused a shock upset by defeating the reigning Premiers Collingwood, who had not previously lost a game since late 2019.

For the Saints, Kate McCarthy and Nat Exon both took to the field. McCarthy had nine touches, four tackles and a mark, while Exon had seven touches, a clearance but five tackles. Someone who certainly improved their chances of an AFLW return next weekend is Jacqui Vogt. She had 22 touches, five marks, eight tackles and four clearances in the win.

Meanwhile for the Pies, Tarni Brown had 16 touches, two marks, two tackles and a clearance. Olivia Meagher had 15 touches, three marks, three tackles and three clearances, while Abbi Moloney only had the 11 touches, four marks, a tackle and a clearance.