CALDER CANNONS 3.5 (23)
WESTERN JETS 5.10 (40)
WESTERN Jets put one foot in the NAB League Girls Metro Division Final after defeating Calder Cannons by 17 points at Highgate Reserve on Thursday night.
Going into the match in second spot and only leading the Cannons on percentage, the Jets kicked clear with four unanswered goals from late in the second term to put the contest on ice with a 27-point advantage at the final change.
Calder earned some respectability with two goals to none in the last quarter, but the damage was done, leaving it needing to beat both Sandringham and Oakleigh and hope either Western loses to both GWV and Eastern or the Ranges go down to Geelong and the Jets.
The match was tight early, with Jet Camryn Tyrell kicked the first goal at the 10-minute mark of the first term before the Cannons got on the board through Heidi Woodley at the same point of the second.
But Western responded three minutes later through Annie Gray and never looked back as stars in the making Charlotte Baskaran (25 disposals, four tackles, one goal) and Montana Ham (23 disposals, four marks, five tackles, eight inside-50s) put the Cannons to the sword as they have to all their other rivals this year.
Kiera Leare kicked two goals from 14 disposals to also be a key contributor, Sierra Grieves (18 disposals, 0.3) could have had a big day, Kiera Whiley (14, seven marks, six inside-50s) had her best game of the year, Lou-Lou Field (10) and Paige Ryan (nine) stuck 19 tackles between them, Krystal Russell (27 hitouts) dominated the taps and Stephanie Asciak (five rebounds) was strong in defence.
Reese Sutton did the hard work for Calder with a game-high 26 possessions including 22 handballs, plus eight tackles and a goal, Woodley more than doubled her combined output from her first two games with an excellent 21 touches and her goal, Amy Trinidade took five marks and Chloe Baker-West had eight tackles.
DANDENONG STINGRAYS 6.7 (43)
OAKLEIGH CHARGERS 1.0 (6)
DANDENONG sealed the Country Division minor premiership with an easy 37-point win over reigning premier Oakleigh in a match that finished in farcical circumstances at Linen House on Thursday night.
While the result was never in doubt after the Stingrays kicked four goals to none in the first quarter, the game had to be abandoned at three quarter-time when the sprinklers came on and couldn’t be turned off.
Before the drama unfolded, it was all Dandenong as the undefeated ladder leaders led disposals 176-159 and inside-50s 37-10 and were still able to lay 91 tackles to 70 – numbers that wouldn’t be out of place across four quarters.
Charley Ryan had 15 disposals and four tackles to lead an even Stingrays effort, Charlotte Blair had 12 and an amazing 11 tackles in just three quarters, with Olivia Robinson (13, one goal), Mackenzie Eardley (13, eight tackles), Felicity Crank (12, seven tackles), Amber Clarke (12, six marks, one goal), Eleanor Butler (12, six inside-50s), Mikayla Williamson (11, six tackles) and Courtney Siwes (11) all having claims to votes.
Oakleigh still had plenty of contributors as it held off waves of Stingray attacks to record 30 rebound 50s to nine, with Erin Woodford leading all comers to finish with 17 disposals and eight rebounds, Charlotte Taylor laying a scarcely believable 14 tackles while still winning 14 possessions of her own, Sarah Poustie having nine tackles and 12 touches and Lily Hart six tackles.
EASTERN RANGES 9.4 (58)
TASMANIA DEVILS 3.9 (27)
EASTERN set up a likely last-round showdown for the Metro minor premiership against Western and all-but locked up the Country top two after brushing aside Tasmania by 31 points at Kilsyth Reserve on Sunday.
Despite being without star midfielder Bridget Deed, who was playing VFLW for Hawthorn, the Ranges were never seriously challenged after kicking two goals in the first seven minutes and led by 44 points early in the final term before Priya Bowering booted the last two majors for the Devils.
Izzy Khoury did return to Eastern from Hawks duties and dominated with 21 disposals, four marks, seven tackles, six inside-50s and a goal, Mia Busch also racked up 21 touches, five tackles and six inside-50s, Ruby O’Dwyer had 19 and kicked a goal, Jade Hutchinson stuck nine tackles and Grace Walsh (seven) and Cadhla Schmidli (six) had 13 rebounds between them, while Charli Granville finished off all their good work with three goals from 10 disposals.
Madison Brazendale did everything in her power to keep the Devils alive with 24 disposals and seven tackles, while Georgia Clark (20, seven marks, six inside-50s), was in everything, Candice Belbin (13) and Brooke Barwick (10) shared 23 tackles and Bowering added 17 disposals and nine tackles to her two goals.
NORTHERN KNIGHTS 5.3 (33)
SANDRINGHAM DRAGONS 9.9 (63)
SANDRINGHAM recorded its fourth victory of the season, beating Metro bottom team Northern by 30 points at Parade College on Monday.
The Dragons blew the game wide open with 4.4 to nothing in the first quarter before the Knights started to balance out the contest, holding the margin to 41 points at the final change and finishing with four goals to two in the last term.
Sofia Hurley was again the Dragons’ best with terrific 32 disposals, 10 tackles and two goals, while Keely Coyne had 22, eight tackles and a goal as they continued to firm as likely early NAB AFLW Draft picks, while Mia Zielinski is tracking to be among the cream of the 2023 crop with another terrific display that yielded 19 touches, six marks and two goals, Georgia Foran (16 possessions, seven rebounds) was the best of the defenders and Tayla Jones (eight tackles), Zari Mildenhall (seven) did a lot of hard work.
But despite her team never being a winning chance, Ava Jordan probably topped them all in blazing her way to 35 disposals, seven tackles, eight inside-50s and three rebounds, with support coming from Tarrah Delgado (18, four inside-50s, five rebounds), Maykaylah Appleby (two goals), Lauren Jatczak (25 hitouts), Suwindi Buckley (eight tackles) and Lulu Beatty (seven tackles) also played their roles.
BENDIGO PIONEERS, GEELONG FALCONS, GIPPSLAND POWER, GWV REBELS, MURRAY BUSHRANGERS bye
LADDERS
COUNTRY: Dandenong 28 (280.1%), Geelong 20 (121.7%), Tasmania 12 (106.9%), Murray 12 (106.8%), Bendigo 8 (95.8%), GWV 4 (55.6%), Gippsland 0 (18.9%).
METRO: Eastern 24 (265.4%), Western 24 (193.0%), Calder 20 (107.5%), Sandringham 16 (135.4%), Oakleigh 12 (71.8%), Northern 4 (51.2%).
(The top two teams from each of the Country and Metro Divisions will play each other in the semis, with the winners to face off in the Grand Final)
THIS WEEK – ROUND 9
Saturday, March 19: GWV Rebels v Western Jets (Mars, 11am); Northern Knights v Dandenong Stingrays (Parade, 2pm).
Sunday, March 20: Calder Cannons v Sandringham Dragons (Highgate, 11am, Herald Sun); Geelong Falcons v Eastern Ranges (Deakin, 11am); Tasmania Devils v Bendigo Pioneers (12.30pm, North Hobart); Murray Bushrangers v Gippsland Power (Highgate, 1pm).
Bye: Oakleigh Chargers.
(All games are streamed live on the NAB League app except for the Herald Sun game, which is on that website).
NEXT WEEK: ROUND 10, March 26-27: Dandenong v Tasmania, Calder v Oakleigh, Gippsland v Northern, Eastern v Western, Geelong v Bendigo, Murray v Northern Territory, Sandringham v GWV.
THEN: DIVISION FINALS, April 2-3: Country 1 v Country 2; Metro 1 v Metro 2.
LEADING GOALKICKERS
14: Caitlin Sargent (Western Jets)
14: Amber Clarke (Dandenong Stingrays)
13: Mindy Quade (Murray Bushrangers)
12: Lizzie Dowling (Geelong Falcons)
11: Zarlie Goldsworthy (Murray Bushrangers)
11: Bellah Parker (Tasmania Devils)
10: Analea McKee (Geelong Falcons)
10: Alyssia Pisano (Eastern Ranges)
10: Mia Zielinksi (Sandringham Dragons)
9: Mia Austin (Eastern Ranges)
9: Georgia Clark (Tasmania Devils)
9: Kristen Smith (Oakleigh Chargers)
Twitter: @BRhodesVFL
Cover Photo: Sandringham Dragon Fern O'Brien breaks from a pack during her team's NAB League Girls win over the Northern Knights at Parade College on Monday. (Picture: Darrian Traynor/AFL Photos