A review of Round 5 in the 2023 rebel VFLW season.
PORT MELBOURNE vs BOX HILL HAWKS
PORT MELBOURNE 1.0, 3.0, 7.1, 9.2 (56)
BOX HILL HAWKS 1.0, 2.3, 4.3, 4.6 (30)
AN EFFICIENT Port Melbourne officially announced itself as a rebel VFLW premiership threat under the Friday night lights, wearing down and running away from Box Hill Hawks by 26 points at ETU Stadium.
The Borough relished the opportunity to take centre stage, holding firm as the Hawks dominated possession in the first half before cracking the visitors’ resolve with two late goals to take an unlikely lead into the main break.
When they booted the first two of the third quarter to go 16 points clear they had their tails up and the Hawks were always going to be hard pressed to stop the momentum.
Two more majors to none in the last lifted the Borough into second spot on the ladder and amazingly left the top three from last year sitting in the bottom six on the ladder after five rounds.
Jessie Williams (18 disposals, seven inside-50s) starred up the ground for Port Melbourne, alongside Lauren Caruso (15 disposals, eight tackles, six clearances), Taylah Watson (19 disposals) and Claire Dyett (17 disposals), while Stella Reid threatened every time she went near the ball to finish with two goals from 14 touches. Kate Dudley had 24 hitouts, Kaitlyn O’Keefe 12 tackles and five clearances and Amelia Peck two goals.
Box Hill star Jordan Mifsud led all comers with 22 possessions and five marks, with support coming from Grace Matser (15 disposals, 19 hitouts, nine clearances), Kristy Stratton (16, six tackles, one goal) and Jess Trend (15 disposals, one goal).
COLLINGWOOD vs ESSENDON
COLLINGWOOD 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 2.3 (15)
ESSENDON 1.2, 2.2, 3.4, 4.7 (31)
ESSENDON’s slow start to the 2023 season is firmly in the rearview mirror after it outlasted Collingwood by 16 points in a tough battle at Victoria Park on Saturday.
The Bombers improved their win-loss record to 50% with a grinding victory, booting one goal in each quarter while refusing to concede for 54 minutes through the middle of the contest.
The reigning premiers played a possession game, being +52 in disposals (+54 handballs) and had the ball camped in their attacking half for most of the day in only giving up a paltry 12 inside-50s to their 47.
Amelia Radford reprised her brilliant 2022 form with 32 disposals, five clearances, six tackles and 11 inside-50s. The premiership star was backed up by Alana Barba (22 disposals, 12 tackles), Georgia Clarke (20 disposals, five marks), Steph Wales (15 disposals, five marks, 19 hitouts) and Grace Dicker (16 disposals, five tackles, two goals).
The Magpies still had plenty of winners, with Jess Bates (28 disposals, seven marks, seven clearances, 10 tackles) again dominating and Matilda Zander (20 disposals, six clearances, seven tackles, seven rebounds) awesome in defence against the flood of entries. Elizabeth Jackson (24 disposals, four marks) and Eleri Morris (19 disposals, nine marks, five tackles) also winning plenty of the footy.
GEELONG CATS vs WESTERN BULLDOGS
GEELONG CATS 3.1, 4.2, 5.6 6.7 (43)
WESTERN BULLDOGS 0.0, 1.1, 2.1, 2.3 (15)
GEELONG climbed to the top of the rebel VFLW ladder with a commanding 28-point victory over Western Bulldogs at Deakin University on Saturday.
The Bulldogs had been extremely competitive in each of their first four games, winning one, but were no match for the in-form Cats, falling 19 points behind by quarter-time.
They got within 12 midway through the second term and 13 early in the third but that was it as Geelong eased away on the back of a powerful performance from Charlotte Simpson, who had 30 possessions, five marks, five clearances, six tackles, four inside-50s and seven rebounds.
Chloe Scheer (21 disposals, six clearances), Abbey McDonald (20 disposals, five marks), Renee Garing (16 disposals, six tackles, one goal) and Kalani Scoullar (26 hitouts) were also prominent, while Sachi De Giacomi continued her fine season with three goals and Olivia Cicolini booted two.
Despite a rare loss in the hitouts, Jorja Borg was still the Bulldogs’ best player with 17 touches, 21 hitouts and five clearances, with Sarah Skinner (15 disposals, seven tackles), Tarrah Delgado (13 disposals, six rebounds), Tahlia Meier (17 disposals) and Dom Carruthers (15 disposals) also solid.
CARLTON vs WILLIAMSTOWN
CARLTON 0.1, 0.2, 1.2, 1.4 (10)
WILLIAMSTOWN 2.1, 4.2, 4.2, 7.3 (45)
WILLIAMSTOWN produced the upset of the season so far, claiming the scalp it was after with a stunning 35-point triumph over ladder-leader Carlton at IKON Park on Saturday.
Entering the game in 11th spot on the ladder but boosted in confidence by their first win last week, the Seagulls left the Blues in the starting gates with four goals to none in the first half and held firm against a third-quarter challenge before running away with it in the last quarter.
Carlton dominated hitouts 54-20 and had 11 more disposals but was never in the game, as Aleisha Newman (18 disposals, six marks), Lori Stepnell (19 disposals, five entries), Perri King (16 disposals, 12 tackles) and Jasmine Kawa (16 disposals, five rebounds) controlled their sections of the field and Sarah Cameron starred up forward with three goals.
The Blues also had the major ball winners, with Maddie Di Cosmo (26 disposals, 12 tackles), Ash Thorneycroft (21 disposals, nine tackles, six clearances) and Taylor Ortlepp (22 disposals) in everything, while Emily Hurley won 30 hitouts and kicked her team’s only goal.
DAREBIN FALCONS vs NORTH MELBOURNE
DAREBIN FALCONS 0.0, 3.0, 3.0, 3.1 (19)
NORTH MELBOURNE 4.1, 5.4, 7.7, 8.9 (57)
A DOMINANT first quarter helped North Melbourne climb into the top six with a convincing 38-point victory over Darebin Falcons at Preston City Oval on Saturday.
The Kangaroos blasted 4.1 to nothing to have the game won before the first break and then cruised home with three unanswered goals in the second half as they climbed to 3-2 for the season on the back of a 40-19 inside-50 count.
North Melbourne had eight of the top 11 ball winners on the ground, headed by Annabel Scott (25 disposals, seven clearances, five tackles) and Williamstown recruit Ruby Tripodi (23 disposals, six clearances), with Audrey Rhodes (15 disposals, six tackles, two goals) continuing her fine season. Kayla Peake kicked two majors and Mara McSweeney stuck nine tackles.
While North did have most of the players stuffing the stats sheet, Angelica Gogos topped them all for the Falcons with 26 touches, 10 clearances, eight entries and nine tackles, taking full toll of the ruck dominance of Shannon Egan (37 hitouts). Others to perform well included Bec Goring (17 disposals, five tackles), Steph Simpson (15 disposals, eight clearances), Alyssa Mifsud (two goals) and first-year player Zoe Larkins (nine tackles, one goal) also performing well.
CASEY DEMONS vs SOUTHERN SAINTS
CASEY DEMONS 1.2, 1.2, 1.4 2.5 (17)
SOUTHERN SAINTS 2.1, 3.3, 5.5, 9.5 (59)
SOUTHERN SAINTS not only took Casey Demons spot in the top six, they lifted themselves up to fourth on the ladder with a 42-point thrashing at Casey Fields on Sunday.
The Demons entered the clash in sixth spot but were no match for the seventh-placed Saints, who sealed the match by holding the home team goalless from the seventh minute of the first term until the 14th of the last to repeat their preliminary final victory from last year.
The four-goal final term only franked the Saints’ dominance as they finished +51 on disposals, +21 on marks and most impressively for a winning team +39 on tackles.
Margaret Kershaw was a standout around the ground for the Saints. Despite losing the hitouts to Leah Swain 28-14, she racked up 24 disposals, four marks, nine tackles, 11 clearances and seven inside-50s in an impressive display.
Tessa Boyd (18 disposals, seven rebounds) was almost impassable in defence and Gabriella De Angelis (16 disposals, six tackles, two goals), Lucy Burke (11 disposals, four goals) and debutant Abbey Tregellis (three goals) were unstoppable in attack.
Shannon Danckert (19 disposals, seven clearances, six tackles) was tireless for the Demons in the middle, Charlotte Wilson (14 disposals, six marks, six rebounds) and Belinda Woolcock (16 disposals, five rebounds) did their best to turn back the tide in defence, while Shree Fairchild (16 disposals) also tried hard.
ROUND 6 FIXTURE
Saturday, April 29: Southern Saints vs Western Bulldogs (11:00am, Wilson Storage Trevor Barker Beach Oval); Collingwood vs Darebin Falcons (11:00am, Victoria Park); North Melbourne vs Geelong Cats (1:00pm, Arden Street Oval). Sunday, April 30: Box Hill Hawks vs Casey Demons (11:30am, Wonthaggi Recreation Reserve – VFL double header); Williamstown vs Essendon (2:00pm, DSV Stadium); Port Melbourne vs Carlton (4:15pm, ETU Stadium – VFL double header).
Click here to view full fixture and ladder.
Broadcast and streaming: All matches in the 2023 rebel VFLW seasons will be live streamed free via the AFL website (AFL.com.au) and AFL Live Official App.
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