ESSENDON 12.7 (79) def PORT MELBOURNE 2.4 (16)
ESSENDON sent another ominous warning to the rest of the competition when it dissected Port Melbourne by 63 points in their rebel VFLW clash at The Hangar on Saturday.
The Bombers, who held Western Bulldogs scoreless last week, gradually wore last year's elimination finalist down before blowing them away with a six-goal last quarter to celebrate veteran Cecilia McIntosh's 50th VFLW game in style.
Essendon had a monopoly on the football, racking up a whopping 161 more disposals than the Borough (305-144) and taking 78 marks to 23, converting it to a 37-15 inside-50 discrepancy.
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Despite Port rucks Bridie Winbanks (18) and Kade Dudley (15) easily winning the hitouts 33-18 against Simone Nalder (15) and Eleanor Cornish (3), the Bombers midfielders dominated the clearances 32-17, led by Jordan Zanchetta's seven.
Former Brisbane Lion Zanchetta finished with 21 disposals, six marks and seven tackles, feeding the ball out regularly to Lambert-Pearce medallist Georgia Nanscawen (30 disposals, six tackles) and impressive second-gamers Amelia Radford (30, seven marks, five inside-50s) and Sarah Ford (22, five inside-50s).
Up forward, co-captain Mia-Rae Clifford cashed in on the amount of footy coming forward to take 10 marks and kick three goals, while Geelong recruit Renee Tierney also booted three and McIntosh marked her milestone with two alongside Federica Frew.
Whenever Port Melbourne did venture forward, Kendra Heil (six marks) and Nicole Julian (five) were there to put paid to most of the attacking moves created by Sophie Molan (17 possessions) and Sophie Locke (16).
WESTERN BULLDOGS 1.1 (7) lost to WILLIAMSTOWN 8.9 (57)
WILLIAMSTOWN produced its finest performance in its rebel VFLW history to belt a hapless Western Bulldogs by 50 points in the Western Derby at VU Whitten Oval.
As with last week, the Seagulls jumped out of the blocks, kicking 5.4 to 0.0 in the first half to stretch the Bulldogs' scoreless start to the season to six-and-a-half quarters before Annaleise Xanthos finally broke the drought at the 10-minute mark of the third term.
It was to be the home team's only moment of joy as Williamstown went on with the job this time to beat its previous biggest winning margin of 38 points set against Melbourne University in 2018.
The Seagulls dominated clearances 27-16 and inside-50s 40-19 to move into the VFLW's top six for only the second time in their short history.
Bridie Kennedy proved you don't need big numbers to have a huge influence on a match with a best-on-ground performance from 14 disposals, having four clearances and eight inside-50s to continually drive the ball forward while also laying five tackles.
Sharnie Whiting was impassable at centre half-back with 21 touches and four rebound-50s, while Erin Meade (18, five tackles, four rebounds), Ruby Tripodi (17, six tackles, five clearances) and Jasmine Kawa (16, six tackles) were also excellent and Elsa Mangan and Asha Price kicked two goals each.
Eliza Vale had 27 possessions, nine marks and seven rebounds in a desperate effort to keep the Bulldogs in the game, Lucy Schneider was terrific with 24 disposals and six rebounds, Mikayla Barnes laid 10 tackles, Jaimee-Lee Morrow had 21 hitouts and Margie Purcell and Amanda Ling also tried hard, but they were just holding back the tide.
CARLTON 5.3 (33) def SOUTHERN SAINTS 3.7 (25)
CARLTON produced a remarkable turnaround in form to stun the Southern Saints by eight points at Ikon Park.
The Blues crashed to a 10-goal loss at Geelong in the opening round while the Saints ended Collingwood's 18-match winning streak, but both teams' form couldn't have been more different on Saturday.
The Saints were blighted by poor kicking for goal last season, and while they got away with it against the Magpies (4.5), it bit them hard against the Blues as they trailed for all but a three-and-a-half-minute period in the second quarter when Poppy Schaap (two goals) put the home team in front for good despite only have three (all accurate) scoring shots in the opening half.
Second-gamer Lily Goss (17 disposals, eight tackles, nine clearances) and fourth-game former Cat Annie Lee (14, four rebounds) were outstanding for the Blues, while Jorja Borg had a huge 35 hitouts and Millie Klingbeil (20, five clearances, one goal), Ashlee Thorneycroft (17, 10 tackles) were other prime movers in the victory.
Deanna Jolliffe was in everything for the Saints to finish with 20 disposals, 11 tackles and five clearances, while Hannah Stuart (17, six tackles), Winnie Laing (16, five marks, five tackles) and Grace Buchan (15, five marks) were others to shine.
GEELONG 5.3 (33) def HAWTHORN 2.3 (15)
GEELONG is taking advantage of its early-season run of home games, cruising to a comfortable 18-point win over Hawthorn in the battle of two big round one winners at Deakin University.
The Cats took control with three unanswered goals in the first quarter, and safely held the Hawks at arm's length for the rest of the day, adding only 2.3 to 2.2 from that point on.
The win was built on hard work, with Geelong laying a massive 93 tackles to 63, led by Tamara Smith (15), Paige Sheppard (13), Breanna Beckley (eight) and Chloe Leonard (seven) to cancel out Hawthorn's advantages in marks (61-40) and hitouts (38-18).
Laura Gardiner was sensational in a best-on-ground display, winning 27 disposals and laying six tackles, while Smith (22), Madeleine Boyd (14, six tackles) and Elise Coventry also caught the eye.
Youngster Jaide Anthony led the way for Hawthorn with 17 touches and six marks, Tegan Cunningham (15, 17 hitouts) won the ruck battle and Dom Carbone (16, seven tackles) and Jenna Richardson also worked hard.
NORTH MELBOURNE 5.0 (30) lost to COLLINGWOOD 6.6 (42)
COLLINGWOOD was forced to fight all the way before getting back on the winners list with a 12-point victory over an accurate North Melbourne at Arden St.
The Kangaroos stayed in the contest simply by not missing and levelled the scores through an Audrey Rhodes goal with 12-and-a-half minutes to play, but the Magpies were able to steady through Elisabeth Jackson and Sabrina Frederick to escape with the points.
Frederick proved she was a class above VFLW level after missing Collingwood's AFLW trip to Perth last week under health and safety protocols, having 19 disposals and kicking four of her team's six goals in a match-winning display.
Caitlin Bunker was also terrific for the Magpies with 21 possessions and six clearances, while Matilda Zander (18), Jackson (17, nine tackles, one goal), Sarah King (21 hitouts), Demi Hallett (nine tackles) and debutant Shanel Camelleri (seven) provided strong support.
Molly Eastman was North Melbourne's best with 22 disposals, five marks and eight rebound-50s, while Annabel Scott (16, seven marks), Ciara Fitzgerald and Jess Mourney (five marks each), Elizabeth McGrath (22 hitouts), Jennifer Guy (nine tackles) and Rhodes (seven tackles) almost got their team over the line.
CASEY DEMONS 8.8 (56) def DAREBIN 2.2 (14)
PLAYING a home game on their opponent's home ground, the Casey Demons eased away from Darebin after quarter-time to win by 42 points at LaTrobe University.
Scores were level at quarter-time, but the Falcons managed only one goal from that point and no score in the second half as the Demons asserted their authority on a contest that was shifted due to an NRL trial match being played at Casey Fields with five goals in the second term.
Tahlia Fellows was everywhere for Casey, kicking two of her three goals in the second-quarter onslaught and finishing with 18 disposals, six tackles, three inside-50s and two rebound 50s, while Georgia Campbell wasn't far behind with 18 touches, 11 hitouts and a goal.
Rebecca Grant was also terrific for the Demons, filling up her stats sheet with 26 touches, four inside-50s and four rebounds, while key defender Brenna Tarrant repelled everything that came her way to finish with 20.
Defenders Gena Lawson-Tavan (19 disposals, eight marks, five rebounds) and Mikayla Meyer (20 disposals, five rebounds) made life difficult for the Casey forwards outside that second quarter, while Angelica Gogos continued her good start to the year with 26 possessions and seven clearances in the middle and skipper Stephanie Simpson (17, eight marks) also played well.
THIS WEEK
Saturday: Darebin v Hawthorn (LaTrobe, 11am, WARF Radio, YouTube); Geelong v Port Melbourne (Deakin, 11am, YouTube); Casey Demons v Port Melbourne (Casey Fields, 1pm, WARF, YouTube).
Sunday: Western Bulldogs v Southern Saints (VU Whitten Oval, 9.45am, AFL.com.au); Collingwood v Williamstown (Victoria Park, 9.45am, WARF, YouTube); Carlton v Essendon (Ikon Park, 2pm, WARF, YouTube).
