Classic Carlton | AFLW Round 2 Review | Carlton V Western Bulldogs

Written by Nathan Sepe

Yet again another disappointing result from the girls, going down again by a goal 6.6.42 to 5.6.36 and lacking the killer punch when it mattered the most. Definitely heaps of improvement from the Round 1 against the Pies but ultimately it was the high levels of intensity to start the quarters that emptied the tanks and left the girls exhausted struggling to sustain pressure and withhold Bulldogs’ offensive pressure to end the quarters. There will be a big look on kicking efficiency and turnovers for the upcoming week.

It was a strong opening quarter to start for the Baggers, with strong on the ball presence and pressure on the ball showing early on, with a first goal for Elise O’Dea, nailing the set shot to get us off to an early lead. Unfortunately, it seemed as if the girls had run out of energy, a key theme throughout the night. The Dogs offensive pressure into our defence 50 was proving a problem, and a low sense of footy smarts were shown as repetitive kicks outside 50 always found their way back in. Otherwise, it was a strong effort for the backline to concede no goals, with great tackling pressure and stopping key forward Issy Huntington from making a real impact. Strong players for the quarter included Maddy Prespakis, creating a strong midfield presence and attacking the play, as well as second gamer Mimi Hill, who had an outstanding game, broke through with key offensive transition plays. 

Source: AFL Womens

Heading into the second quarter up by 2 points, the girls yet again started strong. Katie Loynes producing a great run down tackle to kick our second goal of the match, putting us up by 10 points, this was then added to by Georgia Gee, who scored a great collective handball play to capitalise on the run from 25m out to put us up by 16 points. Yet again fitness proved an issue for the girls, with a real lack in intensity and pressure, ultimately resulting in two quick Bulldog goals to get them back within 4 points. For the most part of the first half the Blues did a great job at limiting the involvement of key Dogs Ellie Blackburn and Issy Huntington, although this at times took out key midfielders in Prespakis and Egan. It was a great quarter for yet again Mimi Hill, extremely reliable off the wing to help provide long balls down forward. For the Blues, definitely a quarter Moa Laloifi was missed running the ball off half back, but nevertheless up by 5 points heading into the third. 

A slow start for the Baggers in the third, with the Dogs kicking an early goal within the first 30 seconds of the quarter. It was a great fightback from the Blues; with key forwards in Tayla Harris, standing up for the Blues and kicking one goal from a great pack mark and a sensational goal from outside 50 to give the Blues some breathing space. The quarter was a gritty and hard fought affair with a lot of congested footy being played along the wings. It was ultimately a quarter that should have set the Blues up to comfortably cruise to victory, although poor kicking and poor decision making left the game still within reach for the Dogs and this made way for key Dogs players such as Huntington and Blackburn to really start to control the game. It was the best quarter for Blues such as Harris and Hill, but unfortunately game fitness killed the side and put heaps of pressure on the girls to maintain the lead, most looking quite exhausted and drained 10 points up in to the final break.

Source: AFL Womens

It seemed like a straightforward task for the Bagger Girls going in to the last quarter, looking a goal away from breaking the game open and ending any hopes of the Bulldogs. This was not the case as extremely poor kicking, and excessive amounts of turnovers cost the Blue girls, with Blackburn and Huntington breaking the game open and the Dogs kicking three consecutive goals to make the fightback too hard for a quite exhausted and depleted Blues side. There was great fightback from Prespakis, Harris and Bri Moody taking some great aerial and defensive marks, but all was too late as inaccurate kicking from Harris and Gee, made time an important factor, ultimately going down by a goal and unfortunately starting the season 0-2.

Goals: Harris 2, O’Dea, Loynes, Gee

Next Game: Gold Coast Suns v Carlton – Saturday 13th Feb – Great Barrier Reef Arena – 5:10PM AEDT