AFLW Round 9 Review | Carlton v GWS

Written by Helena Petrou

Carlton have prevailed over the GWS Giants in a nail bitting encounter to bring an end to the home and away season. The Blues survived a last quarter comeback from the Giants to secure a one-point win in an overall low scoring encounter, finishing the 2021 season on a positive note. Exceptional performances from Carlton’s leaders Elise O’Dea, Kerryn Harrington, Darcy Vescio and youngster Madison Prespakis ultimately helped Carlton get over the line. Here’s how the game played out. 

First Quarter:

A fiery start to the match saw GWS slot the first goal of the game in the opening minutes. Heavily contested and high-pressure play made it difficult for the Blues to respond, although great defensive work prevented GWS from extending their lead. It took until the last 2 minutes of the quarter for the Blues to kick their first major, set up by some clean midfield work from the likes of Jess Hosking and Elise O’Dea. A familiar sight, Darcy Vescio was able to yet again kick Carlton’s first of the day with a cleanly struck set shot, bringing her season goal tally to 15 to making her the competition’s outright leading goalkicker. Maddy Prespakis was dominant in the first, gathering 11 disposals matching her total possessions from last round.

Second Quarter: 

The Blues’ inability to convert in front of goal was lucky to not cost them the game in a quarter that can otherwise only be described as ‘dominant’. Carlton were displaying a great team style of football, anchored by the great link up plays from Kerryn Harrington. GWS forward Cora Stauntan kicked her second and final goal for the game early in the quarter. Stauntan finished the game with 2 goals and 4 behinds, a dodged bullet for the Carlton defence. A quick response from the Baggers saw Brooke Walker convert her set shot from 40m out just 3 minutes later. Another score involvement from Elise O’Dea set up Brazzale’s shot on goal, which gave Carlton a 13-point lead heading into half time. A great offensive quarter saw Carlton have 78% of time in their forward half, as well as 14 to GWS’ 4 inside 50s. 

Third Quarter:

An explosive start to the quarter out of the centre by McKay and Loynes continued to set the tone for the Baggers. A crucial effort in defence awarded with a free to Darcy Vescio, to set up her second goal of the afternoon. Vescio’s free kick started a great defensive transition play by the Blues and a clever kick into space from Prespakis allowed Darcy to run into the goal square to kick her 16th of the season. A debatable free kick against Prespakis, who was having an excellent start to the second half, saw Tait Mackrill have a shot on goal which she fortunately missed. A rise in forward pressure from GWS saw Carlton put under enormous defensive pressure and concede a late goal, bringing the margin to 11 points at 3QT. 

Fourth Quarter: 

The start of the final quarter saw Nat Plane begin in the centre, as GWS brought the heat right from the first bounce. Lucy McEvoy laid some strong tackles to combat the Giant’s momentum. Despite their dominance and time spent in their forward half, GWS only scored one major for the term. An arm wrestle of a quarter saw Carlton’s defensive leaders in Kerryn Harrington and Mua Laloifi rise to help rebound constant forward entries from the Giants. Carlton’s lead was reduced to just 1 point with minutes to go with the Giants dominating play. An unlikely defensive hero in Darcy Vescio was able to take 2 goal saving marks on the goal line to ultimately win the game for Carlton. 

Two Inaugural Blues Call Time: 

Inaugural Game Changers Alison Downie and Co-Captain Katie Loynes announced their retirement at the end of Sunday’s game. Both players have been great servants to Carlton’s AFLW side, always leaving their all out on the field. Loynes’ physicality, aggression and leadership as well as Downie’s incredible ruck ability will definitely be missed by Carlton. Downie is one of only 2 players to have played in all of Carlton’s 39 games, never having missed a single AFLW game in the competition’s history. Loynes supported Carlton FC growing up and post-match spoke about what it meant for her to play for Carlton, “I never took for granted how special it was to put on our guernsey every single week. It was something I’d always dreamed of doing and to now have lived that, I couldn’t have asked for anything better. We thank Katie and Alison for their contribution to our club over the past 5 years and wish them all the best for their careers post football. 

The perfect end to Darcy Vescio’s Record Breaking season:

Darcy Vescio continues to raise the bar for the competition’s small forwards, having played the best season of her career so far. Darcy was generally the first player to hit the scoreboard for Carlton each week, providing a constant target in the forward line as well as headaches for opposing defenders. Although a selfless team player, Vescio’s elite season has seen her become:

• The AFLW’s leading goal kicker for 2021 with 16 majors. (Previously won in 2017)

• The first AFLW player to reach 40 career goals.

• The AFLW’s all-time leading goal kicker.

• The first AFLW player to kick 100 points in a season (16.4)

• The first AFLW player to ever kick 16 goals in a season. 

• Carlton’s leading goal kicker for the 2021 season.  
  

The victory over the Giants was a stressful, although entertaining way to end the 2021 season for Carlton, and we look forward to what season 2022 has to bring for our Game Changers. 

Best: Prespakis (27 disp 3 tackles) Hosking (11 disp 6 tackles) Harrington (20 disp 4 tackles)