Tayla Harris scores high point for Melbourne Demons, Collingwood Magpies consolidate fourth place, Essendon Bombers rule out CEO hustle

Essendon’s AFLW players have not been affected by the controversy surrounding former general manager Andrew Thorburn, co-captain Steph Cain says after the Bombers were overrun by Geelong in the final quarter at Warrnambool on Sunday .

Essendon was in the news again last week, after Thorburn resigned when the club asked him to choose between the job and his role as president of City on the Hill Church. Although AFLW players have been reluctant to speak publicly about the issue, Cain said on Sunday that the women’s team hasn’t let outside issues distract them.

“We are at the peak of the season and we have the opportunity to focus on ourselves and believe that the club is doing the right thing, what we are doing,” Cain said. age.

Cain’s sentiments echo co-captain Bonnie Toogood’s remarks when the club was making headlines for suing Alastair Clarkson to potentially replace then-senior men’s coach Ben Rutten.

“It didn’t affect us in any way,” Toogood said. “We girls are on task and working hard in training and there is such a good atmosphere between them because it obviously comes down to the business end of having to play. So it didn’t affect us at all.

Loading

Cain, however, stressed the importance of inclusion for the AFLW, ahead of the Pride Round, which takes place next weekend.

“It’s such a special game and being able to include everyone and get people involved in women’s football is something that, you know, a lot of people are rallying around for,” she said.

“You also want to have an inclusive workplace that you feel comfortable in and with. You can bring out the best in yourself when you feel included.

The Bombers were right in the game against Geelong until three quarters of the time, scoring level, but an elite fourth quarter by Cats striker Chloe Scheer put it out of reach. Scheer finished with three goals, 13 eliminations and eight points.

For Essendon, Maddy Prespakis was phenomenal with 37 takedowns, 10 clearances and four tackles.

Cain said the team wanted to start turning narrow losses into wins.

“After last week having two inside 50s at half-time, it was a real goal for us to win those contested possessions and look really good at our striker,” she said. “And I thought we did it up to three-quarters of the time and unfortunately we just couldn’t finish the job to make the four-quarters effort.”

The Bulldogs beaten like never before in the Hampson-Hardeman Cup

Melbourne retained the Hampson-Hardeman Cup after a comprehensive 64-point thrashing against the Western Bulldogs at Casey Fields on Sunday and keeping the Bulldogs to just one goal.

It was the biggest win in the history of the cup, which is named after women’s footy pioneers Barb Hampson and Lisa Hardeman and was established in the inaugural exhibition match at the MCG in 2013.

Melbourne have won the coveted trophy nine times, the Western Bulldogs just four, and this win keeps Melbourne in contention for a top-two spot in the finals.

The top four teams – Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne and Collingwood – are level on points, with percentage determining positioning.

The Demons have a healthy percentage of 201.2 but Adelaide are even more impressive at 233.3 and Brisbane at 259.3.

The Dees were deadly up front and ferocious on offense, beating the Dogs in almost every stat, including winning the 50-second count by 28 and putting the pressure on with more than three times the number of tackles laid.

Alyssa Bannan had a day with three goals, while Harris and Eden Zanker scored two each. The Bulldogs, on the other hand, struggled to create goalscoring opportunities and when they did, the Melbourne defense was ready to shut them down.

The Magpies, meanwhile, overcame their own wastefulness to overtake GWS by 32 points and cement their place in the top four in skipper Steph Chiocci’s 50th AFLW game.

The Magpies dominated from the start, crushing the Giants around the contest, but their imprecision kept the game alive until they pulled back in the second half to win 6.10 (46) to 2.2 (14).

Darcy the defender

Two-time leading goalie Darcy Vescio could not be found in his usual place in Carlton’s forward line on Friday night after a change of position saw the first player to 50 career goals take on a new role of defender.

Vescio made an immediate impact in the Blues’ 27-point victory over St Kilda at RSEA Park, ending the night with 10 steals, 15 eliminations, 10 of those contested, six 50 rebounds, three inside 50 and two scores.

Carlton coach Daniel Harford said he “liked” Vescio’s work in defense and said they had been considering putting them there for a while.

“Darc probably didn’t have the year he would have liked to have in terms of impact in the front half: in all honesty, none of our forwards had any because the ball didn’t Been there a lot of times,” Harford said.

Loading

“He’s such a creative player and a great ball reader. We thought that might get them into the game a bit and we could benefit from that. We’ve seen the results of that.

Richmond on track for first Finals appearance

Richmond is on track for a first Finals appearance after claiming its fifth trotting victory with a 19-point victory over the West Coast on Friday night.

Last season, the Tigers finished in the bottom four. This season’s hot streak put them well in contention for a top-four spot in their fourth AFLW season.

The addition of Carlton’s Grace Egan elevated the Richmond midfielder to elite status, joined by top and fairest favorite Monique Conti, 2020 No. 1 draft pick Ellie McKenzie and Meg Macdonald, who dominated saves against the Eagles.

Egan, 22, was also big on Friday with two late goals and finished with 18 takedowns and seven tackles.

Eilish Sheerin was another handy Tigers rookie, who joined the club between seasons and was a great addition to the backline with high pressure and clean hands, and leads the competition in interception possessions and is second in meters gained.

She also scored her first AFLW goal on the weekend and finished with a team-high 22 takedowns and three tackles.