Wild weather and lightning are no barrier as Collingwood and Kangas rack up big wins

Sarah Rowe led the Magpies with 27 disposals.

McKenzie scored the opening goal and helped her team take an 8-0 lead at quarter time.

The Magpies closed the margin to a point after Lauren Butler cleared the ball to set up the major.

Instead of dropping their heads, the Tigers attacked the match, with Conti winning a quick kick of the ball and Mackenzie finding Ford whose pass found Luke who kicked a goal and McKenzie followed with her second goal to take a match-winning lead to build up.

Fan favorite Caitlin Greisser, celebrating her 50th AFLW match, scored her 44th career goal shortly after the restart before birthday girl Sheerin kicked a major from close range for a 33-8 lead.

Luke, who retired in July but returned when the Tigers needed an injury replacement, scored her second goal despite kicking a water-logged footy late in the final term to seal Richmond’s win.

Sheerin joyfully scored her second goal, a career-best return, and celebrated with teammates as the Tigers showed they are a team to be reckoned with at the business end of the season.

Ruthless Roos too good for Bulldogs

North Melbourne forward Emma King should have known better than to tempt Melbourne’s weather gods.

The unbeaten Roos cruised to their sixth AFLW win of the season with a 55-point victory over the Western Bulldogs at Arden Street on Saturday, but King, perhaps unintentionally, dared to open the heavens and told Fox Footy at half-time that they were enjoying it . the excellent conditions after playing their last three games in the rain.

Watch out for heavy rain.

Yet it made no difference for the premiership favorites as Jasmine Garner scored the first goal of the second half in a downpour heavy enough to briefly interrupt the broadcast signal, returning just as Garner scored her second.

King added her second goal shortly afterwards, perhaps feeling like she owed her teammates after her weather foul.

“It’s like the weather up north – it was sunny and a balmy 20 degrees this morning and then it rained,” Roos defender Eliza Shannon, playing her first match of 2024, told Fox Footy after the thumping 8.11 (59 ) to 0.4 (4) victory.

“It feels like we’ve been in the pool; Luckily it cleared up and we got some good passages of play.”

The Dogs were in the war and deserved more for their energy and pressure, but they were down two players early in the second half with Dee Berry (illness) and Lauren Ahrens (foot) out.

Ash Riddell led the Roos with 26 disposals and a goal via the siren, while Garner had 19 and could have scored three goals if a set shot didn’t hit the post.

Isabelle Pritchard had 18 disposals to lead the way for the Bulldogs, while Jessica Fitzpatrick had 15 disposals and nine tackles.

The Dogs made a number of forays into the forward line early on and found Sarah Hartwig within goal range, but were unable to make the most of their chances, and it proved the difference as the Roos were much more ruthless and efficient when their chances to score occurred. .

If anything, the ladder leaders were a little wasteful in the first half, trailing by four which could have been goals.

North’s Vikki Wall collected the Bulldogs’ Dominique Carruthers in a bone-shaking tackle late in the first half, with Carruthers bouncing back to battle on for her under-resourced side.

Seven players are fined after a bomber causes a brawl

Hanna Hammoud

Seven players have been fined for their involvement in one of the biggest melees in AFLW history, sparked by a punch from Bombers midfielder Maddy Prespakis.

Players from both sides came into the fray on Wednesday night to the three-quarter siren of Essendon’s three-point win.

With just four seconds left in the third quarter, Prespakis was immediately confronted by Sydney players Lexi Hamilton and Tanya Kennedy, drawing teammates from both sides.

On Thursday night, Essendon’s Prespakis, Paige Scott, Jacqui Vogt and Brooke Walker each had their $200 penalty for taking part in the fight reduced to $100. While Swans Hamilton, Kennedy and Cynthia Hamilton were also hit with the same sanction.

Prespakis, who was tagged for all four quarters, spoke about the mental toll of limiting her impact on the game after the thriller at Whitten Oval.

“Really proud of the girls,” Prespakis said.

“We fought very hard and in the end Sydney came upon us.

“It (being tagged) is very difficult and takes a mental toll.

“Every week I feel like I have a thumb on my back everywhere I go.

“Woody (coach Natalie Woods) just says: smile at them, take it as a compliment and do what you can.”

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The incident marks a new chapter in an AFLW season that is witnessing increased physicality as the game grows every year.

North Melbourne’s Libby Birch got some attention when she played against the former Melbourne this season, while there have been melee and wrestling bouts in two other matches this year.

AFLW players have not shied away from on-field battles, and Wednesday night’s melee could be in contention to overtake last year’s Collingwood-Richmond clash, by putting players Sarah Hosking and Sarah Rowe “the biggest brawl in AFLW history”.

Speaking on the duo’s podcast TaggedHosking stated that melees were all part of the game.

“If my teammate needs help, I’m not going to just let her sit on the ground while she’s being hit by someone else,” she said.

“I like that kind of thing. I think it’s all part of the game and I love it – obviously no one gets hurt. It’s going to be fiery… I think it’s all part of it.

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“It really tests the character of your teammates, and we’ve literally put some of our teammates on the spot because you might see a scuffle on the ground or something and there’s someone around – now you’ve got a option, to run and help… or you run in the opposite direction, and we have a few teammates who do that here or there.

The brawl broke out between the two sides at Victoria Park late in the fourth quarter when Magpie Sarah Sansonetti tackled Tiger Emelia Yassir over the boundary line. Teammates from both sides then rushed to join in.

Rowe described it as one of the most remarkable melees in the history of the AFLW.

“I’m the type that I’m going to stand up for my teammates, I’m definitely going to stand up for them, but I’m also the one that I’m probably going to do it for with a smile on my face. and I’ll be like, ‘Come on, we don’t actually want to hit each other,'” she said on the podcast.

With AAP