JUMPING JESSE WARDLAW A MULTIFACETED FORWARD

Brisbane’s old style full forward Jesse Wardlaw showed glimpses of greatness in her side’s unfortunate loss.

Starting with a bang, Wardlaw was quickly off the mark with her side’s first goal of the match and set a high standard for both sides to match throughout the game.

But what is more impressive, is that the 185cm forward is versatile on the ground. Not only did she prove that she is hard to match in the air, Wardlaw has also been strong when the ball hits the turf. The ability to crumb the ball once it’s on the ground is a skill that not many of her height can conjure up each week. 

Despite their loss today, Wardlaw has justified why she could very well be the next Tayla Harris, with a modern spin on the key forward role.

She now leads the competition’s goal-kicking leaderboard, alongside North Melbourne’s Kait Ashmore (both with eight majors to their names) and will look to hold her position there for the rest of the season to help the Lions come finals.

FREMANTLE’S SMALL FORWARDS BURN THEIR OPPOSITION

The slingshot game that mirrors some of the best AFL sides was performed perfectly by the Dockers in their fifth win of the year. Their bolstering and quick first quarter in front of goal set the Dockers up for the rest of the game.

In only the first quarter, Sabreena Duffy was heavily involved in her side’s early lead, putting away two goals, followed by Ashley Sharp’s two majors. Duffy ended the game with four majors and 10 disposals, highlighting her ferocity and hunger to put ball to boot.

Duffy’s enthusiasm up forward led her side’s intensity and kept the Lions defenders at bay.

The sidestep and candy selling was on display from the small Dockers, as they kept their force up for four quarters, highlighting a very experienced and improving side pushing to win a premiership this year.

INTENSITY AT AN ALL-TIME HIGH

The performance from both sides today was a marvellous display of the rapid improvement in pace and skill in the AFLW Competition.

From the first quarter, both midfields were running amok, with impressive set ups evident from the first bounce.

The standard was well and truly set for the rest of the year, but the real star was Freo’s Kiara Bowers.

The no. 2 laid a ferocious 15 tackles in her team’s win and was arguably one of the most prominent across the ground as her side aim to make it all the way to the big dance of 2020.

The Dockers proved that they will hurt you on the counterattack, with their clean ball skills and rapid pace from the middle to the forward line unbeaten this season.

The Lions matched this game style extremely well, never seeming to run out of steam, just falling behind after they let the Dockers get on top of them in the first quarter. If Brisbane can clean up and keep up with the best sides in the competition from the get-go, they’ll have a better chance to keep the faster teams at bay for longer periods of time.