Melbourne’s experience should have plenty of teams worried

Melbourne successfully executed its hard-running, overlap-disposal game style in a contest that was almost unabated one-way traffic for four quarters.

The gap between the Demons and the Eagles ballooned as the expansion side’s petrol tickets evaporated in the second half against the run and carry of Karen Paxman (who can pencil in another three votes with her 21 touches), Tyla Hanks, Daisy Pearce and Niamh McEvoy, whose lightning speed will become more and more dangerous as she acclimatises herself to the ball skills of Australian Rules.

West Coast was able to contain the home side in patches, playing a one-on-one brand to curtail the Demons from looking for the handpass and streaking through the centre of the ground.

The experience of Melbourne was underlined in its response to the Eagles’ set-up; the likes of Pearce and Libby Birch calmly switched play to open up the ground rather than simply bomb up the line.

Today emphasised Birch as one of the most successful trade moves of the 2020 season. The former Bulldog played as an intercept defender and was best afield at half time with her superb reading of the incoming ball and clean hands in the air.

Sarah Perkins is ready to return to AFLW

This round saw the return of fan-favourite Sarah Perkins to the AFLW field as a Melbourne injury replacement.

The Adelaide premiership player has been training with the Dees in between her roles with Hawthorn’s VFLW side and her new appointment as specialist coach at RMIT University’s Women’s Football Academy and received her chance when Lauren Pearce and Meg Downie were ruled out through injury and illness respectively.

The 26-year old couldn’t have asked for a better start to her second chance: she set up the first goal of the game to Eden Zanker after winning a free kick inside the opening minute.

Across the course of the match, she was used alternatively as a key forward and second ruck and finished with nine touches, three tackles, two marks and two score assists.

Best of all, she delighted the Casey Fields crowd by roosting through a trademark set shot goal after the final siren to ice the cake in a match in which she showed every sign of still having the skills and grit of an AFLW player.

Parris Laurie’s game smarts will be the making of her as a ruck

The 25-year old burst onto the scene last year at Fremantle as a readymade tall and is continuing her brilliance at West Coast.

Laurie showed immense adaptability as the Demons rolled Eden Zanker through the ruck with Sarah Perkins and Tegan Cunningham in support. Laurie has the muscle to wrestle opponents around the ground and is equally adept at leaping over her opponents, displaying both strategies as she rucked with very little time to catch her breath at Casey Fields.

The midfield to which Laurie is delivering is still formative: the evergreen Dana Hooker and Emma Swanson were again in their side’s best with Hayley Bullas, Kellie Gibson and Mikayla Bowen given time in the centre.

While the seams are visible in the new side from Western Australia, West Coast should be able to build their team around the midfield over the next few years.