Carlton 3.4 (22) d Collingwood 2.2 (14)  

Friday night at Ikon Park

A scrappy encounter between last year’s season openers got AFLW 2.0 underway, with Carlton taking the win.

All the damage was done in the opening two quarters with no goals scored in the second half.

Jasmine Garner repeated history kicking the first goal of the night.

The Blues’ new recruits shone with Tayla Harris’ marking abilities and Nicola Stevens’ composure in the back showed why the club chased them so hard.

Collingwood’s Chloe Molloy, the number three draft pick, impressed with a cool head under pressure and a game high 20 disposals.

A major talking point was the Pies’ Sarah D’Arcy kicking Carlton’s Sarah Hosking and what kind of punishment she will receive.

Melbourne 7.3 (45) d Greater Western Sydney 6.3 (39)

Saturday at Casey Fields

The Dees and Giants put on an entertaining contest with Richelle Cranston putting in a Best on Ground performance in the final term to seal the win.

GWS is not the same entity it was last year with calculated recruiting almost paying dividends; they lead at every break but couldn’t finish it off.

Phoebe McWilliams was big on the scoreboard with three goals while Jacinda Barclay and Cora Staunton also contributed.

Karen Paxman was exceptional in the first quarter but a back injury saw her miss the rest of the game. 

Luckily for the Dees, the other members of their midfield stepped up.

Cranston’s epic last quarter which included two goals and direct involvement in another saw the Dees win by a straight kick in the end.

Brisbane Lions 4.7 (31) d Adelaide Crows 3.1 (19)

Saturday night at Norwood Oval 

The Lions started 2018 with a win in their grand final rematch against Adelaide in a tough contest.

The Crows, missing Erin Phillips, only managed to score in the second quarter of the game, otherwise, it was all Brisbane.

Sabrina Frederick-Traub was excellent while Jamie Stanton and captain Emma Zielke had plenty of the ball.

Jess Wuetschner led the way with two goals. Kaitlyn Ashmore and teenager Sophie Conway also kicked majors.

Adelaide’s co-captain Chelsea Randall and 2017 Rising Star Ebony Marinoff played their roles with 18 and 17 possessions respectively but the Crows simply couldn’t find the goals.

 

Western Bulldogs 7.7 (49) d Fremantle Dockers 3.5 (23) 

Sunday at VU Whitten Oval

A fit and firing Katie Brennan helped steer the Dogs to a win over the Dockers to round out round one.

Isabel Huntington showed why she was taken number one in the draft but the day belonged to Brennan.

Ellie Blackburn and Emma Kearney continued their great work from last season as the top two ball getters.

The Dockers were scoreless in the first half but found some fight in the third, kicking three – through Amy Lavell and Ashley Sharp – and keeping the Dogs scoreless.

But any resurgence was quashed with goals to Bonnie Toogood and Aasta O’Connor in the last.