SNAPSHOT FOR ROUND 6 OF THE AFLW
THEY SAID IT: “There’s times when we let ourselves be vulnerable as a group internally and we played a song before the game: ‘It’ll Be Alright In The End’.” – Richmond coach Tom Hunter after his team’s goalless display against St Kilda, which left his team at 0-6.
STATS THAT MATTER: 0.3 (3). Richmond’s score during their 39-point loss to St Kilda. It’s the lowest score in AFLW history, and the first time a team has failed to kick a goal. The previous lowest tally was 1.1 (7).
PLAYER OF THE ROUND: North Melbourne’s Jasmine Garner. After a quiet first half, Garner roared to life in her team’s 46-point win over Geelong, finishing up with 18 touches (12 contested), seven clearances, six tackles, six marks and three goals.
KEY MOMENT: In the third quarter of their comeback win over the Bulldogs, Fremantle were trailing by 10 points when Ashley Sharp took a huge contested mark in the goal square and kicked truly to cut the margin to four points before three-quarter time. It was a moment coach Trent Cooper highlighted as a key passage of play in their resurgence. From there, the Bulldogs kicked just one more goal to Fremantle’s four, with the Dockers going on to snag a 15-point win.
TALKING POINT: Coronavirus talk aside, the major issue with AFLW continues to be serious knee injuries. Geelong rising star Nina Morrison became the 14th AFLW player to suffer a torn ACL this season when she went down in Geelong’s 46-point loss to North Melbourne on Friday night.
KEY INJURIES: Sarah Lampard (Melb, knee), Nina Morrison (Geel, ACL), Kate Surman (GC, broken nose), Grace Kelly (WC, knee).
WHAT’S NEXT: Fremantle’s clash with Melbourne at Fremantle Oval on Sunday is set to play a huge role in the make-up of Conference B. The unbeaten Dockers currently sit in top spot, while Melbourne are third. The GWS versus Geelong game is also hugely significant, while fourth-placed Collingwood can’t afford to lose to St Kilda.