By On a sun-soaked Sunday afternoon at Casey Fields, Melbourne finally beat their bogey team.
The Demons clinched their maiden premiership in the 2022 grand final against the Lions, but lost every single encounter to Brisbane in the three years thereafter.
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But Melbourne finally revived the rivalry on Sunday in the AFLW’s Sir Doug Nicholls Round, triumphing over a shell-shocked and injury-marred Brisbane by 56 points, thanks to three goals from Ryleigh Wotherspoon and a career-best performance from Tahlia Gillard.
Under the stewardship of new coach Tom Wilson – who took over from veteran Mick Stinear – Melbourne have now won their opening three games.
The Lions, meanwhile, have lost two in a row following last week’s 11-point loss to North Melbourne in the grand final rematch and lost multiple players to injury on Sunday.
Lions coach Craig Starcevich was short and succinct in a post-match press conference after the disappointing result, noting “everything that could have gone wrong today, went wrong”.
The veteran coach compared dealing with his side’s injury list to “plugging holes in a dam”.
“The group’s pretty strong and pretty resilient, so they’ll keep tracking in,” he said. “From that angle, we’re pretty proud of them. They kept going. I think we levelled up in the last quarter, but that’s a small silver lining to an otherwise ordinary day, but they’re built with the right stuff, and they’ll bounce back and be fine in the coming weeks.”
Starcevich cautioned the Lions were only three games into the season and noted his side had a similar start in 2025.
“This time last year, we were in the same boat, 1-2 and we managed to find something and get on a bit of a roll and be there at the end,” he said.
“Nothing’s that predictable going forward, but we’ve been in this situation before, and I’ll back our players to fight their way out of it.”
Melbourne got off to a sluggish start, unable to lock the ball inside their forward 50 until Megan Fitzsimon scored a major after a strong performance from former Blue Mia Austin.
The end of the first quarter was marred by a heavy collision between Georgia Campbell and Brisbane’s Neasa Dooley, which left the Lion lying on the grass in agony, clutching her collarbone.
Escorted by trainers and doctors, Dooley was clapped off the field by concerned spectators. But Brisbane’s injury carnage didn’t end there. Bel Dawes copped some friendly fire and Marlo Graham came off the field due to concussion protocols in a separate incident.
At one point in the second quarter, Brisbane had three players off the ground with injuries being assessed, and another two players who needed to spend time off the ground.
There was a healthy contingent of Brisbane supporters who made the trek from Casey Fields on Sunday. But by half-time, the Lions supporters were silent.
Wotherspoon and Eliza McNamara piled on the pressure with multiple goals, while Brisbane’s usually dependable Dakota Davidson was kept quiet and limited to behinds.
The Lions supporters briefly had something to cheer about when a bunny raced across Casey Field, happily speeding alongside the boundary line and thankfully avoiding getting hit by a Sherrin.
Irishwoman Orla O’Dwyer limited the scoreboard damage in the final quarter, weaving around her opponent to slot a goal before accidentally crashing into the left goalpost.
Melbourne scored freely and accurately, also limiting Brisbane’s ability to convert their limited opportunities, and by the end of the match had inflicted the Lions’ biggest losing margin in history with their 56-point win, 14.5 (89) to 4.9 (33).
Melbourne coach Tom Wilson said he was incredibly proud of the group, highlighting Gillard’s impact on the game, with a club record for intercept marks.
“I thought the way that we went about it today was really professional, he said. “I thought going into the game … we had huge amount of respect for Brisbane and what they’ve been able to do over a period of time.
“So to go out there and put performance together like that was really amazing.”
With the conversation in AFLW often turning to who can beat the back-to-back premiers North Melbourne – now with 30-straight wins to their name – Melbourne’s win on Sunday against one of the main contenders shows the Demons should definitely be in the conversation.
Originally published on www.smh.com.au — View original