Melbourne could be without talisman Daisy Pearce for AFLW finals after she suffered a knee injury in the club’s last game of the home-and-away season.
Melbourne has been dealt a cruel blow on the eve of AFLW finals with Daisy Pearce injuring her knee against Brisbane.
Pearce was trying to snap a goal on her left boot when she was tackled and her right leg buckled under her.
The 32-year-old immediately clutched at the knee before hobbling off Casey Fields at the four-minute mark in obvious pain.
She spent the rest of the first quarter in the changerooms receiving treatment before emerging with ice on the knee.
Pearce re-emerged from the rooms halfway through the second quarter in a full-length knee brace.
MORE TO COME.
MIDFIELD GUNS HELP DOGS END ON A HIGH
James Mottershead
Kirsty Lamb and Ellie Blackburn owned the midfield to ensure the Western Bulldogs finished their season with a 13-point win over Richmond.
For a while everything felt back-to-front at Whitten Oval.
A Dempsey dominating, but not for the Bulldogs, instead Kate Dempsey for Richmond.
Katie Brennan and Monique Conti on the same ground as those in red, white, and blue, but for the first time the dynamic duo was attempting to bring about their downfall.
But it didn’t take long for things to start to feel normal again, as Blackburn and Lamb dominated, Brennan kicked goals, and Ellie McKenzie delighted.
It was a season of growth for both outfits after the Dogs cleared the decks and invested in youth, and Richmond entered its second season, clinching its first two wins in AFLW history.
The result spells the end of the 2021 chapter for both clubs who won’t feature in finals, but laid foundations for success to come.
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Air Ellie
Last year’s number one draft selection McKenzie submitted a late entry into the AFLW’s mark of the year competition with a spectacular grab on the back of Brooke Lochland.
At the nine-minute mark of the second quarter Ashleigh Guest won a loose ball for the Bulldogs just forward of centre and sent it to the point of the 50 where McKenzie set herself.
The 18-year-old climbed onto the shoulders of Lochland and took the mark overhead.
It was a final highlight and cherry on top of the season McKenzie, 18, has had, in which she’s played every game and averaged 16 disposals while kicking four goals.
Daughters of the west
Brennan and Conti reminded the Bulldogs what they were missing after the Tigers snared the duo from the kennel for its inaugural AFLW season last year.
Richmond captain Brennan was dangerous and polished and pulled her side back into the game with two goals early in the third quarter.
Her three goals were enough to momentarily take to the top of the goal kicking list ahead of the rest of the weekend’s games.
Conti wasn’t at her prolific best but provided a spark around the ball Richmond so dearly needed to combat Blackburn and Lamb.
More votes for Blackburn
She’s one of the favourites for the AFLW best and fairest award and Blackburn did her chances no harm with a midfield masterclass.
It’s shaping as a four-horse race between Kiara Bowers, Bri Davey, Erin Phillips and Blackburn, and the Dogs’ skipper put on a clinic despite injuring her ankle in the first quarter.
Blackburn came from the ground at the 11-minute mark but returned on the stroke of quarter-time to finish the game with 20 disposals.
Sharpshooting Dogs
It’s been a feature of their footy at times in 2021, but the Bulldogs’ kicking in front of goal once again separated them from an opponent.
Richmond didn’t kick poorly, in fact far from it, but it was the fact the Dogs were able to kick them from anywhere.
That included a 52-metre bomb after a run down the wing and two bounces from Kirsten McLeod in the first quarter.
And a Lamb banana on the run after a contested mark to all but end the game at the start of the last quarter was the icing on the cake.
BULLDOGS 4.0 5.0 5.3 7.3 45
TIGERS 1.0 2.1 4.2 5.2 32
BEST
BULLDOGS: Blackburn, Lamb, McLeod, Lochland, Brown
TIGERS: Brennan, Cordner, Dempsey, Hosking, McKenzie
GOALS
BULLDOGS: McLeod 2, Lochland, Morris-Dalton, Huntington, Lamb, Toogood
TIGERS: Brennan 3, Stahl, Wakefield
