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The third season of AFLW has kicked off in entertaining style, with debutant clubs Geelong and North Melbourne making winning starts across the weekend.
Key points:
- Geelong marked its AFLW debut with a one-point win over Colingwood
- North Melbourne made a statement with a six-goal victory against Carlton
- Western Bulldogs kicked off their premiership defence by beating Adelaide
The Cats thrilled their legion of fans at Kardinia Park with a one-point win over Collingwood, while the Kangaroos underlined why they are a threat for the flag in their debut season with a six-goal thumping of Carlton in Hobart.
Elsewhere, the Western Bulldogs edged out Adelaide by a point to begin their premiership defence at Norwood Oval and Fremantle prevailed in a high-scoring affair away to Melbourne.
Brisbane wrapped up the opening round by beating Greater Western Sydney by two points in Moreton Bay.
Geelong pips Collingwood at the Cattery
Number one draft pick Nina Morrison was the star of the show for the Cats in the 3.6 (24) to 3.5 (23) defeat of the Magpies in front of a crowd of 18,429.
Morrison racked up a match-high 22 disposals, made eight tackles and kicked the winning point for good measure.
The Cats were without several of their biggest names, including injured skipper Melissa Hickey and suspended star recruit Richelle Cranston.
"We'll have some selection headaches and that's a really healthy thing for us," Cats coach Paul Hood said.
The Magpies pressed hard for a winning goal in the dying minutes of Saturday night's match but were unable to find a way through the Geelong defence.
The visitors were well served by tough onballer Jaimee Lambert and cross-code star Ashleigh Brazill, who plays AFLW and Super Netball for the club.
Lambert made an early bid for goal of the year with an audacious snap off the outside of her right foot in the third quarter, only minutes after hobbling from the ground having received a painful kick to the shin.
Kangaroos make a statement with big win over Blues
The Kangaroos wasted little time to flex their muscle, thrashing Carlton by 36 points at North Hobart Oval.
One of the flag favourites after landing a host of big-name signings, the Kangaroos had too much pace in the 7.10 (52) to 2.4 (16) victory.
Emma King booted a double and tallied seven tackles, with the remaining goals shared between five players.
Reigning AFLW best and fairest and skipper Emma Kearney and Ashleigh Riddell provided a spark from midfield.
Kearney finished equal-top of the possession count with 18 alongside Kate Gillespie-Jones.
North Melbourne controlled the ball well with 56 marks to Carlton's 23.
Former Australia cricketer Jessica Duffin was strong for the Kangaroos, who are playing two matches in Tasmania this season as part of their close affiliation with the state.
The Kangaroos' Brittany Gibson became the first Tasmanian to kick an AFLW goal on home turf in the fourth term in front of a healthy crowd of 4,896.
Bulldogs sneak home against Crows
Goals were in short supply at Norwood Oval on Saturday night, when the Bulldogs just got home against the Crows.
The Bulldogs were once again thankful that Lauren Spark turned her back on beach volleyball, as the star defender played a pivotal role in the narrow 2.6 (18) to 1.11 (17) win.
The 2018 premiership player, who represented Australia at the Asian Beach Volleyball Championships in 2007 and even played in the AFL London competition, kept her side in the match all night.
Spark ended up with 11 marks, to go with 14 disposals.
The low scoring in Adelaide was not a feature of Fremantle's trip to Melbourne to play the Demons, with the Dockers digging deep from 14 points down at three-quarter time to record a stirring four-point victory in one of the best matches in the AFLW's short history.
In a see-sawing contest, starting in 39-degree Celsius conditions on Sunday at Casey Fields, the visitors kicked six of the last seven goals in the first half to take a commanding 20-point lead at the major break.
Melbourne fought back hard to boot five unanswered goals in the third term.
But despite the 14-point deficit, the Dockers' superior fitness was evident in the final period, as they kicked the last three goals to run out 9.5 (59) to 8.7 (55) winners in a match that was just two points shy of the AFLW record total of 116.
Meanwhile, two-time grand finalist Brisbane got the win against the Giants with forward Jess Wuetschner kicking three of the home side's goals in the 4.5 (29) to 4.3 (27) result.
Emily Bates and Ally Anderson excelled in the Lions midfield, with both posting 21 disposals for the match.
AAP/ABC
Topics: sport, australian-football-league, geelong-3220, collingwood-3066, norwood-5067, footscray-3011, hobart-7000, carlton-3053, fremantle-6160, brisbane-4000, homebush-2140