AFLW round four: Freo’s injury blow; Kangas smash to 31st straight win

Injured AFLW powerhouse Mim Strom was forced to play ruck coach on the bench as the Dockers steamrolled a Monique Conti-less Richmond by 25 points on the road.

Two-time All-Australian ruck Strom was in agony at Ikon Park after a tackle from Tigers midfielder Emelia Yassir in the first quarter of Sunday’s clash.

Recruit Eden Zanker was first cab off the rank in the ruck, while Gabby O’Sullivan kicked three goals to help lift the Dockers to a 9.6 (60) to 5.5 (35) win in Indigenous Round.

Lisa Webb’s Dockers (2-2) can finish the fourth week of the 12-fixture competition in the top eight, but are bracing to lose Strom for part of their finals push.

Before Sunday, Strom had played 78 consecutive matches since making her debut in 2020.

“She’s been on the bench with a big smile so she’s hard to get a read on, but I’ll get a medical update,” coach Webb told Seven Plus at three-quarter time.

“She’s been a ruck coach on the side. She’s been a warrior for us, and we’ll look after her.”

Injured AFLW powerhouse Mim Strom was forced to play ruck coach on the bench as the Dockers steamrolled a Monique Conti-less Richmond by 25 points on the road.

Two-time All-Australian ruck Strom was in agony at Ikon Park after a tackle from Tigers midfielder Emelia Yassir in the first quarter of Sunday’s clash.

Recruit Eden Zanker was first cab off the rank in the ruck, while Gabby O’Sullivan kicked three goals to help lift the Dockers to a 9.6 (60) to 5.5 (35) win in Indigenous Round.

Lisa Webb’s Dockers (2-2) can finish the fourth week of the 12-fixture competition in the top eight, but are bracing to lose Strom for part of their finals push.

Before Sunday, Strom had played 78 consecutive matches since making her debut in 2020.

“She’s been on the bench with a big smile so she’s hard to get a read on, but I’ll get a medical update,” coach Webb told Seven Plus at three-quarter time.

“She’s been a ruck coach on the side. She’s been a warrior for us, and we’ll look after her.”

Daisy D’Arcy produced a dazzling display as Gold Coast’s band of youngsters posted a three-point AFLW victory over Port Adelaide in a three-goal thriller on Saturday.

And over in Brisbane, the Lions bounced back from last week’s 56-point loss to Melbourne with a 31-point win over GWS at Brighton Homes Arena.

D’Arcy racked up 34 disposals and 694 metres gained as the Suns, featuring nine first-year players, posted their second win of the season with a 2.5 (17) to 1.8 (14) victory at Alberton Oval.

Gemma Houghton kicked Port Adelaide’s only goal of the match at the nine-minute mark of the opening quarter, with the Power held to just six behinds for the rest of the contest.

Three final-quarter goals from young forward Emma McDonald has inspired the Western Bulldogs to a soaring 27-point win over Sydney.

Down by four points at three-quarter-time, the Bulldogs surged home with the breeze by kicking five unanswered goals at the Whitten Oval to win 9.6 (60) to 5.3 (33).

After two behinds in the first three quarters, McDonald starred with three goals in the final term in a coming-of-age performance.

Rylie Wilcox also added a major in the last quarter to finish with three goals in a best-on-ground performance.

North Melbourne’s win last week over the Western Bulldogs was overshadowed by a horrible jumper clash – both clubs in predominantly blue and white guernseys, and blue shorts in their Indigenous jerseys.

Pundits on social media, plus commentators and even the players struggled to identify who was who.

The AFL is reviewing its playing kit approval process after last week’s jumper clash.

One idea being discussed to avoid a similar scenario is to introduce different coloured shorts for the players.

In 2022, the league announced that female footballers will no longer have to wear the white shorts traditionally donned by the “away” team after the AFL changed its uniform rules to ease anxiety for AFLW players who are menstruating.

Suzie Miller has been mulling over the idea for play centred around the AFLW since witnessing the inaugural grand final at the venue formerly known as Metricon Stadium on the Gold Coast in March 2017 when Adelaide defeated the Brisbane Lions.

“I grew up in Melbourne, so you’d think I’d be a massive AFL fan,” Miller says. “But as a young girl I thought: how come it’s just boys? So I didn’t really invest in it the way other people did.

“It didn’t even occur to me that maybe girls could play AFL. So I was blown away when the AFLW came to pass. I thought, how many other areas in the world do we not envisage that this is a possible place to have equality until we actually see it happen before us?”

Miller rolled up her sleeves and interviewed players, coaches, commissioners, people involved at the grassroots – “everyone you could imagine”.

“They had to get over all the hurdles of ‘how are we going to get sponsorship?’ ‘How are we going to get media on board?’ Because every single person had the same view: ‘Oh, no, women don’t play football’.”

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