Power captain injured in Bulldogs AFLW rout

Fears of a potential ACL injury to captain Janelle Cuthbertson has soured Port Adelaide’s commanding 40-point AFLW victory over the battling Western Bulldogs at the MCG.

Key forward Julia Teakle kicked four goals as the Power responded to their first-round showdown loss to Adelaide to claim a 7.4 (46) to 0.6 (6) win and get their season off the mark.

Bulldogs star Ellie Blackburn appeared to suffer a shoulder injury in a heavy hit from Port Adelaide’s Ebony O’Dea in the third term but played on.

The game was moved from Whitten Oval to the MCG, and switched from a standalone game to a double header with the AFL elimination final between the Bulldogs and Hawthorn later on Friday night.

Bulldogs coach Tamara Hyett admitted the bigger stage was a challenge for her younger group, while the MCG probably wasn’t properly kitted out for double headers, in terms of dressing rooms.

“Not just yet. We are in the cricket nets,” Hyett said. “But that’s OK – we’ve been in worse in women’s football, I can tell you that.

“So the cricket nets might be an upgrade from eight years ago to be honest.

“Look, we know that we’ve got a lot of work to do but we’re ticking little boxes along the way and the experience that the girls will gain from tonight is probably paramount.”

Former Bulldog Kirsty Lamb kicked two goals while forward Gemma Houghton was influential.

The Bulldogs went goalless and have kicked just one goal across two games after a first-round thumping from GWS.

Hyett conceded closing the gap to better teams wasn’t “a quick fix” and it would probably take two to three years.