THE Western Bulldogs’ AFLW rebuild has hit its first speed bump in an emphatic 63-point defeat to Greater Western Sydney.<\/p>\n
Tam Hyett’s tenure as Bulldogs coach started with a loss after the Giants slammed through nine unanswered goals to triumph 10.12 (72) to 1.3 (9) in windy conditions at Manuka Oval on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Hyett, an assistant coach in Melbourne’s 2022 women’s premiership season, was handed the job of revamping the Bulldogs after last season’s wooden spoon.<\/p>\n
The club won only one game and it cost Nathan Burke his job after five seasons.<\/p>\n
“We know that there’s going to be hiccups along the way. This is one of them,” Hyett said.<\/p>\n
“We’ll be doing everything in our control to be better.<\/p>\n
“Round one, not ideal to have a hiccup like this but … there’s a lot of learnings out of today and I know we’ll be better for the run.”<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Cam Bernasconi’s Giants will cherish their biggest-ever victory after recording only two wins to finish 16th last year.<\/p>\n
Alyce Parker was outstanding in the GWS engine room and finished with one goal, 29 disposals and seven clearances to mark her 50th game.<\/p>\n
Nicola Barr (29 touches), Zarlie Goldsworthy (four goals) and Eilish O’Dowd (two goals) also played starring roles.<\/p>\n
“What we want to see this year is just progress,” Bernasconi said.<\/p>\n
“We spoke about our ability to play a system so it’s not a fluke when you play well.<\/p>\n
“Now, the challenge for us is to make sure we can do that next week against Richmond.”<\/p>\n
For the visitors, former captain Ellie Blackburn (25 disposals, nine clearances) impressed while Alice Edmonds took 37 hitouts to the Giants’ total of nine.<\/p>\n
The new-look Bulldogs side featured four AFLW debutants in 2023, No.1 pick Kristie-Lee Weston-Turner, Brooke Barwick, Elaine Grigg and Cleo Buttifant and four club debutants in Lauren Ahrens (Gold Coast), Analea McKee (Brisbane), Ellie Gavalas (North Melbourne), Jasmyn Smith (Gold Coast).<\/p>\n
O’Dowd produced a goal-of-the-year contender on debut within 15 seconds from the opening siren.<\/p>\n
The Irish recruit won the tap against Edmonds and bolted straight through the corridor to open the scoring from inside 30 with her first disposal and set a new league record for the fastest goal scored.<\/p>\n
The Bulldogs recorded just one point before the first break, with the hosts leading by eight points.<\/p>\n
McKee hit the scoreboard in the second term for the only Bulldogs goal of the game, but Goldsworthy’s goal restored the Giants’ buffer after a 50m penalty was paid against Grigg for encroaching the mark.<\/p>\n
GWS then kicked 5.6 to none to build a 44-point lead at third-quarter time.<\/p>\n
The Bulldogs notched one more point in the final term to finish with their equal lowest-ever AFLW score.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
THE Western Bulldogs’ AFLW rebuild has hit its first speed bump in an emphatic 63-point defeat to Greater Western Sydney. Tam Hyett’s tenure as Bulldogs coach started with a loss after the Giants slammed through nine unanswered goals to triumph 10.12 (72) to 1.3 (9) in windy conditions at Manuka Oval on Saturday. Hyett, an […]<\/p>\n