The Brisbane Lions will finish the AFLW regular season in third, defeating Collingwood on Sunday to extend their winning streak to seven games.
The Lions were able to leapfrog Hawthorn on the ladder, recording a 6.16 (52) to 5.2 (32) victory at Victoria Park on Sunday.
The Lions have set up a qualifying final next weekend against second-placed Melbourne, while Hawthorn will face the undefeated North Melbourne Kangaroos.
On a seven-game winning run after losing two of their opening three games, Brisbane beat Melbourne at home by nine points last week and will take confidence heading into next week.
“Really good home and away season — didn’t start the way we wanted but feels like [it] finished the way we wanted with a few good wins,” midfielder Belle Dawes told the Seven Network.
“We didn’t have a lot of belief from other people and people always write us off, but I think we feed off that and over the last few weeks, the belief’s strong.”
In Shannon Campbell’s 100th AFLW game, Craig Starcevich’s side were dominant all day, with only poor goal kicking and delivery inside 50 letting them down.
The Magpies suffered a pre-game setback with Brit Bonnici (ankle) ruled out of the match, while youngster Lucy Cronin was in tears after a potentially serious left knee injury in the third quarter.
Ruck Tahlia Hickie (20 hitouts, 20 disposals, four clearances) had plenty of the ball and gave first use to the Lions’ midfield.
Sophie Conway (19 disposals), Ally Anderson (26 disposals, six clearances), Charlotte Mullins (26 disposals), Dawes (23 disposals, six clearances) and Orla O’Dwyer (21 disposals) were all influential.
In her 75th game, Irishwoman Sarah Rowe (20 disposals) was Collingwood’s best, with support from Airlie Runnalls (20 disposals) and Tarni White (10 intercept possessions).
Collingwood got off to the perfect start when Sabrina Frederick clunked a huge contested mark and kicked truly.
Stream End Game with Tony Armstrong on ABC iview
The Lions got on top and snagged the next two goals to lead by seven at quarter-time.
Brisbane were clearly dominant from there but incredibly wasteful in front of goal, with key forward Dakota Davidson among those battling with the wind.
The Lions kicked 1.6 for the quarter to lead by 19 at half-time, and were up by 18 at the final change.
The Magpies fought out their final game of the season before Davidson (1.4) finally kicked a goal to seal victory in her 75th match.
Tempers flared on the final siren after Jordyn Allen knocked over Ruby Svarc, but Dawes dismissed it as “just a little bit of push and shove”.
St Kilda stumble into maiden AFLW finals appearance
Injury-hit St Kilda has blown an opportunity to secure an AFLW home final, suffering a heavy 45-point upset defeat to the Western Bulldogs.
St Kilda has been upset by the Western Bulldogs in its final match before the AFLW finals series. (AAP: Mark Evans)
Other results this weekend meant the Saints’ spot in the top eight was already safe entering Sunday’s match.
But the 10.12 (72) to 4.3 (27) loss, in hot conditions, means their maiden AFLW final could be held in Adelaide instead of Melbourne.
If the Crows beat Fremantle later on Sunday, then Adelaide will leapfrog the Saints into sixth and set up an elimination final showdown.
St Kilda will be relying on the Dockers to beat Adelaide by a small margin to lock in a home final.
The Saints’ day grew even worse when they lost star veteran Jaimee Lambert to a suspected calf injury at the start of the final quarter.
St Kilda has already been badly hit by injuries this season, with eight players currently sidelined, including Nicola Barr, Nicola Xenos and Bianca Jakobsson.
After a tight opening term, the Bulldogs gradually pulled away in the second and third quarters to stun the strong pro-Saints crowd.
The Bulldogs blitzed St Kilda out of the middle, winning clearances 31-14 to create a huge inside-50 advantage.
It was a genuine team performance from the Bulldogs, but Emma McDonald was outstanding up forward with two goals.
Captain De Berry, who was dropped earlier in the season, was able to join the party in the last quarter with two goals.
J’Noemi Anderson (two goals) was a constant threat up forward for St Kilda, while Serene Watson found plenty of ball.
The Bulldogs finish the season 12th with a 5-7 record and are starting to show significant promise for the future.
It was their equal highest score of the season.
“It is great for us to finish like that,” Bulldogs star Ellie Blackburn told the Seven Network.
“It is an improvement on last season and we know where we are at.
“We are realists and we think it’s a good building block for us.
“So it fills us with confidence moving forward.”
AAP/ABC
