{"id":270509,"date":"2025-11-08T07:09:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-08T07:09:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/270509\/"},"modified":"2025-11-08T07:09:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-08T07:09:13","slug":"finals-week-1-first-elimination-carlton-blues-defeat-west-coast-eagles-mia-austin-goal-tribute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/270509\/","title":{"rendered":"Finals week 1, first elimination, Carlton Blues defeat West Coast Eagles, Mia Austin goal tribute"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Blues<\/a> secured a dominant 41-point elimination final victory over the Eagles<\/a> in wet and wild conditions at Ikon Park on Saturday afternoon, with Carlton forward Mia Austin providing an emotional moment.<\/p>\n

Austin scored a goal in the third term and pointed skyward in a tearful tribute to her late cousin, Ben Austin<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Speaking post-match, Austin dedicated her performance to Ben, who died last week after being struck by a cricket ball during a training session.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Gus shuts down Tino talk as star hits the market<\/a><\/p>\n

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READ MORE: Bailey dismisses grim ‘prediction’ for ageing Ashes squad<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Mia<\/p>\n

Mia Austin, cousin of the young cricketer Ben Austin who died in a training accident, points to the sky in tribute after her goal.\u00a0Fox Footy<\/p>\n

“Early last week, my little cousin Ben, he passed away, unfortunately in a cricket incident,” she told Fox Footy.<\/p>\n

“My family is here, my uncle is here, my cousins are here today, so to honour him.<\/p>\n

“I know if he were here, he would absolutely love it. So, a little tribute to him.”<\/p>\n

All-Australian squad member Erone Fitzpatrick delivered the first blow for the Blues, after Austin found her on the outside for the finish.<\/p>\n

Early drama struck as the ball entered the Eagles’ forward 50, as young gun Lucia Painter went down in a marking contest.<\/p>\n

The round one Rising Star nominee immediately clutched her left knee and appeared in distress.<\/p>\n

After an assessment by trainers, Painter got to her feet and was able to run off, but received further attention on the bench. She later returned to the field.<\/p>\n

Forward Tara Bohanna slotted the Blues’ second goal from a set shot, though she was unable to add another late after the quarter-time siren.<\/p>\n

After Charlotte Riggs kicked a set shot into the mark, Ella Roberts gathered the loose ball and slotted West Coast’s first-ever AFLW<\/a> finals goal.<\/p>\n

\"Kayley<\/p>\n

Kayley Kavanagh and Ella Roberts of the Eagles celebrate during the 2025 AFLW first elimination final match.\u00a0Michael Willson\/AFL Photos via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Yasmin Duursma was able to get to her feet after Roxanne Roux gave away a free kick for diving at the knees.<\/p>\n

After keeping the Eagles scoreless in the first quarter, the Blues nearly faced the same fate in the second. However, a late behind from Breann Harrington ensured Carlton avoided its first scoreless quarter of the year.<\/p>\n

At the main break, the Blues held an eight-point advantage.<\/p>\n

Sophie McKay started the third quarter with a bang, sparking a quick strike from Carlton. Dayna Finn immediately capitalised, making it two goals from three entries to open the second half.<\/p>\n

McKay and Fitzpatrick each added their second goal as Carlton blasted four majors in a 10-minute surge.<\/p>\n

As the Blues ran away with the match, Poppy Scholz attempted to find a teammate inside 50 but instead found the middle of the big sticks. Her kick sailed over the pack and bounced through for an unintended goal.<\/p>\n

\"Mia<\/p>\n

Mia Austin, Erone Fitzpatrick, and Sophie McKay of the Blues celebrate a goal during the 2025 AFLW first elimination final against the West Coast Eagles.\u00a0Michael Willson via AFL Photos\/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

Austin completed the breakaway term with a goal, then poignantly pointed to the sky in tribute to her cousin.<\/p>\n

She was immediately mobbed by her teammates in celebration and emerged looking emotional.<\/p>\n

Finn sealed her second major of the contest in the third term.<\/p>\n

While Painter managed to peg a goal back, it was ultimately futile as the dominant Blues cruised to a 9.6 (60) to 2.7 (19) victory.<\/p>\n

Carlton will now set its sights on Hawthorn next week after the Hawks succumbed to the Roos on Friday night.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Blues secured a dominant 41-point elimination final victory over the Eagles in wet and wild conditions at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":270510,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-270509","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-afl","8":"tag-afl","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-australian-football-league","12":"tag-australianfootballleague","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=270509"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270509\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/270510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=270509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=270509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=270509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}