AFLW round one live: Premiership skipper out as Roos kick off flag defence in Geelong
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3.25pm
The round so far
Super Saturday just became even more super, with AFLW round 1 resuming at GMHBA Stadium, where Geelong take on the reigning premiers North Melbourne from 3.35pm. For the Roos, former captain Emma Kearney is out with a calf and Jas Garner has taken the reins as skipper.
Later this afternoon, the Bombers play GWS in Canberra, and tonight the Western Bulldogs host Melbourne at Whitten Oval.
A quick recap of Friday night footy, which featured a resurgent champ (Chloe Molloy with four goals for the Swans in her comeback from an ACL), and a teenager announcing her herself with 25 touches (Zippy Fish, also for the Swans). Here are the results from the round so far. Check back in for news, more results and big moments.
yesterday 8.26pm
By Joanna Guelas
Chloe Molloy played a starring role in her long-awaited return to the AFLW, firing Sydney to a 20-point win over Richmond.
Swans co-captain Molloy slotted four goals on return from a knee reconstruction as debutant Zippy Fish lived up to the hype in the 8.10 (58) to 5.8 (38) win at North Sydney Oval on Friday night.
It was star forward Molloy's first match since tearing her anterior cruciate ligament at training in September 2024 – just one game into last season.
The 26-year-old picked up where she left off, combining well with maturing midfielder Montana Ham (18 disposals, six score involvements) in front of 4126 fans.
Fish, drafted with pick No.5 last year, lived up to her name flaunting her blistering pace from half-back. She finished with 25 disposals and nine intercept possessions.
She missed the record for possessions on debut by just one. Remember the name.
Monique Conti was Richmond's shining light with 32 touches, as Caitlin Greiser and Rebecca Miller led the way on the scoreboard with two goals each.
Molloy and Greiser had faced off in an early goalscoring shootout as the Swans started the more daring side.
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Greiser opened the scoring with a long bomb from the 50m arc before Molloy responded with her first goal to help set up a two-point lead at quarter-time.
Molloy slotted her second after a laser kick from Ham but Greiser – mentored by Carlton icon and Tigers specialist coach Brendan Fevola – responded to keep the home side at bay.
Sydney wrestled back momentum when young gun Cynthia Hamilton, after overcoming a pre-season knee injury, sold candy not once but twice to build a nine-point lead at the main break.
Molloy used her body well to outmanoeuvre Tigers defender Katelyn Cox and kick her third goal, before Sydney broke away when Holly Cooper slotted two goals in the third quarter.
Richmond, who made the finals last season, will look to bounce back when they host the Western Bulldogs next weekend, while Sydney take on Gold Coast.
– AAP
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Comparisons with the 2001 draft that produced Chris Judd, Luke Hodge and Gary Ablett have already begun. AFLW No.1 draft pick Ash Centra has only played one game, but Collingwood coach Sam Wright doesn't need a crystal ball to believe the teenager could tear the competition apart. Sydney counterpart Scott Gowans had the same to say after watching Zippy Fish light up North Sydney Oval from half-back. The 19-year-old, selected with pick No.5 in last year's first AFLW national draft, finished with 26 disposals and nine intercepts on debut against Richmond. It is the equal-highest disposal tally on debut, a record she shares with Collingwood star Bri Davey - who was 22 when the one-time league best-and-fairest played her first game in 2017. In the years that separate Fish's debut from Davey's, a generation of girls have trekked an uninterrupted pathway to AFLW from Auskick. Fish only started playing football four years ago, adding further testament to her talent. After almost a decade of watching Lance Franklin terrorise opposition defenders, Sydney fans will have to get used to the sight of the No.23 guernsey in reverse. "Ever since I started (playing football), I knew that this is what I wanted to do," Fish said. "And coming out here tonight, having the girls around me and the whole support of the club, it really did meet expectations." Swans skipper Chloe Molloy notices the shift between draft cohorts. "Ball in hand, the cool, calm, nonchalant nature as well," Molloy told AAP. "The decisions she makes coming out of the back line is just second to none - she doesn't even think about it. "You ask her, 'what were you thinking?' and she goes 'not much'. "Just to be so naive of talent - she's just a silky player, and that's what we love." Centra, on limited minutes after a pre-season hip complaint, had only three disposals but clunked a huge contested mark and snagged a goal with her first kick against Carlton. The 19-year-old, as nonchalant as Fish, also introduced a new trick to the footy world. Warming up, Centra bounced the Sherrin behind her and threaded it between her legs. Players in the men's competition have since tried to replicate her. First-round draft picks flaunted their talent across the nation in the season's opening round. Lucia Painter kicked 3.1 from 13 disposals for West Coast, while Gold Coast's Havana Harris stunned with a great pack mark. Essendon debutant Holly Ridewood kicked two goals against GWS, and Adelaide's India Rasheed (one goal, 15 disposals) starred in their loss to St Kilda. Established AFLW star Molloy may have slotted four goals on return from a knee reconstruction, but it was Fish who had a chorus of young girls screaming her name post-game in a bid to get her signature. Among the crowd were 16 family members who made the trip from WA. "I've kind of just gone from one to one," Fish laughed. Comparisons with the 2001 draft that produced Chris Judd, Luke Hodge and Gary Ablett have already begun. AFLW No.1 draft pick Ash Centra has only played one game, but Collingwood coach Sam Wright doesn't need a crystal ball to believe the teenager could tear the competition apart. Sydney counterpart Scott Gowans had the same to say after watching Zippy Fish light up North Sydney Oval from half-back. The 19-year-old, selected with pick No.5 in last year's first AFLW national draft, finished with 26 disposals and nine intercepts on debut against Richmond. It is the equal-highest disposal tally on debut, a record she shares with Collingwood star Bri Davey - who was 22 when the one-time league best-and-fairest played her first game in 2017. In the years that separate Fish's debut from Davey's, a generation of girls have trekked an uninterrupted pathway to AFLW from Auskick. Fish only started playing football four years ago, adding further testament to her talent. 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The 19-year-old, as nonchalant as Fish, also introduced a new trick to the footy world. Warming up, Centra bounced the Sherrin behind her and threaded it between her legs. Players in the men's competition have since tried to replicate her. First-round draft picks flaunted their talent across the nation in the season's opening round. Lucia Painter kicked 3.1 from 13 disposals for West Coast, while Gold Coast's Havana Harris stunned with a great pack mark. Essendon debutant Holly Ridewood kicked two goals against GWS, and Adelaide's India Rasheed (one goal, 15 disposals) starred in their loss to St Kilda. Established AFLW star Molloy may have slotted four goals on return from a knee reconstruction, but it was Fish who had a chorus of young girls screaming her name post-game in a bid to get her signature. Among the crowd were 16 family members who made the trip from WA. "I've kind of just gone from one to one," Fish laughed. 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After almost a decade of watching Lance Franklin terrorise opposition defenders, Sydney fans will have to get used to the sight of the No.23 guernsey in reverse. "Ever since I started (playing football), I knew that this is what I wanted to do," Fish said. "And coming out here tonight, having the girls around me and the whole support of the club, it really did meet expectations." Swans skipper Chloe Molloy notices the shift between draft cohorts. "Ball in hand, the cool, calm, nonchalant nature as well," Molloy told AAP. "The decisions she makes coming out of the back line is just second to none - she doesn't even think about it. "You ask her, 'what were you thinking?' and she goes 'not much'. "Just to be so naive of talent - she's just a silky player, and that's what we love." Centra, on limited minutes after a pre-season hip complaint, had only three disposals but clunked a huge contested mark and snagged a goal with her first kick against Carlton. The 19-year-old, as nonchalant as Fish, also introduced a new trick to the footy world. Warming up, Centra bounced the Sherrin behind her and threaded it between her legs. Players in the men's competition have since tried to replicate her. First-round draft picks flaunted their talent across the nation in the season's opening round. Lucia Painter kicked 3.1 from 13 disposals for West Coast, while Gold Coast's Havana Harris stunned with a great pack mark. Essendon debutant Holly Ridewood kicked two goals against GWS, and Adelaide's India Rasheed (one goal, 15 disposals) starred in their loss to St Kilda. Established AFLW star Molloy may have slotted four goals on return from a knee reconstruction, but it was Fish who had a chorus of young girls screaming her name post-game in a bid to get her signature. Among the crowd were 16 family members who made the trip from WA. "I've kind of just gone from one to one," Fish laughed.
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