Koenen gets her shot at big show
TOWNSVILLE’S Breanna Koenen will play in this weekend’s AFL women’s grand final after her Brisbane Lions team gained passage to the decider thanks to Collingwood’s 21- point win over Adelaide yesterday.
Koenen, 23, who made her AFL Women’s debut last year, gets a chance at winning her first premiership after Brisbane lost last year’s grand final to the Crows.
The Lions will play the Western Bulldogs at Ikin Park on Saturday thanks to yesterday’s result, which saw Adelaide squander a 17- point lead as Collingwood booted five goals to none in the second half to win 8.5 ( 53) to 4.8 ( 32).
Jasmine Garner got the Magpies off to the perfect start with the first goal of the game but that seemed to jolt Adelaide into action.
The Crows piled on the next eight scoring shots to open up a 17point lead early in the second quarter but only three of those were goals to Ruth Wallace, Anne Hatchard and Jenna McCormick.
If not for their inaccuracy, Adelaide could have ended the contest early but they left the door ajar for Collingwood and the hosts didn’t need a second invitation.
With Adelaide vice- captain Chelsea Randall spending the second half on the bench due to a head knock, after being best on ground in the first half with 14 disposals in defence, the Magpies capitalised to boot three of the next four majors and cut the deficit to five points.
A pair of Christina Bernardi goals either side of three- quarter time handed Collingwood a sevenpoint lead. Lauren Tresoriero and Garner both split the big sticks late in the final term to add further salt to Adelaide’s wound and deny the Crows a second consecutive grand final berth.
Brisbane stayed in the grand final mix thanks to their 40- point win over Greater Western Sydney. Sabrina Frederick- Traub kicked four goals and Jess Wuetschner three as the Lions scored a 10.4 ( 64) to 3.6 ( 24) win at Blacktown.
Down 7- 0 early, the Lions slammed on the next seven goals, six in the first quarter. Brisbane kicked the highest score in their history, booting more than six goals in a game for the first time.
“There were some things that we wanted to do forward of centre in terms of moving the ball quickly and it was just one of those freakish quarters where most things go right,” Lions’ coach Craig Starcevich said.
“People having shots from pockets and they are going in and all sorts of things, a lot of things went right early.” The loss ended a four match unbeaten streak for GWS, who went into the game third, two spots ahead of Brisbane.