Hot 'Pies easily beat Giants in AFLW

Mar 12, 2017 - 5:49 AM One flawless passage of play from Collingwood ignited Mo Hope's misfiring AFLW season and highlighted their six-goal belting of the Giants.

Inaccuracy was the only knock on the Magpies' 7.13 (55) to 3.1 (19) win on Sunday in their first game at their Olympic Park home.

It is the highest score in the AFLW and Collingwood's third-straight win.

They are a mathematical chance to play Brisbane in the grand final with one round left.

Hope is one of the main faces of the inaugural league.

While the AFLW has succeeded spectacularly, Hope has had to cope with the negative publicity that comes with being a marquee player who has struggled for form.

She again played on Sunday with her right knee strapped heavily.

While Collingwood were on top from the start, Giants defender Claire Lawton was keeping Hope in check.

But late in the second term, the Magpies caught out the Giants' defence with a superbly executed transition.

The ball found Hope, who took a strong mark.

As Lawton protested that the ball had been touched, Hope swung around and hit Jasmine Garner with a perfect pass.

Garner's goal killed the small amount of momentum the Giants had built in the second term.

Hope finished with 2.4, easily her best game in the AFLW.

"She plays on instinct and it was evident there - take the mark, swing, go," Magpies coach Wayne Siekman said of Hope.

"But as you saw, it was the whole team that worked there.

"Jazzy Garner knew, as soon as (Hope) took the mark, where she needed to go."

Collingwood's first two home games were moved from Olympic Park to Ikon Park to maximise crowd numbers.

The Magpies lost those matches and it left Siekman with mixed emotions.

"Certainly, we want to play here ... there's no advantage to us as a football team (playing at Ikon Park)," he said.

"But the AFL is doing a great job and it's about publicity - it's about creating the interest.

"These girls in five years want to be full-time, so we'll do anything the AFL wants us to do."

Giants coach Tim Schmidt bemoaned his team's performance, saying they were rarely in the game and suffered from a poor start.

"It was a super start to the second quarter - I think in the first three minutes, we had as many possessions as we did in the whole first quarter," he said.

Giants ruckman Erin McKinnon had to leave the field early in the last quarter after a crunching tackle from opponent Emma King.

Midfielder Brittany Bonnici also starred for Collingwood and Giants key forward Phoebe McWilliams kicked two goals.

Source: AAP






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