Blues storm home to snatch AFLW draw

Mar 19, 2017 - 8:47 AM Brisbane defender Nicole Hildebrand could be the heartbreak story of AFLW grand final week after her knee injury in Sunday's draw with Carlton.

Hildebrand appeared to hyper-extend her left knee in a marking contest in the frenetic last quarter at Ikon Park.

She limped from the ground and looked in distress on the boundary.

Carlton stormed back from four goals down to level the scores with less than a minute left, kicking 6.1 (37) to Brisbane's 5.7 (37).

The Lions will now meet Adelaide next Saturday in the grand final, with the venue still to be confirmed.

Starcevich said post-match he did not have a chance to speak to his medical staff about the extent of Hildebrand's injury.

"She's got ice on her knee, I thought it might have been her ankle, we'll see what comes of that," he said.

After only managing one disposal in the first three quarters, Blues star Darcy Vescio had a huge input in the last quarter.

Defender Leah Kaslar had done a great job on Vescio and Starcevich did not blame her for the Carlton forward's purple patch.

"There's not much she could have done about what happened at the end there," he said.

Blues coach Damien Keeping said Vescio's game showcased her ability to have an impact, no matter what.

"We say it every week, but she's an incredible player and can have a significant impact on the game from a low disposal count," he said.

Brisbane were in the grand final regardless of this weekend's results and remain the only unbeaten team in the inaugural AFLW.

Starcevic said Carlton's late rally was a good pre-grand final lesson.

"It's actually not a bad wake-up call, to let the players know that if they relax for any part of a game in this competition, the opposition are capable of hurting you," he said.

"We haven't had a game like that, where they've taken their foot off the pedal and been hurt by the opposition, so full credit to Carlton for making us pay."

Brisbane also started slowly and Starcevich said the Blues were "all over us" early.

But despite a 12-3 inside 50 count going Carlton's way early in the second quarter, the scores were 1.0 apiece at halftime.

While the conditions were hot, they were also ideal and the lack of early scoring highlighted one of the glaring shortcomings of the first AFLW season.

Carlton coach Damien Keeping was rapt with how his team finished the season, saying they had improved.

Blues defender Brianna Davey was best afield and Lions onballer Emily Bates had a game-high 22 possessions.

Source: AAP