Brisbane's push towards locking up a sixth straight top-four finish remains intact, eventually overcoming a determined Essendon by 38 points at Windy Hill on Sunday afternoon.
Belle Dawes (18 disposals, 10 tackles) was superb for Brisbane and consistently gave her side plenty of energy through her lively movement, while Ally Anderson’s class (32 disposals, eight clearances) and Ruby Svarc’s spark were prominent across the day to guide their side to five wins on the bounce.
But the Bombers’ inside grunt work and tackling, led in particular by Georgia Nanscawen (22 disposals) and Maddy Prespakis (26), kept them well and truly in the hunt in contrast to their opposition’s outside spread, even holding a slim lead at quarter-time despite the sheer weight of forward entries against them.
Brisbane’s bounce out of half-back and slick handball chains which allowed the runners of Ruby Svarc and Lily Postlethwaite to drive into attack left the Bombers chasing tail early, however it was just the last possession which counted most — the one in front of goal — which let the otherwise eye-catching Lions down.
Neasa Dooley got the Lions on the board early and again steadied the ship late in the second in-between a myriad of squandered chances, which proved more than enough to keep the Bombers in the game and their own faint finals hopes alive.
Conversely, Essendon ensured their rare forays forward counted, despite being generally unclean in their own possessions throughout the afternoon. A wild snap from Daria Bannister in the shadows of quarter-time from well outside-50 bounced multiple times at all sorts of angles to scurry through untouched, with that little bit of luck spurring the Bombers towards another through Grace Booker mere moments later to seize the lead.
The Lions again had all the ascendancy in the second term with 17 inside-50s against Essendon’s two — one of which was an after-the-siren torpedo — but again were left to rue several missed chances as the lack of composure firing into attack became more prevalent, albeit inching their way back in front via Dooley and Taylor Smith.
Their errant entries certainly did little to dull the efforts of Essendon’s defence, who stood up the task — led by Amy Gaylor — against the tidal wave of pressure. But even as the engine room continued to scrap and put in the hard yards, the reward didn’t come in the form of the scoreboard.
It was much the same after half-time, with the Bombers continuing to hold the line but weren’t able to chip away at the deficit, which grew by another goal through Dakota Davidson.
After a series of hard-hitting moments and crunching tackles, Bannister — who was arguably the Bombers’ best player — was taken down to the rooms midway through the third term for a concussion test after a bruising marking clash with Shannon Campbell.
Although returning early in the fourth term, the Lions’ composure at last re-emerged and allowed them to at last break clear and put the foot down; the majors off the boot of Charlie Mullins, Anderson and Orla O’Dwyer putting a line through Essendon’s hopes of another finals campaign.
ESSENDON 2.2 2.2 2.3 2.4 (16)
BRISBANE 1.5 3.9 4.10 7.12 (54)
GOALS
Essendon: Bannister, Brooker
Brisbane: Dooley 2, Smith, Davidson, Mullins, Anderson, O’Dwyer
BEST
Essendon: Gaylor, Nanscawen, Prespakis, Bannister, Cain
Brisbane: Dawes, Anderson, R.Svarc, Postlethwaite, O’Dwyer, Hickie
INJURIES
Essendon: Nil
Brisbane: Nil
LATE CHANGES
Essendon: Nil
Brisbane: Courtney Hodder (quad soreness) replaced in the selected side by Claudia Wright
Crowd: TBC at Windy Hill
