The GIANTS VFL Women’s Invitational Series has come to an end with the GIANTS tasting defeat for the first time, losing to Collingwood by 13 points at Victoria Park on Sunday.
Rain lashed the Magpies’ home ground from start to finish, reducing the game to a midfield battle.
The GIANTS fought hard but could only manage one goal in the 1.3 (9) to 3.4 (22) defeat.
With Collingwood featuring a side boasting a number of AFL Women’s listed players, it was the first time the GIANTS had been pushed in their five-game series.
Collingwood grabbed the early lead, but the GIANTS responded in the second quarter with a goal from Canberran Britt Tully cutting the margin to two points.
The Magpies would respond with the next two goals as both sides failed to score in a tightly-contested final quarter.
Midfielder Alicia Eva said the GIANTS gained plenty from the experience.
“We dropped the ball in some fundamental areas in the third quarter, but I think holistically we achieved – for the most part of the game – what we wanted to,” Eva said.
“We saw some really good things but also some things we need to improve on across four quarters.
“We don’t walk away seeing it as a disappointing end to the winter series as we came up against a side that had more AFLW players than we did, so it was a really good challenge for us."
Eva and the GIANTS’ midfielders saw a lot of the action as heavy rain brought the ball to ground and turned the game into a midfield arm wrestle.
“I think they had 16 AFLW listed players so that was a really good challenge for us,” Eva said.
“The conditions were really trying as well as a lot of our girls hadn’t played in rain before… as soon as it rains up here you get kicked off the ground.
“It was a really highly contested game and I think our inside bulls really went to work, it was a slog, but like I said we let ourselves down with a few things in the third quarter.”
With the GIANTS’ VFL Women’s Invitational Series now complete, players will return to their local clubs with Sydney AFL and Canberra AFL finals due to get underway later this month.
NSW Under-18s talent Georgia Garnett and Brenna Tarrant, who were part of the GIANTS’ VFLW program, will travel to Melbourne for the NAB AFL Women’s Draft Combine in October ahead of the 2019 NAB AFL Women’s Draft later this year.
GIANTS 1.3 (9)
Collingwood 3.4 (22)
Goals – GIANTS: Britt Tully
