Former Riddell and Lancefield netballer Jess Kennedy (in action for Riddell) played for Carlton on Friday night. Photo: Shawn Smits - STAR WEEKLY
The AFL Women's competition celebrated its first ever opening round of matches over the weekend. More than 50,000 fans braved heat, rain, wind and thunderstorms to show their support.
A number of locals in the AFL Goldfields region took centre stage to be part of the occasion.
Former Lancefield and Riddell netballer Jessica Kennedy lined up for Carlton on Friday night. Former Wallan junior Brittany Bonnici lined up for the opposition team, Collingwood.
Kennedy made her mark in recent seasons in Bendigo while also playing for Riddell. She was a stand-out for Carlton in the midfield in patches; linking with a number of handballs and passes. She finished the night with eight touches, two marks and one tackle in Carlton's 35-point win.
Bonnici was the stand-out aggressor on the ground with a game-high nine tackles. She also finished with eight touches and a mark for Collingwood.
Former Ballarat girl Bree White was hard at the ball for Collingwood with 10 touches and four marks after starting on the bench. Rebels Youth Girls Academy representative Bella Ayre also played for Carlton, coming off the bench.
Redan netball premiership player Sally Riley amde her mark for Adelaide in its 36-point win over the Giants on Saturday afternoon. Riley gathered four kicks and five handballs while laying two solid tackles in the win.
Former Wendouree Primary School and Ballarat High School student Laura Bailey lined up for the Western Bulldogs at the Whitten Oval on Saturday night.
Bailey started across halfback for the Bulldogs and while her statistics show that she had just four handballs, her aggression and physical pressure between the two arcs was a key to her team breaking away in the first half.
Ballarat was well represented on Sunday with Kaitlyn Ashmore and Nicole Hildebrand representing Brisbane while young gun Lily Mithen played for Melbourne.
Ashmore finished with 12 touches to be equal second for most disposals in the wet for Brisbane. She also finished with an equal game-high four marks.
Hildebrand had four touches and laid four solid tackles.
Mithen was one of the stand-out players for Melbourne. She finished with eight kicks and six handballs and was a key to keeping Melbourne in the contest in the second half.
Former Riddell junior Kate Darby was an emergency for Carlton. Darby, who hasn't play football in a decade, was invited to join the club by former Gisborne Rookie and current Carlton coach Damien Keeping.
Darby and her family is close with the family of former Riddell junior and current Fremantle wingman Tommy Sheridan; who suggested Darby, a talented cricketer for Gisborne, to the Carlton coach.
Keeping is a local success story having coached at the Gisborne Rookies and Calder Cannons. He is also a region winner for the Northwest Coach of the Year and finished top four in the state for that award.
Trentham and Kyneton Youth Girls junior Ainslie Kemp missed Melbourne's loss to Brisbane on Sunday due to illness.
Former Riddell Umpires Association boundary umpires Kyle Fisher and Jessie Wilkie officiated on the boundary at the Whitten Oval. Jessie ran the boundary at the same venue in the exhibition game late last year. Both hope to follow in the footsteps of Jordan Andrews who made his AFL debut on the boundary line in 2015 after starting his umpire career at RUA.
If we have missed out on anyone, please contact AFL Goldfields Media, Marketing and Events Manager Chris Yeend via email - chris@aflgoldfields.com.au
Last Modified on 06/02/2017 10:56