Scraping our way to 2-0

It wasn't easy, and not always pretty, but we did what was required to put the Blues to the sword

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R2: HAWTHORN 3.12 (30) def CARLTON 2.10 (22)

In our first home game of the season down in Frankston, Hawthorn scraped past Carlton to win by eight points. It wasn’t our best display but we got to walk away with the four points.

We did not have the ideal lead-up to the game during last week, with both Jasmine Fleming (knee, 4-6 weeks) and Ainslie Kemp (ACL, season) joining the injury list.

We started out solid in the first quarter against Carlton with goals to Bridie Hipwell and Emily Bates to get ourselves out to a 10-point lead at quarter time. A frustrating two quarters of football then followed and Carlton even managed to draw level early in the fourth term.

We didn’t kick another major until the 17th minute of the final quarter when Áine McDonagh converted a free kick to finally seal the game.

In many ways, it felt just as heart attack-inducing as last week's game against Brisbane. We have only played Carlton once prior, beating them by 38 points in Round 1 last year, and their 14th place finish on the 2024 ladder suggests that we should have put them away by more.

Should we be scared by how close it ended up being? Or should we take the four points and move on? Either way, there’s plenty of lessons to learn from the game.

Sing it.

🧐 Debut Watch: Grace Baba

After being unavailable for selection in Round 1 due to a striking suspension from the practice match against Richmond, new Hawk Grace Baba made her AFLW debut on Saturday night.

Baba was surrounded by her seven siblings as she was presented with her jumper by Hawthorn men’s premiership player and cult hero Matthew Spangher.

Baba had a promising debut, showing a lot of attack on the ball. She will be an exciting player to watch.

Welcome to the brown and gold family, Grace.

🧱 Things We Like To See: Allen — The Brick Wall

Former premiership Crow Najwa Allen backed up last week’s debut with another solid outing, acting as a reliable barrier to Carlton’s efforts at the last line of our defence. In only two weeks, Allen has proven that she has so much experience and skill to add to the brown and gold.

📈 Room For Improvement: Forward entries

We struggled even more inside 50 this week than last. Against Carlton, we more often got stuck with our entries into the forward 50 in the first place. This game cements the fact that our forward line is the one that needs the most work.

📈Room For Improvement: Tackling pressure

Last week we won the tackle count against Brisbane (+6) whereas we lost out to Carlton this week (-12). Carlton’s pressure throughout the game definitely felt strong, particularly given the recent past performance of their side and at times we struggled to match them.

🫡 Best On Ground: The Captain

Emily Bates was out and firing for the majority of the game, finishing with one goal, a team-high 25 disposals, a game-high five clearances, a game-high six inside 50s and a game-high 521 metres gained.

She did also give away six free kicks. If the AFL are going to stick to their stricter interpretation of the holding the ball rule as we have seen in the first two weeks of the season, Hawthorn will need to do more to adapt their game style to the change.

How’s the cele?!

🌟 Rising Star: Laura Stone

Among the various outs from big-time players, second-seasoner Laura Stone took it upon herself to stand up in their absence. She had a big impact in the first quarter with nine disposals. She could become vital in the midfield particularly during Fleming’s forced stint on the sidelines. Stone finished the game with 16 disposals and a team-high nine tackles.

🤕 Injury Watch

The biggest blow came late on Friday with the news that Ainslie Kemp had ruptured her ACL at Thursday’s training session, ruling her out for the rest of the season. It’s the fourth time in her career that Kemp has injured her ACL.

After going down with a knee injury in the Round 1 game against Brisbane and even managing to come back on and finish out the game with her usual fight, Jasmine Fleming will miss 4-6 weeks with an injury to the medial ligament in her knee.

Aileen Gilroy (hamstring soreness) was absent again after missing the Round 1 game. This is the first time she’s missed a game since converting to the brown and gold, let alone two in a row. She would be a much-needed addition to our forward line if she’s fit to play Round 3.

🪜 Ladder Check In

We currently sit in fifth. This win means our season is off to a 2-0 start, along with four other teams: Essendon, Melbourne, North Melbourne and Sydney.

⏭️ Next Week

For Round 3, we face the Western Bulldogs in our first ever outing at Whitten Oval in Melbourne’s West.

It’s been almost two years since we last played the Bulldogs in Round 2 of 2023, where we won by seven points.

The Bulldogs finished 12th in 2024 with 4-7, actually outperforming expectations given their collection of the wooden spoon off only one win in 2023. They have a rich history in the AFLW as an inaugural team and winners of the 2018 flag.

The Bulldogs have started their 2025 campaign 1-1, with a loss to Melbourne in Round 1 and a solid 21-point win over Richmond in Round 2.

It will be our first time facing former Hawk Louise Stephenson after trading her to the Bulldogs at the end of 2024. The forward kicked a goal in their win against Richmond last week.

Bulldogs 2018 Premiership captain Ellie Blackburn is back after missing most of 2024 due to a severe foot injury. Blackburn is a three-time All-Australian and five-time Western Bulldogs Best and Fairest Winner.

Current Bulldogs captain Deanna Berry is out with a hamstring injury.

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