Kiara Bowers and Brianna Davey’s long journey to much-anticipated AFLW showdown
Brianna Davey and Kiara Bowers are finally ready to face off for the first time since they were joint winners of the AFLW’s highest honour in 2021. ELIZA REILLY unpacks the ultimate midfield duel.
It’s a clash the AFLW world has been building towards for more than two years. But it’s promising to be worth the wait.
When Collingwood and Fremantle meet on Sunday at Victoria Park, it won’t just be any regulation round two game. It’ll mark the first time midfielders Brianna Davey and Kiara Bowers share the field since they were declared joint winners of the AFLW best and fairest in 2021.
The titans have been like two ships in the night.
When Carlton played Fremantle in the inaugural AFLW season, Bowers was recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. The pair were both sidelined in 2018. They went toe to toe in the 2019 preliminary final between the Dockers and Blues and again in round three of 2020, when Davey was in her first season at Collingwood.
But since then, the AFLW has been robbed of the ultimate midfield duel.
Fremantle and Collingwood didn’t meet once in 2021, when both ascended into a small pool of AFLW elite as joint winners of the W medal. Then in the opening game of 2022, Davey suffered the same fate as Bowers and missed the next two seasons with an ACL tear.
There’s no bigger name in Western Australian women’s football than Bowers. The 31-year-old is a four-time Fremantle best and fairest winner. Her attack on the footy is so fierce it has earnt her the nickname ‘Turbo’. But Bowers was a shock late withdrawal from Fremantle’s round one derby win over West Coast.
Bowers has saved some of her best performances for the Eagles. She’s won four of the six derby medals on offer in the history of the short rivalry. But the Dockers opted to take a cautious approach when knee soreness presented itself on the eve of round one.
The setback threatened to rob us of another meeting of two of the competition’s best players but after completing a solo fitness test on Thursday morning, Fremantle coach Lisa Webb is confident that Bowers will be available in round two.
“She actually just tackled me out there and it was mortifying,” Webb said. “We’re really confident and happy with the way she moved. We’re really excited to have her back, especially against a really strong midfield in Collingwood.
“There might be times in which we do (manage her this season) because of the way she attacks the football but we’re really confident that she’s a professional in what she does and we’re confident she’ll be able to get through this season.”
Bowers can’t afford a slow start to the year if Fremantle is to be any hope of curbing the influence of Davey. Returning for her first match in more than a year, the 28-year-old produced one of the best individual games we’re likely to see this season against reigning premiers Melbourne.
Davey won 35 disposals, the most of any player in round one. She also had 11 clearances, 429 meters gained, six Inside 50s, five score involvements and one goal.
“It’s no secret we’ve missed her over the past two seasons,” Collingwood coach Steve Symonds said. “She’s come in and picked it back up like she has before. She’s a hell of a footballer.
“It’s not just us that’s missed her. The whole competition has missed her. It’s great to see her back and hopefully, she can maintain her form.”
A performance of similar magnitude will spell danger for the Dockers. Webb didn’t rule out tagging the Collingwood captain, who was managing a hamstring complaint when the sides met in a pre-season clash.
“Potentially. It’s something that we’ll look at week to week,” Webb said. “She’s an elite player of the competition and someone we’re going to look at really closely.”
The Dockers have concerns of their own that they’re better off addressing first. Against West Coast, Fremantle lost the clearance count 31-15, the Eagles’ biggest differential in club history.
West Coast had the three best clearance players on the ground in Aisling McCarthy (seven), Ella Roberts (five) and Emma Swanson (five). No Docker won more than three.
“We were quite reactive in there,” Webb said. “We’ve had a good chat about it because it’s not where we wanted to be. We were on the back foot a lot and they hunted the footy a bit better than us.
More Coverage
“Turbo will come back in so we’re excited about what she brings, but it’ll be a little change in style in terms of what we were doing in that mid. It’s on all of our mids.
“We’re confident this week against Collingwood that we can get back on the front foot with that.”
Two years is long enough. It’s time to decide which champion comes out on top.
Analysis: The Tasmanian AFLW Draft prospects ready to step up
Late mail: The go-home concerns set to shape AFLW Draft
Bravado, bluster and a ‘beer deal’: Weston-Turner’s plan to be a Roo
‘It’s instinct’: Meet the ‘unicorn’ who can do what no-one else can
From starting her own women’s team to a top draft contender
