WEST Coast ruckman Nic Naitanui made a successful return from a knee injury, but it was Lance Franklin who stole the show in Sydney’s 29-point win in the first AFL match at Perth’s Optus Stadium.

​Franklin booted five goals in the first half and finished with eight majors in the 18.7 (115) to 13.8 (86) triumph in front of 53,553 fans on Sunday.

​Naitanui, playing his first AFL match since rupturing the ACL in his left knee in August 2016, showed he had lost none of his ruck magic by producing a series of sublime taps to advantage throughout the match.
West Coast led by one point early in the second quarter on the back of Naitanui’s strong performance in the ruck.

But with Franklin dominating in his battles against defenders Tom Barrass and Will Schofield, it seemed just a matter of time before Sydney pulled away.
The 31-year-old booted three goals in the opening term.
And by the time he kicked his seventh goal midway through the third quarter, Sydney led by 30 points and it looked to be game over.

However, Naitanui helped turn the tide late in the third term as West Coast’s midfield started to gain control.
Naitanui sent the crowd into raptures when he won a holding the ball decision in the forward pocket and then snapped truly from the set shot.
And when Mark LeCras booted a goal after the three-quarter time siren – West Coast’s fourth in a row – the margin was just five points.

But once again it was Franklin who stepped up when Sydney needed him most.
With the Swans leading by just 11 points, Franklin outbodied Barrass to take a mark, before running into the open goal to give Sydney some much-needed breathing space.
West Coast continued to fight hard, but a freak scissor-kick goal from Luke Parker killed off their comeback for good.

Will Hayward, who was a late replacement for Sam Reid (hamstring), booted two goals in the final minute to blow out the margin.
LeCras and Jack Darling booted three goals apiece for the Eagles, while Naitanui finished with 33 hit-outs, 12 disposals, and one goal.

Franklin tallied 21 possessions, nine marks, five tackles to go with his 8.1.
For the trivia buffs, Sydney defender Jake Lloyd etched his name into history with the first AFL goal at Perth’s new $1.6 billion stadium.

© AAP 2018
SYDNEY 5.1 9.5 11.6 18.7 (115)
WEST COAST 4.2 5.3 10.7 13.8 (86)

Goals: Sydney: L Franklin 8 W Hayward 2 D Towers G Hewett I Heeney J Kennedy J Lloyd K Jack L Parker Z Jones. West Coast: J Darling 3 M LeCras 3 C Masten E Yeo J Waterman L Duggan L Ryan N Naitanui S Hurn.

Best: Sydney: L Franklin J Kennedy L Parker J Lloyd I Heeney Z Jones. West Coast: N Naitanui L Shuey E Yeo M LeCras S Hurn L Jetta.

Injuries: Nil.
Reports: Nil.
Umpires: Jeff Dalgleish, Dean Margetts, Nicholas Foot.

Official Crowd: 53,553 at Optus Stadium.

AN ACL injury to premiership midfielder Tom Liberatore has topped off a nightmare first game of the AFL season for the Western Bulldogs.

Beaten preliminary finalists Greater Western Sydney pummelled the 2016 premiers in Canberra on Sunday, winning their clash by a whopping 82 points.

It was the Giants’ highest ever score and winning margin against the Bulldogs.

GWS kicked the first four goals of the game and were never challenged in the 20.13 (133) to 7.9 (51) result, as stars Jeremy Cameron (six goals) and Toby Greene (four) ran riot up forward.

While the Bulldogs were smashed at UNSW Oval in front of 10,454 fans, their worries extend to Liberatore who will undergo a second knee reconstruction 117 games into his career.

Coach Luke Beveridge later confirmed the 25-year-old had suffered an ACL injury to his right knee.
Liberatore missed the entire 2015 after rupturing the ACL on his left knee in a pre-season match.
“It’s going to be a grind again, it’s always a tough time to recuperate from an ACL injury and Tom had a tough time of it last time he did it,” Beveridge said.

The Dogs seemed to lift when Liberatore went off in the first quarter after a lacklustre start, kicking the next three goals to only be five points behind at quarter-time.
But it was all the classy Giants from there as they booted 16 goals to four after the first change.

They were led sensationally by key on-ballers Stephen Coniglio (32 possessions and two goals), Josh Kelly (29 and two) and Dylan Shiel, while Tim Taranto also played an integral role.
GWS’ new-look half-back line performed well, with former No.1 draft pick Lachie Whitfield slotting in seamlessly after Nathan Wilson’s move to Fremantle and the injury to Zac Williams.

Giants coach Leon Cameron was pleased his team were able to fire first up after being smashed at the Adelaide Oval by the Crows in round one last year.
“The last couple of years we haven’t won round one,” Cameron said.
“There’s four points for every round so they’re no different but just the build and anticipation after the pre-season that makes the game a bit bigger.”

On a dark day for the Bulldogs, Jack Macrae, Luke Dahlhaus and Lachie Hunter found plenty of the ball and young ruckman Tim English showed some serious promise in his fourth game.
Beveridge said the injury to Liberatore had some impact on his team, but not an “80-odd point effect”.
“Almost the whole thing went wrong in the end. We were probably a bit fortunate it wasn’t a bit more in the end,” Beveridge said.
“The fundamentals of the game, the in close stuff was on show from the orange brigade and we just couldn’t match it.”

​In other bad news for the Dogs, Hayden Crozier, who crossed from Fremantle during the off-season, could miss at least two weeks after straining his medial ligament.


© AAP 2018

GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY 4.2 11.4 17.4 20.13 (133)
WESTERN BULLDOGS 3.3 4.4 5.6 7.9 (51)


Goals: Greater Western Sydney: J Cameron 6 T Greene 4 J Kelly 2 J Patton 2 S Coniglio 2 A Tomlinson D Shiel H Himmelberg Z Langdon.
Western Bulldogs: J Roughead 2 B Dale B Gowers J Dunkley M Honeychurch M Suckling.

Best: Greater Western Sydney: S Coniglio J Kelly J Cameron L Whitfield D Shiel T Greene.
Western Bulldogs: J Macrae L Hunter L Dahlhaus J Roughead.

Injuries: Greater Western Sydney: Nil. Western Bulldogs: H Crozier (knee) T Liberatore (knee).

Reports: Nil.
Umpires: Simon Meredith, Andrew Mitchell, David Harris.

Official Crowd: 10,454 at Manuka Oval.

The GIANTS' AFL Women's Grand Final dream is over, losing to the Lions by 40 points at Blacktown International Sportspark on Friday night.

Sabrina Frederick-Traub kicked four goals and Jess Wuetschner three as the Lions scored a 10.4 (64) to 3.6 (24) win at Blacktown International Sportspark on Friday.

Down 7-0 early, the Lions slammed on the next seven goals, with six of them in the first quarter.
Brisbane kicked the highest score in its history, booting more than six goals in a game for the first time.

The win lifted Brisbane to second place on 16 points, level with pacesetters Western Bulldogs and Melbourne, who clash on Saturday.
The big win moved Brisbane ahead of Melbourne on percentage.

While the winner of the match between Melbourne and the Bulldogs will advance to the Grand Final, Brisbane would prefer a Demons loss and needs Collingwood to defeat Adelaide on Sunday to snare the other spot.

"There was some things that we wanted to do forward of centre in terms of moving the ball quickly and it was just one of those freakish quarters where most things go right," Lions' coach Craig Starcevich said.
"People having shots from pockets and they are going in and all sorts of things, a lot of things went right early."

The loss ended a four-match unbeaten streak for the GIANTS, who went into the game third, two spots ahead of Brisbane.

"Tonight we couldn't go with their intensity when it was really on the line and that's disappointing and that's where we've got to find a way to compete better," GIANTS coach Alan McConnell said.
"We led contested ball by six, five minutes into the game, we had three shots on goal then it all turns to s***.
"When it mattered, when it was a one-on-one game pretty much, we weren't good enough, that's the big lesson."

​There was no inkling of the Lions' first-quarter onslaught in the first few minutes, with Britt Tully kicking the opening goal for the home team.

However, Frederick-Traub and Wuetschner cut the GIANTS' defence to shreds.
The Lions' penetrating kicking into the forward 50 was too slick for the Giants, who were too sloppy when in possession.

The Giants stemmed the tide after the first quarter, but Brisbane kicked the only goal of the second and third terms to extend its lead.
Courtney Gum kicked a goal for the GIANTS in the opening minute of the last quarter to briefly revive the home fans' hopes.

But the GIANTS couldn't get the deficit below four goals and Brisbane booted the last two majors to boost its percentage.

© AAP 2018

GIANTS     1.1     1.3     3.5     3.6        (24)
BRISBANE     6.2     7.3     8.4     10.4     (64)  

GOALS
GIANTS: Tully, Gum, Staunton
Brisbane: Frederick-Traub 4, Wuetschner 3, Conway, McCarthy, Webb

BEST
GIANTS: Eva, Farrugia, Bennetts, Dal Pos, Tully, Swanson
Brisbane: Frederick-Traub, Anderson, Bates, Zielke, Wuetschner, Lutkins

Reports: Nil

​Umpires: Howorth, McGinness, Crosby

Official crowd: 2253 at Blacktown International Sportspark

LANCE Franklin has proved the matchwinner as Sydney shaded local rival Greater Western Sydney by 11 points in a pre-season match at Blacktown.

Franklin kicked the last two goals of the game on Friday as Sydney won 12.10 (82) to 9.17 (71).
Sydney led by 24 early in the game and twice by 22 in the third quarter, but GWS nailed four straight goals either side of the final break to hit the front for the first time early in the last quarter.
Midfielder Luke Parker, who had 26 disposals and 11 marks levelled the scores with a goal and then Franklin put his imprint on the game.
The tenth highest goalkicker in VFL-AFL history piloted the ball through for successive goals to secure the win.

Held well earlier by old rival Phil Davis, Franklin finished with 19 disposals, eight marks and kicked 2.2
Parker, Callum Mills Isaac Heeney and Nic Newman were strong performers for Sydney.
Kieren Jack kicked three majors for Sydney, with Franklin, Sam Reid and Parker booting two apiece..
Lachie Whitfield and Callan Ward sparked the Giants with 29 and 24 touches respectively, driving them forward at every opportunity.

Jeremy Cameron kicked three goals for GWS and pulled down seven marks.

Toby Green showed some nice touches in his first game of the year, but Brett Deledio had a quiet season debut, notching just one kick and eight touches in total.

The Swans kicked the first four goals and led by 17 at the first change.

GWS fought back in the second quarter, kicking three goals to one, to trail by one at halftime, and were down by two at the last change.

© AAP 2018

SYDNEY 4.3 5.4 9.8 12.10 (82)
GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY 1.4 4.9 8.12 9.17 (71)

Goals:
Sydney: K Jack 3 L Franklin 2 L Parker 2 S Reid 2 H Marsh J Kennedy W Hayward.
Greater Western Sydney: J Cameron 3 D Lloyd H Himmelberg J Patton L Whitfield M De Boer T Greene.
Best:
Sydney: L Parker C Mills I Heeney N Newman H Cunningham L Franklin.
Greater Western Sydney: L Whitfield C Ward J Cameron T Taranto D Simpson S Coniglio.
Injuries:
Sydney: None.
Greater Western Sydney: L Tiziani (AC joint).
Reports: None.
Venue: Blacktown Olympic Park.

In partnership with the NIRS - National Indigenous Radio Service and AFL Indigenous Broadcasting we are proud to announce that for the first time AFL football will be live on SWR Triple 9 in 2018!

Every Friday night game will be broadcast live throughout the season by the NIRS team of respected broadcasters, but SWR will be providing a live call under the NIRS banner of every GWS Giants and Sydney Swans home game as well as special event games, finals and the Grand Final.

​Rest assured your favourite shows will remain here on SWR throughout 2018 and will continue to serve the community as ever, but for the first time listeners will be able to hear live AFL Football produced locally.

The SWR Sydney team will be lead by Julian Daw (Head of Sport) who has been heard as a boundary rider on Triple M and K Rock in recent years. He will be joined by Murray Conallin who is a familiar voice to Sydney footy fans as well as SWR listeners after calling the 2018 W-League Grand Final for SWR Sport, rounding them out will be Fox Sports Supercoach analyst Phil Prior.

It begins Friday March 23rd at 7pm when Essendon face last years Grand Finalists the Adelaide Crows, then on Sunday March 25th at 12:30pm the SWR AFL crew will take to the air for the first time from Canberra as our GWS Giants take on the Western Bulldogs

For more information go to swr999.com.au/afl as the season draws nearer, needless to say 2018 just got a whole lot bigger on SWR Triple 9.