Goalkickers: E. Fitzpatrick 2.0, T. Bohanna 1.3, M. Hill 1.1, D. Vescio 1.0, L. Keck 1.0, B. Harrington 1.0, S. McKay 0.5, P. Scholz 0.1, J. Good 0.1, Rushed 0.2.

Reports: Claudia Gunjaca (GEEL) was reported for tripping Meg Robertson (CARL); it was rated as intentional conduct, low impact, and body contact. She was fined $400 but reduced to $250 with an early guilty plea.

Umpires: Sam Bridges, Gen Devenish, Jordyn Pearson.

Injuries: Nil.

Ladder: 4th.

Game Review

Surging Blues down dogged Cats to climb into top four.

Carlton had to fight Geelong all the way but a sixth win for the season sees them challenging for a high finish. - By Sarah Black.

Geelong has slipped further away from the finals race, Carlton having overcome the Cats by 18 points in a tough-fought affair at GMHBA Stadium. The lead had hovered around 16 points in Carlton's favour for most of the game, but the Blues were just four points to the good at three-quarter time. As the cool change rolled in during the final term and rain threatened, it was the ever-reliable Darcy Vescio who showed off every bit of their experience, pinning the ball to draftee defender Lexi Gregor's chest and winning a holding-the-ball. The veteran converted their resultant set-shot, before setting up Lila Keck for another, securing the 7.13 (55) to 5.7 (37) win to push the Blues into the top four. Carlton had registered an astonishing 18 inside 50s in the first quarter, but blew a number of straightforward shots – including one in the goalsquare that 50-gamer Tara Bohanna would like back – to record 2.6 for the term. For comparison's sake, North Melbourne set a new AFLW record for inside 50s on Saturday with 57 for the game. The Cats' forward line struggled to hold its structure early, sucked too high up the field and relying on slingshot rebound from half-back and running into an open space to record a score. By the final five minutes of the second, things had stabilised somewhat, with Jackie Parry and Aishling Moloney both getting on the scoreboard.

Carlton's ball movement was superb in the first, second and fourth quarters, flicking it round the park with ease, hitting targets, taking marks and always having an outlet by hand or foot if needed. It was a win set up by the midfield, but the full team effort and structure – from Harriet Cordner at full-back, out to the wings and Vescio at full-forward – stretched Geelong out of sorts, the Cats once again fading out in the last quarter, a problematic trend this season. Abbie McKay made a stunning return from three weeks off with a hamstring injury, recording 19 disposals and five clearances in the first half alone, and finishing with 31 and seven for the game. Geelong ratcheted up the pressure in the third term, the ball living almost exclusively in its front half, Carlton defending grimly for most of the quarter until Moloney and Mikayla Bowen kicked two quick goals to cut the margin to four. It was an 'almost' day for Sophie McKay, the developing Carlton star kicking five behinds. Cats coach Dan Lowther tried a few different things throughout the game – wrecking ball Rachel Kerns played as a small stay-at-home forward, while Kate Surman had more time on the ball than in weeks gone by, but it wasn't enough to overcome the stubborn Blues. The recalled Meg McDonald pulled off a crucial, goal-saving sprint to the line early in the fourth term, but hobbled to the bench and wasn't sighted for the rest of the game, with Lowther later confirming she had suffered cramp.

The battle of the Irish
Along with North Melbourne and Brisbane, Carlton and Geelong have arguably been the most prolific investors in Irish talent, given the sheer number that have rolled through their lists over the years. Such was the dominance of the Irish players, they accounted for five of the first nine goals kicked. No one could match Blue Erone Fitzpatrick's acceleration in the front half, Aishling Moloney starred with her unique interpretation of a key forward, Kearns attacked with fervour, while Dayna Finn and Kate Kenny found plenty of the footy on the wings.

Holding the ball hotter than ever
The tighter interpretation around holding the ball has gone through various waves this season, but appears to have ramped up over this round. Some players struggled to have a chance to take possession properly before being pinged, and Carlton recorded eight free kicks before the Cats had registered one, much to the chagrin of the home crowd.

Up next
Geelong has a third straight game at GMHBA Stadium, hosting Greater Western Sydney on Saturday afternoon of Pride Round. Carlton travels to face Sydney on Sunday, in what should be a big celebration of all things Pride at Henson Park.

Best: A. McKay, E. Fitzpatrick, M. Hill, A. Velardo, D. Vescio.

'Really confusing': Cats, Blues coaches call for clarity on ruling.

Perceived inconsistencies in holding the ball free kicks has coaches worried about how players approach contests. - By Sarah Black.

Geelong coach Dan Lowther has called for greater clarity around the stricter holding the ball interpretation implemented in the AFLW this year. A new rule often leads to a hot whistle for the first few rounds before it "settles" and players and umpires adjust, but a number of games in round eight of the NAB AFLW season had commentators and coaches alike discussing the inconsistent interpretation. A handful of players – particularly in the North Melbourne-Sydney game – appeared to hold back from the footy, preferring to be the tackler and win the free kick, although that wasn't the case in the match at GMHBA Stadium. "I think it's really, really confusing. It's frustrating, to a degree. The holding the ball conversation has forever been discussed from AFL men's to AFLW," Lowther said in his post-match press conference after Geelong's 18-point loss to Carlton. "Even watching the games over the weekend, like you got commentary around, 'no one knows what's going on', and it felt the same today. You weren't too sure what was going to get paid.

"There were some obvious ones, where you're like, 'yeah, that's holding the ball, you can't dive on the footy,', it's very up front. But just the interpretation piece, particularly for us you know, it's not holding the ball in the front half, but it is in the back half? So the interpretation across the lines is probably hurting the competition in general." When it comes to coaching the rule with his players, Lowther said he would continue to encourage his charges to attack the ball. "'Stay calm' is the is the first phrase, we said the same thing in the (coaches) box today. We can't change the decision, but we need to make sure we're coaching it and articulating the right way," he said. "We'll still coach [to] fight the tackle. We want to win possession, so to win possession we can't be afraid of getting caught holding the ball. We just have to understand that there's a risk if you don't look to get the footy out, or fight away to get the ball to foot or whatever. "So, we won't change our approach, but it'd be great to get some clarity around how it's being umpired, because it seems to be different from the interpretation at the start of the season." Carlton coach Mathew Buck echoed Lowther's sentiments after two months of football under the current interpretation. "As far as I'm concerned it is a little bit of a raffle around, 'Will it be holding the ball? Won't be holding the ball?', but that's not going to change the way the Carlton players attack the contest," Buck said. "We'll get in there and win the footy, and we'll leave the umpires to make the decision, to be honest. "Do I think we've got the decision-making a little bit, you know, to the negative side? I think so. I think we're a little bit hot. I thought today there was probably a few that probably went our way, to be honest, that were a little bit hot. "Instructions (to players) don't change. I see what the AFL are trying to do to speed up the game and the result of that is what you see today, I thought it was a great game to watch. "But we do need to ensure that the person wants to continue to go and win the footy, we don't want to get to a point where somebody's going to stand off because they know they're going to be rewarded as the tackler."

Team

In: Abbie McKay, Gabriella Pound.
Out: Aisling Reidy (Omitted), Madeleine Guerin (Omitted).

Milestones

50 Games: Mimi Hill
50 Games (AFLW): Tara Bohanna

Interesting Fact

1. Sophie McKay had kicked 8.4 this season; in this game, she kicked 0.5.

AFLW Coaches Votes

10 - Abbie McKay CARL
8 - Mimi Hill CARL
6 - Erone Fitzpatrick CARL
2 - Dayna Finn CARL
2 - Amelia Velardo CARL
1 - Amy McDonald GEEL
1 - Lily Goss CARL

AFLW Best and Fairest Votes

3 - Mikayla Bowen (GEEL)
2 - Amelia Velardo (CARL)
1 - Aishling Moloney (GEEL)

Club Best and Fairest Votes

Match Highlights