AFLW finals opening weekend proves Hawthorn is a legitimate contender despite loss to reigning premiers Brisbane

There was a lot of pressure on Hawthorn heading into their first finals clash with Brisbane. 

They'd earned a top two finish, after 10 wins and just the one loss in the home-and-away season, yet many questioned their ability to perform against top opposition sides after they played just three teams who finished in the top eight in the regular season: Fremantle and Richmond, who they beat, and Adelaide, who they lost to.

In the weeks leading into finals, they beat Melbourne, who finished outside the eight, by just a single goal, yet claimed some big blowout wins against lowly teams, including downing West Coast by 66 points and GWS by 37 points.

Simply put, there were question marks over them. Not as to whether they deserved to play finals — they had an impressive year and put on some great attacking football — but how that brand would stack up when push really came to shove. 

So given this, other than the undefeated ladder-leaders North Melbourne, there was no better test they could have been given than the Lions in the first week of finals, the reigning premiers. Often a benchmark of the competition and a barometer for finals. 

Ahead of the weekend, there were some well-reasoned projections that Brisbane would bully Hawthorn, suffocate their ball play and have a field day in front of goals.

But that's far from what transpired. There was only one goal that separated the teams by the final siren, with the Lions claiming a slim 6-point victory.

In fact, had the Hawks kicked a little straighter, they could have claimed the win. They had 12 scoring shots to the Lions' 8, just twice as many behinds as goals.

It wasn't just the physical contest or skill sets either, as the Hawks, in their very first finals series in the AFLW, didn't let the Lions rattle them, try as Brisbane might. 

It was a fiery clash, constant niggling and at times aggressive roughhousing between the pair, often provoked by Brisbane. 

It was such a continuously heated battle that, on the final siren, rather than Lions' players jumping on each other in celebration of making another prelim, a melee broke out instead. Brisbane and Hawthorn players grabbed at each other and some refused to shake hands at the end of it.

Notably, Lion Belle Dawes is also in for a nervous wait after a clumsy rather than malicious heavy hit on Hawthorn defender Ainslie Kemp early in the second quarter.

Hawks' coach Daniel Webster said he wasn't sure what sparked the skirmish and Lions' counterpart Craig Starcevich missed most of it but conceded that was not "the way you want to finish a game".

Webster was right in his post-match remarks regarding his side's goal kicking that "good teams finish their work". But this isn't a huge mark against the Hawks at this stage of their campaign. The Kangaroos, who are heavy premiership favourites, kicked more behinds than goals against Adelaide on Friday night (5.8) — which is something that can happen in high-pressured, big intensity finals games. Particularly in a league still in its infancy, as is the AFLW.

For Hawthorn to have more attempts on goal shows against a defensively sound side with good running attack is more a mark for them. 

And for that fixturing conversation, Webster hopes talk of whether his side had an easy draw will be put to rest. However, as long as the AFLW season continues to lack the amount of rounds required for each side to play each other once, compromised fixtures will continue to be a hot topic of conversation. 

"To be honest, I find that fascinating. When I looked through the draw at the start of the year and I did my calculations, I had us with the seventh-hardest draw in the competition, and then, just because you win games and other teams don't, then all of a sudden, it's easy," Webster said.

"So, that actually infuriates me a little bit, and it's disrespectful to a lot of the teams we have played. So yeah, I just don't buy into that at all."

Power continues to surge

Speaking of first finals campaigns, Port Adelaide continued their hot-streak into their inaugural finals campaign with a comprehensive 24-point victory over Richmond.

It's their seventh win in a row and sets up a tantalising semi-final clash with Hawthorn. The two sides, both from the last expansion, will meet in a do-or-die clash in just their third seasons, and all with a preliminary final on the line. Get the pen ready for the history books.

Like the Hawks, the Power are playing with confidence and flare. Notably fan-favourite Gemma Houghton not only kicked the opening goal against the Tigers but finished the day with an over-her-shoulder goal.

Meanwhile, North Melbourne are straight through to the preliminary finals with a win over Adelaide. The Crows are set to face Fremantle in a semifinal, after the Dockers downed Essendon on Saturday.

For the Bombers, the club tradition of not winning a final continues, while for the Tigers, it's another straight exit after going out in straight sets in 2022 after finishing in the top four.