Collingwood will play the Gold Coast Suns for the first time in NAB AFLW history when the two sides square off at Victoria Park on Sunday.
The Pies secured their first victory of the season with a 21-point triumph over Fremantle last week, with the home side getting off to a fast start to set up the win.
Sunday’s clash will mark Brittany Bonnici’s 50th AFLW game since making her debut in the inaugural AFLW match at Ikon Park, in Round One 2017. The foundation Magpie has averaged 16.5 disposals and 4.7 tackles a game and becomes the seventh player to reach 50 games in the black and white.
The Suns are riding high also after beating West Coast by 73 points in Round Two, while they lost to Carlton just two points in the opening Round of the season.
Collingwood’s strong record at Vic Park will be a major advantage having won 12 out of their 15 games at the venue since it became the Pies’ permanent home ground in 2021.
Last time we met
It’s never happened! The Suns entered the competition in the 2020 season (season four) but haven’t been fixtured to play the Pies until now. The Suns are yet to play finals but have started their fifth season strongly on the back of a ninth-placed finish last year.
Players to watch
Pies’ captain Bri Davey has returned to the side from her knee injury strongly, while Nell Morris-Dalton provided a spark up forward last week with two goals. The Pies will have new opponents to deal with though, with Suns forward Jamie Stanton coming off the back of a six-goal haul last week. Gold Coast midfielder Charlie Rowbottom will also have to be monitored closely after she collected 58-disposals across Rounds One and Two, while Tara Bohanna kicked four goals last week.
Team news
Key tall Imogen Barnett will be out for eight to 12 weeks after she suffered a fractured ankle in the win over Fremantle. Erica Fowler comes back into the team for her second game of the season.
Game day activities
There will be plenty of activities on offer for the whole family at Victoria Park, including:
- VRGF badge making and giveaways
- Complimentary fruit from Coles
- Good Tides bar
- NAB activities
- Fan zone and face painting
- Collingwood merchandise and membership stores
Broadcast
The game will broadcast on Fox Sports and Kayo Sports from 3pm AEDT on Sunday.
Tickets can be found here for Sunday afternoon’s clash between Collingwood and Gold Coast.
NAB AFLW Round Three
Collingwood v Gold Coast
Sunday 17 September, 3:05pm
Victoria Park, Wurundjeri