Lowther on the positives from Saturday night

First half was really good, second half we faded a bit.

I was happy with the girls to fight the fight from the start, we had the ball in our forward half for around 75% of the first quarter. We had a lot of inside 50 entries, we wanted pressure in the front half from the start.

Off the back of a bit of a shaky preseason practice match, we were trying to get a few things right and it showed today that we had that part right. I thought our application to the contested ball and our one percent part of the game was really good, then the football part balanced out really well.

We just couldn’t hang on for long enough, we take the positives away from today but full credit to Melbourne, they are a great team.

06:38

AFLW Post Game | Week 1

Watch Geelong's press conference after week one’s match against Melbourne. Presented by Deakin.

Lowther on Melbourne's Strengths 

There was probably a few moments in the game where we hedged our bets the wrong way, then lost a critical contest and the flow off the back of that supported Melbourne’s attack.

If you give them a sniff, they are really fast and dynamic off the back of a turnover. Just a few of those moments if we clean them up a bit more consistently we will be alright.

I don’t think we faded out, if you look at the key performance indicators they are nearly the same. A lot of the measures that we focus on we were in front.

Lowther on the the midfield's performance

We haven’t got a general ruck, so Kate Darby did a great job today and Gabbi Featherston supported her well.

It is just a matter of trying to be better in that space as best we can, manage our midfield to support them knowing we aren’t winning every hit-out.

I thought the girls did a great job today, to lose hit-outs to advantage and clearances but still nearly win the game is a positive.

05:30

AFLW Highlights | Geelong v Melbourne

The Cats and Demons clash in week one of the 2024 NAB AFLW Season

Lowther on Kate Kenny's debut

Every game for her is going to be a step in the right direction. She has got presence in our front half, she scored tonight which is great.

She is starting to pick up a few little nuances of the game, in regards to playing forward and how to read the cues of the game.

She is fast, she picked up the speed of the game better than the first two practice game and looks like a threat, which is what you want from a forward. We will give her every chance to continue to improve.