GIANTS’ draftee Sara Howley returns to her hometown to take on childhood club the Geelong Cats in round nine of the 2025 NAB AFLW season. 

AFLW ROUND 9
 
Cats v GIANTS
Saturday, October 11 at 3:05pm
GMHBA Stadium, Geelong | Wadawurrung

Pride Round

Played across two rounds for the first time in 2025, Pride Round is the AFLW’s annual celebration of the LGBTQI+ community in the game.  

Both on the field and off it, the Pride Round puts a spotlight on the rainbow community and the significant culture of inclusion and diversity that has been built across the league.

The AFL aspires to ensure everyone feels welcome and safe to be their authentic selves whilst participating, watching and enjoying our great game and the GIANTS are proud to deliver this experience at all our AFLW matches.

What It Means For The GIANTS  

Suffering two straight losses and off the back of a difficult outing against the Saints, the GIANTS are looking to reverse fortunes and get back on the winners list against the Cats.  

Despite leading the majority of stats for the match and chalking up an astonishing 40 inside 50s, the GIANTS were unable to make the most of their efforts, with an efficiency of just 25% inside the attacking arc.

It’s a stat they’ll be focusing on as they prepare to travel to Geelong this weekend. 

Cam Bernasconi will be looking for both his leaders and young guns to stand up, with Sara Howley presented the opportunity to play her first AFLW game back in her hometown of Geelong.

Likewise, the GIANTS’ leaders have been consistent performers across the season, with Bec Beeson and Katherine Smith amongst the team’s best each week. The leaders will be looking to demand more from their teammates as they hope to return to HQ with four points in the bag.   

The Opposition  

The Cats, similar to the GIANTS, endured a slower start to the season, losing their opening three matches before claiming their first win against the Bombers in round four, a 31-point victory at Windy Hill.  

They went on to win three-in-a-row, also defeating the Tigers and Power before the Hawks bought them back down to earth in a seven-point loss.  

Midfield star Amy McDonald has struggled to re-find the form that nabbed her three best and fairest awards for the club but still looms as a significant threat through the middle. Her offsider Georgie Prespakis looks well on her way to claiming the club’s 2025 club champion, enjoying her best season since she last took home the accolade in 2023. 

The team also possess significant attacking threats, with tall forwards Aishling Moloney and Jackie Parry leading the charge with their aerial abilities but Geelong’s midfield also providing plenty of strength pushing forward and finding points on the scoreboard.

Geelong will also have plenty of intent to win, with both captain Meg McDonald (75) and Georgie Prespakis (50) running out for milestone games. 

The GIANTS will be looking to evade the Cats’ midfield pressure with their quick ball movements and hoping to continue finding different avenues to goal, with an intent to improve their efficiency in sending the ball through the middle sticks.

Key Match Up: Minimising Moloney’s Impact 

Scoring in each of the team’s matches outside of their round one loss to the Kangaroos, Aishling Moloney has fast established herself as one of the competition's most damaging forwards.

One of three Irish recruits at the Cattery and in her third season of AFLW, Moloney fast transitioned to the game and has become a weapon in attack for the Hoops, scoring 44 goals so far across her three seasons.

She’ll be an important consideration for the GIANTS, who have done an astonishing job through the first eight matches in 2025 in minimising the impact of key forwards.

Moloney is a likely match up for Katherine Smith should she start deep, though the aerial prowess of Cambridge McCormick could quash her threat overhead should she move further up the field.  

GIANTS Player To Watch: Katherine Smith  

Just the second GIANT to reach the 75-game milestone, Smith has been one of the team’s most consistent performers across her time in the orange and charcoal.  

Joining from Melbourne, following a year’s rehabilitation after suffering an ACL tear in 2019, Smith found the move to Sydney to be the perfect sea change she needed to recapture her love of the game.  

She’s since been elevated to the leadership group and proven herself as one of the best lockdown defenders in the competition. Claiming scalps across the competition, Smith’s defensive pressure and ability to play on both tall and small forwards has made her a nightmare match up for opposition.

Focusing on improving her running game ahead of her tenth season in the AFLW, Smith has already delivered some of the most impressive games of her career this year, with an increased ability to move up the field and provide a transition weapon.

Playing back in her home state, with plenty of friends and family likely to make the trip down the Princes Freeway, Smith’s teammates will be looking to make this milestone a memorable one. 

In The Mix  

After being a late withdrawal to face the Saints, Alicia Eva is a test to travel to take on the Cats. 

Her absence would leave the door open for veteran Aliesha Newman to play a bigger role in the side after an effective turn being injected into the round eight game in the third quarter last week, in a pseudo-substitute role.

Claire Ransom also continues to perform at scrimmage level and is a strong option for Cam Bernasconi both on the ball and through the wing.  

Team Selection 

The GIANTS will name their final team to take on the Cats at 6:20pm on Thursday at gwsgiants.com.au.

Rehab Report 

Get a full injury update ahead of Saturday’s match here.

Where To Watch 

Saturday’s clash will be shown live and free in NSW and the ACT on 7Mate and 7plus from 3:00pm, as well as nationally on Fox Sports 3, Kayo and BINGE from 3:00pm.

Geelong has kept its season alive with a 27-point win over the GIANTS on Saturday afternoon at GMHBA Stadium.

The Cats kicked five goals to one in the final quarter to break away from the GIANTS, eventually winning 11.6 (72) to 6.9 (45) in front of a crowd of 2,509.

Saturday’s win was Geelong’s first victory at home this season and the first time in AFLW history that the Cats have beaten the GIANTS.

Georgie Prespakis was instrumental in the win, kicking two goals and having 23 disposals in her 50th game, as was forward Chantal Mason who kicked three goals, the first three goals of her career.

For the GIANTS, Tarni Evans was a stand-out up forward booting three of her own, whilst Zarlie Goldsworthy finished the match with 27 disposals and a goal.

The Cats dominated territory to begin, their deep entries providing their forwards with opportunities, but they couldn’t capitalise in front of goal.

Eventually, Prespakis took it upon herself to kick the game’s first in her milestone match. 

The Prespakis goal was quickly followed by a second to Irish sensation Aishling Moloney, taking advantage of a loose ball in the goalsquare, gathering and snapping from close range.

The GIANTS eventually steadied and started to gain possession, a long-range, left-foot snap from Tarni Evans getting the visitors on the board.

But a goal to mid-forward Julia Crockett-Grills, who came back in the side this week following a hamstring injury, extended Geelong’s lead to 14 points at quarter-time.

The GIANTS came out after the first break and kicked a hat-trick of goals to start the term, the best coming through Evans who slotted a set shot 35m out from the boundary line.

The goals put the GIANTS in front for the first time, but it was short-lived when utility Rachel Kearns kicked her first just before half-time to give Geelong back the lead.

Kearns was involved in an incident in the third quarter where the Irishwoman made high-contact with GIANTS captain Rebecca Beeson’s head. 

Beeson, who has a history with concussion, came from the ground with a blood lip and went down into the rooms for assessment, but eventually returned to the game.

Moments later Cats ruck Catie Tipping and Erica Fowler both came from the ground hobbling, but they too returned in the fourth.

Geelong has a poor record in fourth quarters this season, but they flipped that trend on its head when they kicked three goals in three minutes to open the final term. 

The scoring spree gave the Cats some breathing space, and they didn’t panic when Goldsworthy kicked one to bring the margin back.

A second goal to Prespakis and a third to Mason sealed the game much to the delight of the predominantly Geelong crowd.

Up Next

After two home games, Geelong flies across the country to play West Coast on Friday night, whilst the GIANTS return home to play Fremantle on Saturday afternoon.

GEELONG           3.3    4.5    6.6   11.6  (72)
GIANTS              1.1    4.3   5.6    6.9 (45)

GOALS

Geelong: Mason 3, Prespakis 2, Moloney 2, Crockett-Grills, Kenny, Kearns, Bowen
GIANTS: Evans 3, O’Dowd, Mowbray, Goldsworthy

BEST 

Geelong: Prespakis, Bowen, Crockett-Grills, McDonald, Kenny
GIANTS: Goldsworthy, Beeson, Evans, Srhoj, Davies

INJURIES

Geelong: Nil
GIANTS: Nil

Reports: Nil

Crowd: 2,509 at GMHBA Stadium