The GIANTS travel to the nation’s capital where they’ll look to return to their winning ways in a round three bout with Yartapuulti.
AFLW – Round 3
GIANTS v Yartapuulti
Sunday, August 30 at 12:35pm
Coroboree Group Oval Manuka | Canberra, Ngunnawal/Ngambri
What It Means for the GIANTS
After a blazing start to the season with a win over the Eagles in round one, the GIANTS were delivered a taste of what the competition’s top-end talent can deliver, in a loss to the Demons at Casey Fields.
Unable to capitalise on their inside 50s, with an efficiency rate below 30%, the away side were shown up in their post-clearance work, allowing Melbourne to enjoy more uninterrupted football and play the match on their terms.
It was a different look to the pressure-mad side that made life hard for the Eagles in round one, a game style they’ll be looking to return to when they meet the Power in Canberra.
A win in round three, against a mid-table side, will showcase that the GIANTS are keeping their heads up and eyes forward, with on-the-go learnings one of the most important developments for the side this year, as discussed by midfielder Alyce Parker midweek.
The Opposition
Coming into round three with a win and a loss under the belts, last year’s tenth placed side fell to the Hawks last week, having led by 12-points at halftime.
Fast-starters in both of their matches this season, Yartapuulti have focused their efforts on maximising one of the game’s deadliest competitors in All-Australian ruck Matilda Scholz, who is averaging 29.5 hit outs, at a win rate of 58% to start the year.
Yartapuulti’s work around stoppages has been the defining feature of their game to start the year, an area of football that is one of the GIANTS’ biggest points of improvement in 2026.
The midfield battle presents a great yardstick, as the GIANTS continue to refine their on-ball work, and it is where this match-up will likely be won.
Recent History
The GIANTS were on the wrong side of history the last time the teams met, as Yartapuulti forward Gemma Houghton became the first AFLW player in history to reach the 100-goal milestone at Henson Park in round seven of the 2025 NAB AFLW Season.
Yartapuulti ran out 57-point winners that day, buoyed by the momentum of Houghton’s approach to the ton.
With Glenn Strachan taking the helm for the side in his first senior coaching role, Yartapuulti have focused more on developing their defensive structures and wining the ball through contest and defending more efficiently across all three lines.
With the GIANTS focus now locked more on attack and transition efforts, round three shapes as a great strategic match-up between two young head coaches.
Key Match Up: Rise and Shine - 29
In a battle of the number 29s, Yasmeen Janschek, the GIANTS draftee ruck, will face the toughest battle of her AFLW career to date when she lines up opposite the 2025 All- Australian ruck Matilda Scholz.
Possessing a damaging combination of height and power, 21-year-old Sholtz has become the face of the league, in the past 12 months and is one of the game’s most recognisable players for her social media antics as well as her on field impact.
Leading the competition for hit outs so far in 2026, she’s won over 100 ruck battles, and has the highest hit out to advantage rate across the league.
In her first two AFLW matches, Janschek has asserted herself as one of the most accurate rucks, sitting just two behind Scholz in the hit outs to advantage count. It’s been an important factor in enabling the GIANTS to drive more attack out of the centre and around the ground stoppages.
Round three shapes as a great opportunity for the young Janschek to simultaneously learn from and take it to the best in the league.
GIANTS Player to Watch: Alyce Parker
Back to her damaging best, Alyce Parker is now two games back from the ankle fracture that limited her to just two quarters of football in 2025 and already looks every bit the GIANTS’ four-time best and fairest.
Leading the league for clearances and contested possessions, Parker’s impact since returning to the side has been enormous.
A leader on and off the field, the midfielder spent last season moonlighting as a bench coach and development lead, helping her teammates to better read the game, while also working closely with both Head Coach Cam Bernasconi and EGM of AFLW, Alison Zell, leading to her signing an extension with the club until the end of 2027.
Parker will have her work cut out in a match up with Yartapuulti and will look to punish their high turnover rate and capitalise on spillages out of contest to power her team forward.
Team Selection:
The GIANTS will name their squad on Thursday at 6:20pm and their final team on Friday at 5:00pm at gwsgiants.com.au.
Rehab Report:
Get a full injury update ahead of Sunday’s match here.
