The Dogs were structured well around the contest, maintaining the ball-winning layer on the inside, and the exit layer on the outside to generate transition play from the source.

Without Brenna Tarrant, who was one of three players rested for the game, Sydney’s defence had to withstand a barrage of late forward entries from the Bulldogs, but simply couldn’t gain any ground in its attempts to rebound.

The Dogs backed themselves in when it came to one-on-one contests, and peppered the goals until hitting the lead late by way of a neat Brit Gutknecht set shot.

Sofia Hurley (20 disposals, one goal) was outstanding for the visitors, clean and calm with ball in hand – somewhat in contrast to many of her teammates – while Laura Gardiner (31 disposals, eight clearances) racked up the touches.

A huge blow
Sydney has been managing All-Australian ruck Ally Morphett this year as she deals with some hot spots in her foot, but she was brought in to compete with Bulldogs tall Alice Edmonds. Disaster struck midway through the third term, however, when Morphett’s foot was trod on and she was helped from the field in tears. Morphett was almost immediately ruled out of the remainder of the game, in what was a huge blow to the Swans. They now potentially face their mid-week fixture without their first-choice ruck.