AFL Central West: Bathurst Giants women beat Dubbo 69-13 in top of the table clash

On Saturday as the Giants extended their unbeaten run in the season 2021 AFL Central West women's premiership with a 10-9-69 to 2-1-13 win against the Dubbo Demons, it was Schmidt who was named best on ground.

That performance came after a fortnight in which Schmidt was voted players' player and picked up a captain's award.

"She is an absolute weapon, if I can call her anything, that is the one word I would describe her as, just a weapon," Kennedy said of Schmidt.

"We've been playing her right in the middle, right in thick of it, but she ends up everywhere. One minute she'll be kicking it out from the backs, the next minute she'll be kicking a goal, she's just everywhere.

"She'll defend, she'll attack, she'll ruck if she needs to, anywhere you tell her to go, she'll do it.

"She joined us last year and she's really been working on running and kicking because that was not her strong point. So second year now and she's having an absolute blinder of a year. She's hitting the gym, she's super fit and she's just killing it now."

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Though the final score points to an easy win for the Giants, Kennedy said the visiting Demons certainly made them work for the result. They kept up their strong physical presence throughout the four quarters at George Park 1.

It did get heated at one point but the Giants were able to maintain their focus on the job and kept the scoreboard ticking over.

"The game definitely wasn't reflected by the scoreboard at all, it was probably the most physical game I've ever played in like my whole 12 or 13 years of football, I felt like a rag doll out there," Kennedy said.

"They were tagging me ... so that took me out of the game a little bit, but I honestly think by tagging me they just let Aimee run rampant. But across the board all our girls stepped up.

"They didn't stop until the last siren blew, they just kept coming at us and coming at us, but we held them scoreless in the first quarter, scoreless in the last quarter and just our back line, it's probably the best back line in the Central West."

As Kennedy mentioned, the Giants' effort in defence in the top of the table clash was impressive.

By the long break Dubbo had been restricted to one goal one and though they booted another major in the third term, by the final change the margin stood at 40 points.

Just as the Giants were strong across their back and halfback line, once the ball was inside 50 they were able to capitalise.

The combination of tall timber Olivia Johnston, who kicked three majors, and small forwards Hailee Provest and Elise Gullifer is one Kennedy also has plenty of praise for.

"Our forward line, the first couple of years we struggled in our forward line and we backed our back line to defend," she said.

"But this year we are playing a more attacking game, we want to come out of the gates at 100 miles an hour.

"Our forward line has just been clicking so well, Olivia Johnson, Hailee Provest and Elise Gullifer are all on the same wave length, they've just clicked. Liv will go up, one will swoop behind, one will swoop in front and they can just score from anywhere.

"They'll kick a banana from the side and then a set shot from in front, it's just ridiculous.

"As they always say you don't win premierships in June, but this is probably one of our strongest teams and I'm really excited for the second half of the season."

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