Giants defender sinks Bulldogs in AFLW

But she ended the match with three to her name in the 7.1 (43) to 2.10 (22) victory.

Fellow defender Louise Stephenson, who had kicked just one goal in her 28 previous games, finished with two goals and an assist after being stationed up forward. 

The Giants had Pepa Randall, Chloe Dalton, Rebecca Privitelli and Katie Loynes ruled out due to the competition's health and safety protocols, and they were dealt a late blow when Georgia Garnett was forced to join them after she contracted COVID-19 for a second time.

But with Barr and Stephenson excelling up forward in a surprise tactical move, the Giants sealed victory despite losing the inside 50m count 33-21.

The Bulldogs had been out of action for 20 days after being struck down by COVID-19, but they could have come away with victory if not for their horrible goalkicking.

Eleanor Brown (19 disposals) and Kirsty Lamb (18) battled hard for the Bulldogs, while Ellie Blackburn finished with 12 disposals, eight tackles, and a goal.

Alyce Parker racked up a game-high 20 disposals for the Giants.

GWS had just three inside 50s in the opening term, but they made every one count to end the quarter with 3.0 to their name.

Barr celebrated wildly upon kicking her maiden AFLW goal, while Stephenson was causing the Bulldogs' defence all sorts of headaches with two first-quarter goals.

Stephenson turned provider in the second term to set up Barr for her second, and a successful snap from 40-year-old Irish forward Cora Staunton saw the margin extend to 21 points at half-time.

The Bulldogs made the most of the strong breeze to dominate the third quarter, with almost the entire term played in their front half.

But a wayward return of 1.4 meant the margin of 11 points was going to be hard to overcome against the breeze in the final term.

The Bulldogs battled valiantly to the end, but they were left to ponder what could have been after blowing another series of golden opportunities in front of goal.