The hard-nosed 21-year-old was in absolutely everything for Geelong, picking up 21 disposals as she looked to negate the influence of the Blues’ star-studded on-ball brigade.
Backing up her nine tackles from the previous week with another two, Webster has made a name for herself as a contested beast in the first fortnight of the season and will be crucial for the young Cats moving forward as they search for their first win of 2022.
Joining Webster in the blue-and-white hoops was exciting Echuca product Annabel Johnson, who took to the AFLW stage for the second time after making her much-anticipated debut in round one.
In what was a strongly contested game, the speedy half-back flanker wasn’t able to get too involved in proceedings, registering seven disposals and two marks.
However, her tenacity was on display for all to see, as she did all she could to make life for the Carlton forwards difficult by laying five tackles.
Kyabram’s Julia Crockett-Grills was forced to miss the clash with the Blues, after being one of three Geelong players to enter AFL Health and Safety protocols.
COVID-19 took its first victim of the AFLW season, after the Western Bulldogs’ clash with Brisbane was postponed.
This meant Mansfield’s Bonnie Toogood was unable to back up her impressive performance against Melbourne in round one, while exciting Shepparton United prospect Aurora Smith was denied a chance of a potential debut.
Off the field, dual Adelaide premiership player and Shepparton export Angela Foley opened up about her battles with injury after three of the competition’s star players in Isabel Huntington, Brianna Davey and Kate Lutkins all suffered season ending ACL tears in round one.
Speaking with NewsCorp, Foley expressed her disappointment in seeing the trio fall to such cruel injuries.
“It’s really sad, honestly, and round one, it’s cruel and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone,” Foley said.
“This game that we play, it brings you so much joy every day. You rock up to training, we have so much fun. But it can also be pretty cruel at times.
“So for all the joy that you get sometimes there’s got to be heartbreak as well. You experience that when you lose, and you also experience it when you get injured, unfortunately.”
Suffering the injury at Adelaide Oval during last year’s grand final against Brisbane, she described how she juggled the gruelling recovery process with her job as a sports educator at Seymour College.
“I’ve never had an injury before; I’ve never rolled my ankle, I’ve never broken a bone, I’ve never missed a game because I was injured, my whole life,” she said.
“So this was the first time I had to deal with being injured and then all the scans and all the rehab and the physio.
“You wake up the next day and life is still going on; you’re still a teacher and you’ve still got students and the bell still rings.”
