Swans edge Cats by 3 points after Dunlop is stretchered off

Sydney have beaten Geelong 8.2 (50) to 7.5 (47) in an AFLW semifinal, a win by 3 points that sends the Swans into their first-ever preliminary final. The game at Kardinia Park was held up for nine minutes while medical staff attended to Geelong ruck Piper Dunlop, who was taken from the field on a motorised cart.

The stoppage came in the third quarter. Dunlop and Sydney's Tanya Kennedy clashed heads, and Dunlop got back to her feet before she became unsteady and fell on the edge of the centre circle. Sydney's Lexi Hamilton caught her as she went down, and then the trainers ran on. ABC News reported the incident and the nine-minute break in play.

For readers new to the game, the ruck is the player who contests the ball at centre bounces and restarts, so Dunlop was one of the players the Cats rely on to win the first hit-out. Losing a ruck in the middle of a close final is a real problem, and Geelong had to play the rest of the match without her.

The scoreboard stayed tight. Chloe Molloy kicked three goals for Sydney, and the Swans held on by 3 points, the kind of margin where one set shot decides the week. Geelong's 7.5 (47) was enough to make the Swans work for every point. Sydney go through to the preliminary final, the step before the Grand Final, and will play in the next round of the finals series.

Head clashes are one of the hardest things to watch in any contact sport. Players go into the contest at full speed, and a knock to the head can turn a routine marking contest into a stretcher trip in a second. Dunlop's exit is a reminder of that, and the way the match paused around her showed how seriously the medical staff treated it.

The result is in the book now. Sydney are through, and Geelong's season is over. For the Cats, the questions in the off-season will be about how a 3-point loss in a semifinal turned on one long stoppage, and how they cover the ruck role with Dunlop out.