A SEVEN-goal haul from Alora Dickson helped the Bathurst Lady Bushrangers open their account for the 2020 AFL Central West women's competition in style on Saturday, her side a dominant 11-6-72 to 2-5-17 victor over the Orange Tigers.
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Last season Dickson booted 21 majors for the Lady Bushrangers, which included five-goal hauls against Cowra and Parkes, and while this season has been shortened to nine rounds she is a good chance of bettering that tally.
After booting a pair in the season-opening loss to the Bathurst Giants, she fired on Saturday at George Park 2. Her efforts inside 50, combined with a stellar performance in the ruck from Beth Durham, meant the Tigers never really got a sniff.
"Alora, she was very, very good, just kicking some real difficult goals. She and Beth were just fantastic," Bushrangers coach Brian Matheson said.
"But everyone just played so well, it was a real team performance and exactly what I asked for. We got on top fairly early and at one stage it was about 50 points to two."
The Bushrangers restricted to their rivals to just a pair of behinds in the opening term to lead by 38 points at half-time.
While the Tigers shifted Erin Naden back to an on-ball role in the third quarter which provided them with more run through the centre and while the Tigers were close to breaking even in the second half, the Bushrangers were never threatened.
"We are just playing so much better football than we were this time last year and because of that bit more experience, it means we can do harder, more difficult training sessions. This time last year we were just teaching basics, how to kick and hand-ball, whereas now we're going for a lot more tactics and game plans," Matheson said.
Unfortunately there was a sour note to the game for the Lady Bushrangers as two of its more experienced players - captain Amelia Wright and Kelsey Richards - suffered serious injuries.
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