Manly Warringah Wolves v St George Dragons

Round 7 2026 Review

The siren summoned heavy showers as the Manly Warringah Wolves hosted St George Dragons for their Indigenous Round, Round 7, in the Women’s Premier Division. The last time these two sides met in 2025, it was a victory for the Wolves as they won at home 5.13.43 to 0.1.1. The Wolves entered this game seeking to stack onto their 4 win streak, while Dragons were still savouring their victory over the East Coast Eagles in Round 6. 

Manly Warringah opened the first quarter showcasing their spread across ground, lending to a handful of boundary throw-ins. Tossing between 50’s, both Baily (18) for the Dragons and Roditis (9) for the Wolves served their teams well with excellent clearance work, however Manly’s control of the space lead Wickham (24) to storm through the wing, executing a perfect kick to Stanbury (85) who slotted it through for Manly’s first major. Manly were quick to secure two more, one to Woolf (5), from hands supplied by the other goal scorer Rudolph (120), who proved her versatility with a banana from the boundary. Matheson (15) and Leeds (28) were sure to elevate the tackling pressure against the surging side, yet the Wolves were too efficient with ball in hand, earning three more, including two by Rudolph from deep in the pocket.

The second quarter saw the Dragons raise their pressure, but Manly were patient, chipping it backwards and lateral, waiting for a break in the Dragon's defence, which finally came to see Stanbury and Clarke (86) kick one a piece. The Dragons kept persistent, with Carey (20) and Baily working together excellently to work the ball towards their 50, but with forward presence lacking, the momentum returned to the Wolves to see Hayes (37) and Prems debutant McDougall (63) make their mark on the scoreboard. The Wolves kept their structure across the ground, giving them time and space to rob the Dragons of their clearance efforts, ending the half in the lead 63 to 1.

The Dragons entered the second half fresh from the change rooms, ready to show their immobilising pressure against the second place Wolves. In the quarter to come, the Dragons laid 27 tackles, spoiled 12 marks and kept the Wolves to scoring 2 goals 3 behinds, their lowest scoring quarter yet. The Wolves were rattled, their disposal efficiency plummeted and they missed 7 shots for goals. Baily, Higgs, Carey and Waechter (29) served the Dragons defence valiantly, with the latter scoring the first goal of the game for the Dragons in the dying minutes of the quarter. While the game was too far gone to win, the Dragons reputation rested on replicating this pressure in the final quarter, and the Wolves had to respond.

The final quarter began like the first, both teams champing at the bit to showcase their wet weather footy as the showers returned. The teams performed alike in the way of statistics, with tackle counts high and scoring opportunities low as the rain washed away the efficient disposals of the first half. An opportunity to clear from the Dragon's defence saw Carey punt the ball to the centre square, where it was wrestled into the hands of Bauer (13) , who was quick to replicate, kicking the ball to 30 metres from goal, inching toward the boundary. With a Wolf hot on her tail, Waechter threw her boot at the rolling ball, securing the second goal for herself and her side. The Wolves responded with their class, the 200 game player and captain Ashleigh Carter (16) securing her second goal of the game from an inside 50 that were proving difficult to come by. The Dragons finished the game with a quarter outperforming the Wolves by 1 behind, however it was too little, too late, with the Wolves securing the victory 85-15.

The Wolves will be looking to use their width at Gipps Oval against Parramatta Goannas this Saturday, whilst the Dragons will have to bring the pressure to the Sydney Uni Bombers at Kelso Park Oval.