She took a mark within scoring range, but got up gingerly and tried to offload the ball to a teammate.
Play was then stopped by umpires, allowing Garner time to exit.
The 31-year-old had looked dangerous to that point, continuing her strong start to the season with 11 disposals and a goal.
“She’s all right. We believe that she’s just rolled her ankle quite badly,” Kangaroos coach Darren Crocker said after the match.
“But she’ll get scans [on Monday], so hopefully the scans just pretty much tell us that’s what it is and there’s nothing more sinister than that.”
Records tumble … and tumble
Garner’s injury was a down note on an otherwise brilliant day for North Melbourne.
The Roos set a new record for the highest score in AFLW with their 100-point win over Fremantle, 18.6 (114) to 2.2 (14).
But spare a thought for Port Adelaide, who had only set the scoring record themselves the night before. On Saturday night they scores 16.12 (108) against Gold Coast to sneak past Melbourne’s record of 107 points, set in 2022.
Hope they enjoyed those brief hours at the top. By 5pm (AEST) the next day, the Kangaroos had knocked them off.
Of course, it’s always less pleasant to be the team on the receiving end of a shellacking. And while Port Adelaide rebounded just fine from their own thrashing at the hands of North Melbourne, things are not so good for Fremantle.
Lisa Webb’s side has lost its past two matches – against last year’s grand finalists Brisbane and North – by a combined 170 points.
If at first you don’t succeed
Carlton took a trip up north to take on last year’s grand finalists the Brisbane Lions on Sunday, and came away with a strong contender for upset of the (very young) season so far.
But if the result didn’t have your jaw on the floor, how about Keeley Sherar’s goal of the year contender?
A five-goal second term set her Blues up for success against the competition heavyweights, and Sherar’s brilliant finish was the best of them all.
Sherar’s first attempt deep in the pocket didn’t get far. But she stuck around to grab the loose ball, and boy, did she get the reward. As Kelli Underwood observed in commentary, “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again”.
Her follow-up shot floated through from a near-impossible angle, beating traffic on the goal line no less. We’ve seen some cracking finishes this season, but this one was up there with the best.
But let’s not forget the stunner from St Kilda’s J’Noemi Anderson, who showed, on a similar theme, the value of not giving up.
Anderson sent a long bomb into a vacant forward 50m, only for the ball to hold up on the line, and it looked like it would be a cruel miss from a magnificent effort.
But Anderson followed up her own kick … and you can see the result for yourself.
Saints stunned
Despite that effort, it was not an enjoyable weekend for the Saints, who looked in complete control of their match against West Coast … right up to three-quarter-time.
The Saints led by 17 points at that point. So Eagles coach Daisy Pearce threw caution to the wind and gave emerging star Ella Roberts licence to run amok up front.
Roberts kicked two goals from eight final-term disposals and the Eagles reeled off four unanswered majors to come away with the win, a week after their own disappointing loss against the Bombers.
It led to a miserable second consecutive loss for the Saints, who were thrashed by Melbourne in round two. Next up is a trip north to Cairns to take on the Hawks.
Tigers in trouble
We’re just three rounds in, but Richmond’s season is already sputtering. The Tigers are 0-3 after losing to Essendon (who were without skipper Bonnie Toogood) on Friday night in Darwin.
With a shorter season than the men’s competition, there’s less time for teams to turn the ship around – and with a clash against second-placed Melbourne at Casey Fields on the horizon, an 0-4 start is looking likely.
They’re not the only winless team in the competition – Geelong, GWS and Gold Coast are also yet to record a victory – but of that quartet, only Richmond played finals in 2024.
Time is running out for the Tigers.
The final word
Hawthorn skipper Emily Bates may have been glad to scrape a win over the Bulldogs on Saturday night. But she was succinct when summing up the 14-10 final scoreline on Channel Seven after the match.
“We really need to get our game going because no one wants to come watch a three-goal game,” she said.