After a rain interrupted few weeks, all involved at the Queensland Australian Football League Women’s (QAFLW) will certainly be hoping the rain is behind them and the interruptions are all done as we head into the weekend.

The weekend does see an enthralling clash between two of the competition’s best sides this season, as reigning champions University of Queensland (UQ) takes on Southport. It will be the inaugural meeting between the two sides at QAFLW level, so who will come out on top?

These two sides are the two highest scoring sides thus far this season, so the defences of both sides will be under some pressure this weekend. Both teams have exciting forward lines, so the question will be which team’s defenders can keep their opponents quiet and ensure they do not have an influence on the game.

For Southport, Brittany Perry has kicked multiples in a game on more than one occasion this season, while Giselle Davies, Brianna McFarlane and Ashanti Bush are just some of the other dangerous forwards the Red Lionesses will have to contend with. Meanwhile for UQ, Luka Yoshida-Martin and Kadie Fletcher are both quick and lively so the Southport defenders will have to have their wits about them.

One other element that may play a factor is that because of the weather and the competition bye, Southport’s last game was almost a month ago to the day. How much will the extra time off affect the Sharks who are in their first season at this level? Also, Southport has to back up and play again on Wednesday so what happens tomorrow may affect how that match goes too.

UQ has had a bit of a break too. Their game last weekend got postponed, so time will tell how the unexpected week off affects them moving forward.

In other matches around the state, Yeronga South Brisbane will be hoping to build on last week’s inaugural win of the season when they take on Coorparoo. Wilston Grange and Aspley will be both hoping to bounce back from losses last weekend when they battle it out at Hickey Park, while Bond University have one of the longest drives in the QAFLW this week when they have to drive up the highway to take on Maroochydore.

QAFLW Round 9 Fixture

Southport vs University of Queensland
Yeronga South Brisbane vs Coorparoo
Wilston Grange vs Aspley
Maroochydore vs Bond Uni