WARATAH took down minor premiers PINT in the second semi-final to book its place in the 2023 NTFL Women’s Premier League Grand Final. The Tahs’ had to fight hard, with inaccuracy causing some issues, but the second placed team eventually came away with the 13-point win over PINT who had not played in three weeks.

There was always going to be questions asked of the Queen Ants, who last played in Round 17 of the NTFL Women’s season, where they smashed Nightcliff by 98 points. A week earlier, they destroyed another lowly outfit in Southern Districts by 111 points, but since the win over the Tigers, have had respective byes. In Round 18, the Queen Ants had a regular season bye, before earning a week off for finishing top of the table.

By comparison, Waratah came into the match off the back of some impressive wins against quality opposition, and though PINT did match it with the Tahs’ throughout the first half, did not sustain it after the main break. Waratah lead by four points at quarter time – but should have been more having kicked 1.5 to 1.1, and though PINT rallied to cut the deficit to two points at half-time, Waratah booted 2.6 to 1.1 in the second half to run out 4.11 (35) to 3.4 (22) winners.

There were seven individual goalkickers in the match, with Stephanie O’Brien named best-on as she hit the scoreboard, while Jordan Mifsud, Jenna Singh and Lisa Miceli were the other goalkickers for Waratah. Young gun Annabel Kievit also impressed in the win. For PINT, Steph Lawrence, Georgia Hicks and Casey Morris all hit the scoreboard.

In the knockout first semi-final, St Mary’s bounced back from a loss to Waratah in order to post a win over Darwin Buffaloes and remain in contention for the second grand final spot. Failing to score in the opening term, the Saints kept playing catchup with the Buffaloes in the first half, trailing by six points at both breaks. They evened the scores in the third term by only trailing by a single point at the last break, before kicking the winning goal to secure the 3.2 (20) to 2.3 (15) win.

Competition leading goalkicker Kaitlyn Armstrong snagged two majors, while Katherine Dann and Michelle Friel were named the Saints’ best. Youngster Emma Stark was also impressive in the victory, while Kalliopi Gikas hit the scoreboard. For Darwin, vice-captain Bianca Stokes kicked both of the Buffaloes goals, while it meant season over for the likes of Molly Althouse and Imahra Cameron who battled hard for their side.