St GEORGE Dragons have claimed a hard-fought 14-point win over the Parramatta Goannas in a gritty, low-scoring contest in the AFL Sydney Women’s Premier Division, prevailing 3.3 (21) to 1.1 (7).

On a crisp winter afternoon at Olds Park, both sides brought relentless pressure and commitment around the contest, but it was the Dragons who eventually broke the deadlock late in the final quarter, capitalising on a rare clean forward surge to kick the decisive goals and secure their third win of the season.

The match was tipped to be a low-scoring affair, with both teams still struggling to find offensive linkages that would allow them to keep possession and find avenues to score, and that’s exactly how it played out.

On a beautiful winter’s day, with a healthy and vocal crowd in attendance, the tone was set from the first bounce. A clean tap from the Dragons led to one of their first seamless linkages from a central stoppage down the field for the year.

But as expected, there’s not yet enough natural evasive nous across the board for either side. That early possession surge ended in a holding-the-ball decision, with the Dragons player unable to evade the oncoming defender. That would become the main storyline of the game.

Effort, action, and constant arm-wrestle battles bounced between the arcs, but neither team could string together enough effective chains of possession to convert into scoreboard pressure.

In the final quarter, youngster Brea Trevitt – arguably the best player on the ground – tried to lift the Goannas on her shoulders. She began with a brilliant piece of ruck-roving craft straight from Ava Saad‘s deft tap at the opening bounce of the fourth term. But once again, it only almost resulted in points.

For the Dragons:

Youngster Shiloh MacFarlane-Anning made a genuine difference, showing proactive footy instincts in the contested clinches. She also did some of the grunt work in the lead-up to the decisive goal, kicked by Ashleigh Walsh, gifted and unmarked on the line with only minutes remaining.

Caydelan Mitchell-Bruce was highly influential in the second half and central to many of the Dragons’ cleaner linkages. Especially noteworthy was her overhead mark inside 50, followed by an immediate “play on,” evasive running through traffic, and a composed finish for the goal that ultimately sealed the win late in the fourth quarter. Eloise Carey was crucial with intercept marking and timely defensive work, especially in the closing stages.

For the Goannas:

Parramatta was not proactive enough at the contest point, frequently opting to wait for a tackle opportunity rather than attacking the ball. This improved as the game went on and the crowd got behind them, but it remained one of the three key differences in the match.

Marley Rhodes was influential across the ground—particularly through the central corridor and in intercept positions behind play. Tayliya Noack had a strong performance, while Cindy Lam worked tirelessly all day. As always, Ashley Gray held firm deep in defence.

Overall Takeaways:

1) A Game of Pressure Without Polish:

Both sides struggled to create offence through evasive movement. The resulting tackle pressure led to numerous fumbles, stoppages, and broken chains of possession. However, the clear difference was that St George dominated in the stat of downfield surges. While the Goannas defended grimly all day, it was only a matter of time before the dam wall burst. Allowing repeated forward entries eventually led to one clean break, and that’s exactly what happened late in the final quarter.

St George absorbed pressure deep in defence, then transitioned the ball coast-to-coast for the match-sealing goal. Parramatta was structurally unprepared for downfield play in the first half. Time and again, the Dragons surged forward, and a St George player was first to the ball. The Goannas got no reward from their efforts in the contest and inside ball.

2) An Even Contest:

Despite the scoreline, the game remained extraordinarily close throughout and could have gone either way. However, St George always looked the more likely to find the winning goal.

3) A Positive Showcase:

This was a fantastically entertaining display of contested football from two teams still finding their footing at Premier Division level. Crucially, it gave both squads the opportunity to try offensive play styles—rather than spending an entire game locked into a purely defensive struggle against the division’s top-tier teams. It was refreshing to see both teams get the chance to play a more open, even, and competitive style of footy.

ST GEORGE DRAGONS 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 3.3 (21)
PARRAMATTA GOANNAS 0.1 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.1 (7)

GOALS:
St George: M. Doubell, A. Walsh, C. Mitchell Bruce
Parramatta: K. Devine

RMC BEST:
St George: C. Mitchell Bruce, A. McHale, M, Doubell, S Macfarlane-Anning, E. Carey
Parramatta: B. Trevitt, M. Rhodes, A. Saad, T. Noack, A. Gray

AROUND THE GROUNDS

A four-goal haul to Adrienne Keeffe helped North Shore Bombers put three-time reigning premiers East Coast Eagles to the sword in a battle of the title hopefuls. After a an early fight, the Bombers kicked clear with seven unanswered goals after quarter time, five of which came in the second half for a 9.8 (62) to 1.4 (10) victory.

A host of young guns were still at the forefront of the win with Lucy Yates (16 disposals, nine tackles and four inside 50s) named best-on by her coaches, as Heidi de Saxe (25 disposals, seven clearances, four tackles, four inside 50s and a goal) and Amelia Rainbow (18 disposals) were also among the bigger ball-winners for the Bombers. Jessica Whelan (15 disposals, four marks, four clearances, four tackles and three inside 50s) was best-on for the Eagles.

Manly Warringah Wolves flexed their muscles over UTS Bats, kicking away with five goals to nil in the second half after the Bats had stabilised the contest through the second term without any additional goals from quarter time. Unfortunately it was only a matter of time before the ladder leaders got to work and broke through for a 9.6 (60) to 2.4 (16) victory.

Seven goals between Lauren Bourgeois (four) and Isabella Rudolph (three) was the highlight, while youngster Lauren Bull (27 disposals, five marks, two clearances and four inside 50s) and Holly Wickham (26 disposals, six marks and five inside 50s) really stood up in some crunch moments, taking the load off the experienced stars at the Wolves. The Bats, who were missing star Madeleine Quinn due to her Allies duties, had top-ager Sophia Gaukrodger (21 disposals, four marks, eight tackles and two inside 50s) do her best, while Brianna-Lee Wade kicked both of the Bats’ goals.

In the other game, UNSW-ES Bulldogs finally got that massive win they were looking for when they scored with freedom and piled on 41 scoring shots to nil in a 29.12 (186) to 0.0 (0) victory over the struggling Pennant Hills Demons. The Demons only had 69 disposals for the match, as the Bulldogs won the ball 155 more times, the clearances by 34, inside 50s by 42 and took 15 forward 50 marks to nil.

Unsurprisingly there were some big goalkickers for the Bulldogs, headlined by Emily Conlan who slammed home seven goals from 26 touches, while Emma Haley booted five from 28 disposals and seven inside 50s. Ruck Amaia Wain had video game numbers of 21 disposals, 59 hitouts, 15 clearances, five inside 50s and three goals. Incredibly, Bela Nash still managed 20 touches for the Demons – almost one third of her team’s total touches – and also laid four tackles, as just four players had more than four disposals in the loss.