It has been a heartbreaking week for Brisbane Lions fans as they saw their women’s side fall agonisingly short in the AFLW grand final, while their AFL counterparts lost their season opener at the hands of St Kilda. Meanwhile, the NEAFL/QAFL mini-draft highlighted a busy week elsewhere.

AFLW Grand Final | Brisbane Lions vs. Western Bulldogs

The Western Bulldogs overcame a goalless first half to clinch a thrilling six-point victory over the Brisbane Lions in the AFLW grand final at Ikon Park. A three-goal-to-nil third term proved the difference as the Dogs defied the absence of suspended skipper Katie Brennan, putting a dramatic week behind them to capture the premiership.

Both teams struggled to score early on with the conditions and heat of the contest proving difficult. Lions young star Sophie Conway kicked the game’s lone goal of the first half. Conway capped off a neat passage of play by converting a set shot from 15 metres after being spotted by Jess Wuetschner. Conway should have returned the favour minutes later when she had Wuetschner alone near goal, instead going for goal herself and wasting a gilt-edged opportunity. Still, the Lions’ pressure around the ground was outstanding, and they dared to take the game on. But a handful of half-chances in the second term amounted to nothing, so while the Dogs were held scoreless for the quarter, so too were the Lions with just a goal in it at halftime.

The complexion of the match changed soon after the break. The Dogs began to take control in the middle and implemented a direct style of play. With the rain having abated, Deanna Berry unloaded from just beyond 50 metres to kick the first goal of the game for the Bulldogs. Kirsten McLeod dribbled another Dogs through moments later to turn the tide of the match. Young Bulldog star Monique Conti tumbled through the Dogs’ third major moments before three-quarter time, and the wave was palpable. This had been their premiership quarter.

Wuetschner found an opening early in the final term, goaling to renew Lions’ hope. Then Jamie Stanton continued to find the footy, helping to set up a chance to the hitherto quiet Sabrina Frederick-Traub, but the big forward missed, cutting the margin to an even goal. Later in the term Emma Kearney won a holding the ball free kick with a tackle on Lions’ Kaitlyn Ashmore 30-metres out from goal. She kicked truly to all but seal the deal with five minutes left to play. Wuetschner goaled from a stoppage with three minutes to go, cutting the margin to just five points. In the end it wasn’t enough for the Lions, losing by a goal in the decider for the second year running.

Final Scores:

WESTERN BULLDOGS   0.1   0.1   3.2   4.3 (27)
BRISBANE LIONS         1.1   1.1   1.1   3.3 (21)

Goals:

Western Bulldogs: Berry, McLeod, Conti, Kearney
Brisbane Lions: Wuetschner 2, Conway  

Best:

Western Bulldogs: Conti, Blackburn, Kearney, Birch, Spark, Bruton
Brisbane Lions: Lutkins, Stanton, Wuetschner, Zielke, Ashmore  

QAFL clubs vie for NEAFL talent in mini-draft

As the football season draws closer, Queensland clubs from both the NEAFL and QAFL competitions have staged the 2018 QAFL mini-draft this week. The mini-draft exists to align every Queensland NEAFL primary listed player to a QAFL club, with representatives from the clubs tasked with selecting players in reverse ladder order and who have no previous alignment to their list. In the circumstance where a NEAFL player is not selected by their team on any given weekend, they will be available for selection for their aligned QAFL club that weekend.

Eight former AFL players have been aligned to QAFL clubs in 2018, including former North Melbourne captain Andrew Swallow, who we could potentially see suiting up for Wilston Grange, and Matt Hammelmann, who could return to Morningside.

Port Douglas reigns supreme in North Queensland Premiers Challenge

The Port Douglas Crocs showed on Saturday why they are widely regarded as one of the best regional teams in the state, when they accounted for the Townsville-based Hermit Park Tigers by 45 points in the inaugural NQ Premiers Challenge. The battle of AFL Cairns and AFL Townsville 2017 premiers was scheduled to be the curtain raiser for the AFL’s Gold Coast Suns vs North Melbourne match at Cazaly’s Stadium, however persistent rain saw the match moved to the newly revamped Watsons Oval in Cairns.

Final Scores:

Port Douglas 10.11 (71) defeated Hermit Park 4.2 (26)

Goals:

Port: Daniel Moore 5, Adam Gross 2, Mitchell Bohm, Kaine Freyling, Kallum Oates.
Tigers: Jack Davidson, Jason Di Betta, Benjamin Holden, Josh Hall.

Coolangatta and Robina make womens football history

Coolangatta and Robina earned themselves a slice of womens football history at the weekend when the two clubs were crowned the inaugural Alpha Sport Women’s Showdown champions in their respective divisions. Coolangatta’s QWAFL side outlasted QWFA Division 1 powerhouse Aspley in the final, winning 3.1 (19) to 1.0 (6) to claim first place in the tournament on Saturday at Leyshon Park. Sunday’s leg saw Robina go undefeated and defeating Coomera in the final by 37 points.