NORTHERN Knights claimed the 2019 NAB League Girls premiership, defeating the Calder Cannons by 22 points at Ikon Park on Saturday. We were there to capture the day and here are some of the images, accompanied with some post-game quotes for Northern Knights fans to relieve the huge day.

“Our forwards are so, so dangerous, even you saw in that last bit where Alyssa (Bannan) had that one-on-one with that girl, they just put people under pressure.” – Gabby Newton.

“I think we played a good game, I think last year (2018 Grand Final loss to Geelong Falcons) our issue was we got too confident coming out of half-time. This year we played all four quarters and it really showed.” – Nell Morris-Dalton.

“The small forwards having manic pressure as Marcus (Abney-Hastings) would say, to keep it in there. They can convert whenever they get opportunities.” – Britney Gutknecht.

“I got my hands nice and strong and then the girls were just kicking it in very well and helped me out.” – Nell Morris-Dalton on her recent form, including seven goals in two finals.

“I think we all knew what to expect and players who had been a part of that team last year were able to impart that knowledge on the girls who hadn’t played a grand final so we knew that if we could get on top of them in the first five minutes and keep our cool, that we’d be able to shut them down first quarter.” – Gabby Newton.

“I’m not too much about the individual achievements, more about the team, I’ll take it I guess, but really happy with the win.” – Jess Fitzgerald on winning the Best on Ground medal.

“Playing with Gabby (Newton) is unreal. I know she’s a future star of the game, (and) to be playing alongside her and knowing hopefully we cross paths further down the track, it’s unreal, it’s just so good” – Britney Gutknecht.

“It was a pretty surreal feeling, I haven’t really played in front of a crowd that big before so just happy to just get that opportunity and the girls really pulled through today so it was good.” – Ellie McKenzie.

“I go to school with Georgie (Prespakis), so we’re pretty good friends so that was pretty interesting, but yeah she’s a great talent and I’m sure she’s going to do well in the next few years.” – Ellie McKenzie on direct opponent, Georgie Prespakis.

“I trust our leaders within the ground, and yes you’re right they were getting a lot of ball inside their 50, but I think ultimately our leaders really stood up, led by our marvellous captain. Within our backline, Phoebe Chisholm and Sarah Sansonetti are really strong leaders, so they took the sting out of the game and were able to get that 5 or 10 minutes which was really, really pleasing.” – Northern Knights coach, Marcus Abney-Hastings on Calder’s purple patch in the second quarter.

“We really have a strong back six who have stood up time upon time throughout the year so with those close games we’re used to being challenged, so we were able to deal with that today.” – Gabby Newton.

“It’s just like playing with a sister. We’ve been together for three years now, it’s just huge. I love playing with Brit (Gutknecht), we just know where each other are and we don’t even need to communicate it, so I’m really going to miss it.” – Gabby Newton.

“It’s hugely sad, we’re a huge family. I know this team is never going to be the same again and obviously as top-agers we’re moving on but we’ve just enjoyed our time together, it’s really sad that we’re splitting.” – Britney Gutknecht.

“Jess is probably our most important player. We’re really strong inside the contest and we’ve got players of the Brit’s (Gutknecht) and the Gabby’s (Newton) that put a lot of heat around the ball, but with Fitzy’s run and carry, and really good ball use, she’s probably our most important player. Her speed off the mark, the way she takes the game on is absolute electric, you can’t teach that. We’re really blessed to have this number 14 in our corner.” – Marcus Abney-Hastings.

“It has been a two-year journey for us. We made conscious decisions in both pre-seasons to really develop our bottom-agers and our middle-agers and today that’s really come to fruition with the performance that we showed and the year we had. I think it will be pretty similar next year. Our ultimate is to make sure girls get drafted. This is fantastic, and a great reward for our girls, but ultimately our job is to make sure they’re in the best position to get drafted and take their careers to the next stop, so we’ll continue to do that and really push our girls forward.” – Marcus Abney-Hastings.