Premier C Women’s: Season Review

Aidan Sinclair

Aquinas

After winning their first five games by an average of 58 points, it was clear that Aquinas would be favourites to go all the way. A bump in the road occurred in Round 6 when they fell to the Tigers in a thrilling contest, but they picked themselves back up and won their final four games. A dominant, revengeful win over the Tigers in week 1 of the finals would see them host either St Bedes/Mentone or Mazenod in the Grand Final, before COVID had other ideas. Laura McHugh and Hannah McLean both cracked double figure goal tallies for the season with 15 and 10, respectively. While they didn’t have a top three finish in the best & fairest count, Aquinas’ dominance showed up in the form of three players in the top six – Natasha Derksen (10), Meg Dargan (10) and Chelsea Tucker (9). Defender Carla Barics was selected as a finalist in the Anytime Fitness Rising Star Award.

St Bedes/Mentone Tigers

The Tigers had a great run in 2021, finishing the regular season with an 8-2 record. They won three of their opening four games before they found themselves 3-2 and perhaps fighting for their spot come finals time. However, they found their mojo, winning their final five games of the season and finishing second on the ladder. Like Aquinas, the Tigers had a number of excellent players throughout the season. Without question, Madeleine Tilley was the standout in the ruck, polling 14 votes and winning the Premier C B&F Award alongside Mazenod’s Adele Kerley. Brittni Donaldson led the goalkicking with 9 while Chelsea Bowen, Ina Brodahl and Nina Coghill all kicked 8 each.

Mazenod

Mazenod charged out of the blocks and were top of the ladder after Round 2, with an average winning margin of 54 points. They would go on to be victorious in four of the opening five games of the season and looked primed for a top two finish. Falling slightly out of form, they won three of their final five games and finished with a 7-3 record. Mazenod breezed through the first week of finals with a 21-point win over Ivanhoe and would have provided a massive challenge for the Tigers the following week. Lara Del Conte and Adele Kerley were the one-two punch that Mazenod needed, kicking 25 goals between them for the season. Kerley was particularly outstanding and polled 14 votes alongside SBMT’s Tilley to take out the B&F Award.

Ivanhoe AFC

The Ivies had a rollercoaster of a season. They only won one of their opening four games and were seemingly unthreatening to the top sides. However, some massive wins in the back end of their season saw them finish with a 5-5 record, allowing them to sneak into the top four and feature in finals. Unfortunately, their fairy-tale was cut short in week 1 of finals when they were downed by Mazenod. Emily Jane Johnson led the Ivies  with 14 goals, while Emily Jane Johnson polled eight umpire votes, finishing in the top 10.

UHS-VU

UHS’s season was one of two tales. Their first half of the season saw four wins from five games as they looked set for a finals run. Though, unfortunately for them, they would fall right off and only win one game in the back half of the year, missing out on the top 4 on percentage. Madeline Hince was UHS’s shining light as she booted 24 majors for the season to take out the league’s goalkicking award. Hince also polled 12 votes and finished third in the B&F count.

Brunswick Renegades

The Renegades didn’t have the most convincing start to the year, winning one of their opening five games. Things started to look up when they got the chocolates in their next two to take their record to 3-4 and knock on the door of the top 4. A loss in their 8^th game of the season took their record to 3-5 and ruled out any chances of finals. They made a late charge, winning their final 2 games to finish 5-5 and similarly to UHS, missed out of finals on percentage. Eliza Cole (8) and Shelley Lampard (6) were the best of the Renegades, finishing in the top 15 for the B&F.

North Brunswick

The Bulls didn’t have a particularly successful campaign, although there were plenty of positives to take out of it. Their only win came in Round 3 when they defeated Richmond Central by 6 points. Further, they took it up to finalists Ivanhoe when they faced them in Round 6, only going down by 13 points. Sarah Rohan was named in the best a team-high six times, while Andrea Standen kicked three as the only multiple goal scorer and was named in the best on five occasions.

Richmond Central

The Snakes had a difficult year and finished with an 0-10 record. Though, this didn’t come without any close encounters. In Round 3, they fell one goal short of the Bulls and three weeks later they lost a thriller against the Renegades by just two points. The Snakes would have plenty to take out of the year, despite their winless record. Laura Quinton and Tenille Moselen were standouts on the field with each named in the best five times. Kellie Birkett, Stefanie Talarico and Cindy Hua combined for the Snakes total of six goals for the season.