The Bears and the Fields notch thrilling victories to take the chocolates in return from Easter break

After what felt like an eternity, we finally had a return to William Buck Premier Women’s this past weekend, with an interesting slate of games on Saturday followed by a standalone fixture on Sunday between Old Scotch and MUWFC.

Launching Round 3 of Premier Women’s, we were treated to two enthralling games between teams attempting to put their stamp on the competition.

Newcomers to William Buck Premier, Old Geelong — who have impressed to start the year — hosted last year’s finalists, Caulfield Grammarians, at Como Park. The OGs had control of the game through three quarters, holding a ten-point lead at the final break. However, the Fields were too strong in the final term, running out three-point winners.

Old Geelong coach Jack Crameri was pleased with the performance despite the result and is looking forward to the challenges ahead. “The result was the only disappointing part about the day — the performance was really positive. We are looking forward to another big challenge next week against Old Scotch.”

West Brunswick were attempting to make it two wins on the bounce when they travelled to Victoria Park to face Kew. The Bears, however, responded from their loss to Old Geelong the week prior and put together a strong four-quarter performance, leading at every break.

Despite the Magpies’ three-point defeat, coach Ryan Wardel was upbeat about his side’s performance and outlined the need to start games faster. “The game was decided in the first five minutes. We weren’t switched on and they kicked three goals early. We managed to fight back well, but against good sides like Kew, we can’t allow that to happen.”

For the Bears, Ash Melnikas had a standout performance, kicking five goals, asserting her dominance around the contest, and providing first use for Kew throughout the four quarters. The win moves the Bears into equal third on the ladder.

Williamstown CYMS 12.11 (83) defeated Old Yarra Cobras 2.0 (12) to notch their first victory of the 2025 season. The CYs’ win came off the back of a brilliant first half in which they kicked nine goals to zero.

Alessia Acquaro impressed with six majors, while Sofi Georgas and Loren Mills added two apiece in the 71-point victory. CYs coach Xavier Smith was ecstatic with his side’s ball movement and cohesion inside forward 50 and believes they will take a lot from the win. “We’ll take a lot of confidence out of that performance — we’ll keep looking to get better and fine-tune a few areas.”

For the Cobras, Lara Moussa and Josephine Muscat put together strong individual performances with a goal each, and coach Michael Talbot praised the effort of Leanne McHenry, who provided grit and experience in the middle.

Talbot referenced the Cobras’ poor first half and the need for improvement going forward into the remainder of the season. “The first half lacked intensity and didn’t apply pressure. There’s still a lot of growth left in the group, but we need to be more consistent.”

St Kevin’s looked to keep their undefeated start to the season rolling with a matchup against Fitzroy at Righetti Oval. The 2024 Grand Finalists took home the chocolates in a close-fought game, 5.6 (36) to 3.2 (20), to remain unbeaten and atop the ladder with three wins.

Hannah Smith continued her dominant start to the season, kicking four majors for St Kevin’s, and coach Tom Purcell sang the praises of Molly Wilson, Angelique Argiros and Bella Rees.

Meanwhile, the Roys move to sixth on the ladder with the defeat and will look to bounce back against the Cobras next weekend. Fitzroy coach Nathan Jumeau felt his side could learn a lot from the experience of playing against one of the competition’s best. “Learning how such a well-drilled team works together in the middle of the ground is something we will look at and take a bit out of, hopefully.”

The final stanza of Round 3 was a standalone Sunday clash between Old Scotch and MUWFC. The latter were no match for the Cardinals, who piled on 23 majors to win by 152 points.

Cardinals coach Dean Anderson was pleased with his side’s performance, particularly their connection between midfield and forward line. Anderson also pointed to a challenging month ahead. “We have some really challenging weeks ahead and look forward to playing Old Geelong this week.”

For MUWFC, coach Michael Goldsmith continues to focus on the positives and small wins from each game his side participates in. “We took some real positives away — our players never stopped contesting. We’re building habits that will hold up as the seasons go.” Eve Sheehan, Maddison Noack, Asha Price and Jolyn Collins all put in strong performances for MUWFC in defeat.

At the conclusion of Round 3, St Kevin’s and Caulfield Grammarians remain undefeated, while Old Scotch and Old Geelong round out the top four.

Round 4 shapes up to be an interesting weekend of footy, with a top four clash between Old Geelong and Old Scotch, Kew travelling to play Caulfield Grammarians, and Old Yarra Cobras facing Fitzroy. Meanwhile, West Brunswick have a tough test against St Kevin’s, and rounding out the weekend is another Sunday matchup between Williamstown CYMS and MUWFC.