“Last season at the start of the year there were 4 or 5 girls who would come down regularly and train with the boys. A few of those girls got the opportunity to play on permit up in the Gold Coast comp with the Coolangatta Bluebirds. From there we had an AFL Nines Competition which ran before Christmas last year. That is a modified rules game, a little like touch football where there is a mixed comp, 9 players on a square shaped field. A bit like a Soccer field.
A lot of girls who played in that comp then came and transferred over to pre season training in early January. We ended up with 20 new girls who have never played before. We worked on 3 different facets of the game, developing their skill, developing their fitness and developing their knowledge. From there we have built a little team that has made it all the way to the grand final.
Our team comes from a broad range of sporting backgrounds. We have a heap of Netballers, Soccer players and a couple of others who have come from sports like Rugby. We have a diverse team that work well together. We all learn from each other.
The Semi last weekend was a bit dicey. We only just made it. The score was 22 / 27 with 2 seconds to go and Emma scored a goal ( 6 points) to win it for us by 1 point. We didn’t even hear the siren at the end of the game through our screaming. It’s quite a tough game. There’s a lot of bruises at the end of every game. It’s different to many other sports as a lot of things we do in AFL such as the shepherding and the pushing is illegal in other games. You would get pulled up for a penalty in either Netball or Soccer doing those sort of things whereas it’s encouraged in AFL.
We have a lot of girls who come along and decide it’s not for them but the girls who have stayed have worked really hard to get we are now.
The Grand Final is this Saturday at the Cavvanbah Centre in Byron Bay. Kick off is at 12.15. The reserve grade men play before us and then the senior men play after. We would love many spectators to come and cheer us on. Our coaches need a mention as well. Joey Mitchell was around last season. He invited a fair few of the girls along and Carl Merrison has come across from Western Australia with his young family. He’s joined the club this year and he’s built on all of those individual and team aspects to bring us together. They work really hard. My role is Captain. I’ve played Soccer for 18 years prior to this and just kicked a footy for the first time in July last year. It’s been a transition for me but I’m not going back.”