The largest Bond University QAFLW on record begins this Saturday with 10 teams vying for the ultimate prize in Queensland women’s Australian Football. Commentator Daniel Viles assesses the changes to each team’s playing list and suggests who you might want to watch for in 2025, beginning with the five teams located north of the Brisbane River.
MAROOCHYDORE
Joined competition: 2017
Best finish: Preliminary Final 2020, 2021
Captain: Abbey Tognazzini
Coach: Leigh Redpath (coached 8, won 3, lost 5 - 37.5%)
GAINS: Amy Bissett (Wynyard, Tas); Roxy Beuzeville (Collegians, Vic); Lillianne Chambers (Gympie); Monique Jephson (BITS); Te Aorangi Jordan (returning); Lucy Massie (South East London); Mikayla Martin (Aspley); Demi McCarthy (Glenelg, SA); Shae Partington (Glenelg, SA); Buell Verkade (Western Ravens, NZ); Liv Waldron (Western Ravens, NZ).
LOSSES: Emily Casey; Orla Crowley (University of Qld); Claire Drake; Maddy Hennessy (Morningside); Kaiya Hides (Wilston Grange); Ellen Hopkins (Moreton Bay); Lucy McEachen; Holly Stone (Yeronga); Arden Quilliam (Moreton Bay); Anneka Williams (Moreton Bay)
Let’s not mince words - Maroochydore nearly imploded in 2024. The Roos played three matches in May for a combined score of 2.5 (17) to 31.31 (217), admittedly against the top three sides. The coach was shown the door and several club veterans walked through it voluntarily.
It would be wrong to say that Leigh Redpath was the club’s saviour, but the Maroochydore side that upset University of Queensland and Coorparoo in June, the latter with one of the largest comebacks in Bond University QAFLW history, bore no resemblance to the May team despite having almost no personnel changes. The guiding hand of Redpath was clearly the right shape for Maroochydore’s glove.
The Roos look set to begin 2025 significantly better than last year. Two-time Team of the Year defender Sara-Jane O’Grady will always attract attention, but the silky skills of New Zealander Axel Oswald off halfback, the strength and versatility of new captain Abbey Tognazzini, and the all-round pacy game of Poppy Tindal give Maroochydore a balanced back five.
Up forward, Jesse McMillan played some of the most thrilling football in the entire league last year and still managed to finish the season as an unknown. Her partnership with Lataya De Pauw, who debuted two years ago as a nervous teenager but is now turning aerials at training, will be further complemented by Tasmanian representative Amy Bissett.
Demi Norton took her midfield game up a level in 2024 and provided a safe platform for Abbey Rankin to move the ball forward. The return of state league centurion and 2022 Best and Fairest winner Mikayla Martin means that rucks like Rose Hughes, Monique Corrigan and Te Aorangi Jordan will have plenty of options from the restarts.
The bad times on the Sunshine Coast look to be over. In 2025, Maroochy’s on the ball.
MORETON BAY
Joined competition: 2025* (competed as Caboolture Lions in 2013)
Captain: Jess Davy
Coach: Shane Dawes
GAINS: Jess Davy (Aspley); Ellen Hopkins (Maroochydore); Eloise O’Connor (Aspley); Arden Quilliam (Maroochydore); Tahlia Smith (Cairns Saints); Anneka Williams (Maroochydore)
The elevation of Moreton Bay to the Bond University QAFLW changes the competition. Traditionally, the power of the league has been on Brisbane’s southside and the Gold Coast. Adding any club north of Brisbane would have given local players an extra option for playing at state level; adding a club as established as the Lions with a coach as credentialled as Shane Dawes gives local players a chance of succeeding at state level.
Including Jess Davy and Ellen Hopkins in the Gains list is misleading. Both played in the Lions’ QFAW Division 1 premiership in 2023, forward Hopkins kicking over 50 goals including three on Grand Final day, and midfielder Davy distributing the ball like a genius to win Best on Ground in the Grand Final, plus Best and Fairest for the season, and was probably unlucky to miss out on Australian of the Year. They spent 2024 in the Bond University QAFLW, Davy with Aspley and Hopkins with Maroochydore, represented Queensland against Tasmania, and now return to Red Rooster Park with priceless intel.
They also brought friends. Experienced defender Eloise O’Connor has followed Davy north from Aspley, while tall defender Arden Quilliam and wrecking-ball midfielder Anneka Williams have come down the Bruce Highway with Hopkins. Tahlia Smith, meanwhile, has travelled the entire Bruce Highway, the former Cairns Saints captain resuming her career after an ACL injury.
Arguably the most exciting part of the Lions’ debut season will be seeing the core of the QFAW side finding their feet at the higher level. Fullback and former netballer Bayley Woollett looked very much at home for South Queensland against North Queensland in 2024, Emily Watson topped last year’s Division 1 goal tally, while midfielder Taylor McCosker stepped up in the absence of Davy to win a Best and Fairest medal.
Technically, the Lions have already played in the state league; that was in a previous incarnation as the Caboolture Lions in 2013 when they played nine games and lost them all heavily. Without wishing to disrespect the past, the current club is a new entity. 2025 is the year when the Moreton Bay Lions ascend to the Bond University QAFLW ready and roaring.
ASPLEY
Joined competition: 2019
Best finish: Grand Final 2023
Captain: Emma Pittman
Coach: Luke Glacken (coached 33, won 23, drawn 1, lost 9 - 69.7%)
GAINS: Grace Bradley (Morningside); Katie Day (Collingwood VFLW); Kaetsi French (Sandgate); Lyneeka Hollows (North Mackay); Ashanti Jackson; Emily Keehn (Wilston Grange); Niamh McCarthy (Wilston Grange jrs); Emma MacDonald (Sherwood); Peppa Poultney (Yeronga); Georgia Smith (Sandgate); Kristen Tyquin (Collingwood VFLW); Luka Yoshida-Martin (Brisbane AFLW)
LOSSES: Rachael Anstey (coaching); Courtney Daniec; Jess Davy (Moreton Bay); Silvana Goldbach-Eggert; Emma Lendrum (Wilston Grange); Emma McNaughton (Morningside); Elysse McNiven (Kedron); Eloise O’Connor (Moreton Bay); Kiyanah Toy
Aspley believes it can win the 2025 Bond University QAFLW. Last year’s competition revealed a very big gap between the top three (Southport, Bond Uni and the Hornets) and the rest. Bond Uni broke through for its first premiership in 2023 after losing the previous year’s Preliminary Final; Southport did the same thing last year. Aspley won’t just be hoping for the pattern to continue, they’ll want to make it continue.
The most notable addition to the brown and gold this year is height. South Queensland ruck Emma MacDonald has come up a division from Sherwood, former heptathlete Emily Keehn switches from Wilston Grange, and Peppa Poultney, probably the second-best ruck behind Georja Davies in last year’s QAFLW, crosses the river from Yeronga. With last year’s first-choice ruck Rachael Anstey now in the coaching team, there may never be a better time to be an Aspley inside midfielder.
Speaking of which, the strength of Jasmine Kawa and Lucia Liessi returns in 2025, but there are openings for low-to-ground ball-winners to play alongside Louise Tyson. Former UQ premiership winner Katie Day was Best and Fairest for Collingwood’s VFLW team in 2024 and can play in the middle or forward. Similarly, Georgia Smith and delisted Brisbane Lion Luka Yoshida-Martin are primarily forwards but wouldn’t look out of place centrally.
But what about Izzy McDonough? The Lions Academy captain will again be splitting duties between Springfield and Carseldine in 2025 but, after missing out in the AFLW draft, there’s every chance that her speed and class may be laced with a drop of venom this year.
Aspley’s handballing and lateral movement produced the most attractive football of any team in 2024, but they were the ‘big 3’ team to miss out on a Grand Final berth. Luke Glacken and the Hornets have a choice: decide that the style was wrong and make it more pragmatic; or decide that the style was right and they just need to play it better. If Aspley decides upon the latter and wins the flag, the only bigger winners will be those who get to watch it.
WILSTON GRANGE
Joined competition: 2014
Best finish: Premiers 2018
Captain: Mackenzie Findlay
Coach: Phil Tonkin (coached 14, won 6, lost 8 - 42.9%)
GAINS: Mia Briedis (Oak Park, Vic); Rachel Harris (Yeronga); Kaiya Hides (Maroochydore); Tshinta Kendall (Bond University); Emma Lendrum (Aspley); Makeisha Muller (Coorparoo); Grace Osborne (Kew, Vic)
LOSSES: Haley Jones; Emily Keehn (Aspley); Emma MacNeill (retired); Ash Moloney; Annabel Pettigrew; Kalista-Jayne Shiner; Jayme Winter
Nine percent was all that separated Wilston Grange from a finals place in 2024, just two years after a winless season. Just as importantly, they achieved that playing an expansive brand of Aussie Rules that was not only easy on the eye, but suggested that there was a lot of growth left in the team.
The primary characteristic of the Gorillas’ off-season recruitment is running. Makeisha Muller set the Bond University QAFLW alight in 2021 on the wing for Maroochydore and could easily have sneaked into the Team of the Year. Kaiya Hides did much the same for the Roos last year, as did Mia Briedis in Melbourne with, amongst others, Collingwood’s VFLW team. Given how much players like Taneka Dhadlie and Gemma Donataccio impressed out wide last year, there could either be fierce competition for outside midfield spots, or opportunities to find new roles or return to old positions.
The elite running capabilities extend into the forward line where the exciting Tshinta Kendall has been recruited from Bond University and is likely to command a regular starting spot. Apparently, Phil Tonkin didn’t think a forward line with Mia Geere, Summer Hamilton and Naomi Celebre was thrilling enough.
Keyshia Matenga is expected to run the midfield again having shown everyone that the clean hands and cold decision-making she showed for years on the wing were just as evident in heavy traffic. Grace Osborne, who also played some VFLW for Collingwood last year, has a big engine and may find the tough tackling of the Jasmin(e)s, Ware and Rivers, allows her more space to advance. If more toughness is required, there’s always captain Mackenzie Findlay ready to move back to the centre.
Grange averaged less than four goals per game in 2024 and only just missed out on finals. They may not have to improve on that all that much to finish in the top four this time around.
UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND
Joined competition: 2013
Best finish: Premiers 2021, 2022
Captain: Charlotte Andrews
Coach: Ross Clayfield (coached 74, won 43, drawn 1, lost 30 - 58.1%)
GAINS: Orla Crowley (Maroochydore); Finn Davies (Aspley); Farradai Hopkins (Yeronga); Jess Nguyen (Bond University); Camilla Satyasiv (Yeronga)
LOSSES: Jane Childes; Laura Clemesha; Bridie Condren; Madi Crowley-Long; Jasmine Dekker; Lara Mason (Pine Rivers); Lucy McCormick (Morningside); Lauren Middleton; Gracie Roy (Morningside); Laura Roy (Morningside); Nickkie Shaw; Annie Shewring
No club rebuilds quite like University of Queensland. Sure, they wish they hadn’t had so much practice at it, but watching the Red Lionesses begin a year looking on paper to be outclassed and then be challenging for finals by the end of it is no longer a surprise to those paying attention.
Defender Charlotte Andrews has been awarded the captaincy after several years of dependability. Jessi Henning began to move forward from her long-time fullback role last year and, depending on team balance, could conceivably be given more room to run in 2025.
Camilla Satyasiv (nee Burnett) and Farradai Hopkins have crossed the river from Yeronga. Satyasiv’s experience will help both on and off the park, but it’s the long boot of Hopkins on the short field of Base Architecture Meadows that could raise the heartrate. Hopkins excelled in the custodian’s role with the Lions Academy last year and, in the Bond University QAFLW, became the first player for years to score with a set shot from outside the 50. Add Orla Crowley who debuted last year for Maroochydore and the defence looks to have the required elements.
The key to UQ’s season may be the continued improvement of a generation of players blooded by Ross Clayfield two years ago. Elka Barnett, Erin Gilbert, Harriet Knijff, Edie McCabe, Kate McKenna and Eva Sartor all debuted as teenagers (most of them still are) but now have up to 28 games experience in the state league. Midfielder Josii Hargreaves has four years in the QAFLW behind her and is still only 21. Forward and ruck Coco Garton enters her third state league season while still a teen.
It's entirely possible that the intake of 2023 may be ready to graduate ahead of schedule.