A record ten teams will contest the Bond University QAFLW beginning this Saturday. Commentator Daniel Viles completes his assessment of the playing lists and ones to watch in 2025 with the five teams located on the southside of the Brisbane River and beyond.
MORNINGSIDE
Joined competition: 2025* (competed as Morningside Wildcats to 2012, premiers 2003 and 2005)
Captain: Courtney McDonnell
Coach: Damien Richards (coached 48, won 35, lost 13 - 72.9%)
GAINS: Abi Ashford (Sherwood); Lucy Bellinger (Yeronga); Maddy Hennessy (Maroochydore); Georgia Hewett (Yeronga); Charlotte Howard (Coorparoo); Lucy McCormick (University of Qld); Courtney McDonnell (Yeronga); Emma McNaughton (Aspley); Gracie Roy (University of Qld); Laura Roy (University of Qld); Hannah Sexton (Coorparoo); Brooke Spence (Coorparoo); Tori Winstanley (Southport)
This time it’s different. It’s true that Morningside was the first Brisbane team to win the competition now known as the Bond University QAFLW and were powerhouses for most of the first decade, but that team was called the Wildcats.
Fast forward to 2025 and the Morningside team is called the Panthers, its players wear the club jersey, the club’s social media pages are jammed with women’s team content, and the team is an integral part of the club.
In an ironic twist, the coach who led the first Coorparoo senior women’s team after leaving Morningside, Damien Richards, has won the job of establishing the Panthers in the modern state league. While the recruits are legion, the core of the side remains the inside midfield duo of Kylie Lawrence and Greta Liell-Cock, the former with state league experience at Zillmere and Coorparoo, the latter with National Premier League football experience with The Gap. The most likely to join them in the engine are Laura Roy whose cultured left boot saw her named in the Team of the Year and finish sixth in the MVP award (Coaches’ Player of the Year), and Abi Ashford, who last appeared in the QAFLW with Yeronga but has blossomed as a player and leader at Sherwood winning last year’s QFAW Best and Fairest.
Joining the likes of Abby Reynolds and Jordan McCartney in defence could be two more players returning to Morningside from University of Queensland, key defender Lucy McCormick and rebounding halfback Gracie Roy, also named in the Team of the Year.
The Panthers’ goals of late have been supplied by Sherie Sayle, a former state league leading goalkicker in the Wildcats era, Samantha Boustead, and Ainslie Knight. Long-time Yeronga sharpshooter Courtney McDonnell has crossed town and been named captain, while Emma MacNaughton’s breakout season with Aspley could see her given an early opportunity to form a key forward combination with Sayle.
The expectations on Richards and the New Panthers will not be to match his record at Coorparoo of winning two flags in the first two years, but the team has the right to be ambitious - with the whole club in support.
COORPAROO
Joined competition: 2013
Best finish: Premiers 2013, 2014, 2015, 2019
Captain: Ajla Fetahagić
Coach: Ben McKenzie
GAINS: Stacey Anderson (Yeppoon); Rose Clancy-Dillon (Henley & Woodville-West Torrens, SA); Madi Goodwin (Yeronga); Chloe Haines (Penguin, Tas); Abi Lunson (Yeronga); Kloe McElhinney (Wodonga, Vic); Charlotte Millen (Yeronga); Tilayna Nissen (Mackay City); Renee Teys (Maroochydore); Christine Watson (basketball/Toowoomba); Alyssa Whiley (Hermit Park)
LOSSES: Kalei Brighton; Macie Brown; Charlotte Howard (Coorparoo); Kate Deegan; Megan Evans; Bonnie Farrell; Chloe Gaunt (Port Adelaide AFLW); Kayla Geddes; Georgina Ott; Grace Perry; Hannah Sexton (Morningside); Jess Watts; Sally Young (retired); Emma Zielke (retired).
2024 saw Coorparoo finish fourth in the Bond University QAFLW and were significantly closer to fifth than they were to third. However, they were the only team from outside the top three to beat a top three side, that being their Anzac Day win over then premiers Bond University. The Kings had the best centre halfback in the league with captain Ajla Fetahagić, the best winger in Lucy Schneider, and the next big inside midfielder in Grace Roberts-White, but they had an awful run of bad luck with injuries to rucks and small forwards.
By the end of November, the Kings had unveiled three significant interstate signings: Alyssa Whiley, a Tasmanian who won a Best and Fairest in Townsville before joining Collingwood in the VFLW; Rose Clancy-Dillon, a state league player in both South Australia and Western Australia; and Chloe Haines, another Tasmanian who spent two years in the AFLW with North Melbourne.
But were any of these signings bigger than Madi Goodwin? It wasn’t that long ago that the Thuringowan was winning premierships with Yeronga and forging a reputation as the most destructive midfielder in the QAFLW. After two winless seasons with the Devils, the Queensland representative has moved across town to rejuvenate her career.
The good news for new coach Ben McKenzie is that Coorparoo’s defence became quite solid last year; the development of Jasmine Fretwell, Alana Mitchell and Enah Dešić complemented the experience of Fetahagić and Mia Teubler. The forward line will need re-jigging with the drafting of Chloe Gaunt to Port Adelaide, but any forward line that contains Jenae Govan and Chelsea Chesterfield deserves respect.
Coorparoo’s 12 years of having the inner eastern suburbs to itself in the QAFLW are over, but no-one has ever accused the Kings of shying away from competition.
YERONGA SOUTH BRISBANE
Joined competition: 2011
Best finish: Premiers 2011, 2012, 2017, 2020
Captains: Ebony Panoho and Clancey Sutton
Coach: Anthony Sacco
GAINS: Jess Birch (Canterbury, Vic); Renee Parkinson (football); Lekaiya Rabbitt (Nightcliff, NT); Jemimah Smith (Townsville Suns); Holly Stone (Maroochydore); Jayde Struhs (Southport); Thyra Tavil (Mt Gravatt/Papua New Guinea); Scarlett Young (Nightcliff, NT)
LOSSES: Lucy Bellinger (Morningside); Camilla Burnett [Satyasiv] (University of Qld); Georgia Carmody; Sophie Dunne; Madi Goodwin (Coorparoo); Rachel Harris (Wilston Grange); Georgia Hewett (Morningside); Lizzie Hill; Farradai Hopkins (University of Qld); Jamie Howell; Ameilia Leigh; Lana Lowery; Abi Lunson (Coorparoo); Kathleen Mallyon; Jess Matthews (Bond University); Courtney McDonnell (Morningside); Charlotte Millen (Coorparoo); Sienna Morassuti; Peppa Poultney (Aspley); Steph Rosenthal; Madie Satyasiv; Sophie Wheeler; Chelsea Winn.
The Yeronga Devils, four-time premiers whose strongest sides were composed almost entirely of AFLW players, have now played two full seasons without a win. The best way to restore pride must be to break the drought.
Only two players who played for Yeronga in the 2024 Bond University QAFLW, Charlie Hellier and Goldie Poultney, took part in the pre-season matches. However, Clancey Sutton is back full-time. There were moments a few years ago when Sutton was rattling the bones of opponents both with ball in hand and in tackles. Giving her the captaincy may come with the imprimatur to resume wreaking havoc. The same may go for former tennis pro and co-captain Ebony Panoho.
Joining them are players who have had success in other competitions and may give the Devils some steel. Jayde Struhs made her state league debut back in 2018 but is still in her mid-20s and brings both youth and experience. Thyra Tavil was outstanding in 2024 both for Mt Gravatt in the QFAW and for Papua New Guinea in the AFL Pacific Cup. Lekaiya Rabbitt arrives at Leyshon Park having just played in a Grand Final for Nightcliff in Darwin. Her clubmate and fellow Northern Territory Under 18 representative Scarlett Young will also make the trip south.
Former Toowoomba Tiger Sienna Wilson will have an opportunity for added responsibility this year which may fast-track the development of the current Lions Academy player. Freya Ross, Kimmy Bell and Gemma Leigh are also in the Academy at Springfield and may receive their chances through the season.
SOUTHPORT
Joined competition: 2022
Best finish: Premiers 2024
Captain: Rianna Schipp
Coach: Matt Lappin
GAINS: Bindi Crabtree (GWV Rebels, Vic); Tyla Crabtree (GWS Rebels, Vic); Lily McDonald (Mooroolbark); Olivia Meagher (Thuringowa); Caitlin Miller (GWS AFLW); Melita Watts (Surfers Paradise)
LOSSES: Kaylee Kimber (Western Bulldogs AFLW); Shayla Lloyd (Surfers Paradise); Jess Maher (Surfers Paradise); Ruby Mitchell; Chaise Montey; Selina Priest (retired)
A premiership in the bag, a squad with barely any changes, and a new coach with new ideas. It’s hard to imagine how things could be any better for Southport heading into the 2025 Bond University QAFLW.
The Sharks enter the new year on a 13-match winning streak. A few players have gone from the Grand Final team, most notably in defence where Best on Ground Kaylee Kimber relaunched her AFLW career and Queensland women’s footy great Selina Priest called time on her own career. The most likely direct replacement is Lily McDonald who returns to Fankhauser Reserve after two years in Victoria.
Four players with Coates Talent League experience have joined the shark pod: twins Bindi and Tyla Crabtree who turned out for the Greater Western Victoria Rebels over the last three winters; and Olivias Meagher and Robinson who played for Eastern Ranges and Dandenong Stingrays respectively over the turn of the decade.
Back in 2022, forward Caitlin Miller played herself into the AFLW with a series of outstanding performances in the finals. Miller will be hoping to emulate Kimber by showing those at national level what she can do at state level.
Two larger questions remain. Firstly, who is going to be squeezed out of a midfield that could contain landslide Emma Zielke Medal winner Steph O’Brien, club Best and Fairest Maddy Watt, a hungry and rejuvenated Georgia Breward, left-foot bomber Kierra Zerafa, Surfers Paradise stalwart Mel Watts, and any one of a number of their premiership-winning Reserves team?
Secondly, how will Matt Lappin try to improve upon a game plan that won a premiership? The 2024 Southport side was outstanding at putting opponents on the back foot and pressuring them into errors, but could occasionally be found wanting teams stretched them out. The idea of Lappin making the Sharks play more expansively could produce some of the most overwhelming football seen in Queensland.
BOND UNIVERSITY
Joined competition: 2018
Best finish: Premiers 2023
Captain: Grace Moodie
Coach: Andy Lovell (coached 33, won 26, lost 7 - 78.8%)
GAINS: Kendra Blattman (Sydney University, NSW); Matilda Clarkson (Beaumaris, Tas); Lacey Dutton (Burleigh); Jess Matthews (Yeronga); Sienna Merry (Forest Districts, NSW); Chloe Smith (Queanbeyan, ACT)
LOSSES: Sophie Balcombe; Ari Clarke; Imogen Evans; Sally Evans; Tara Harrington (Gold Coast AFLW); Havana Harris (Gold Coast AFLW); Leah Kaslar; Tshinta Kendall (Wilston Grange); CJ Landwehr; Paris Lightfoot; Izzy Lowe; Mikayla Meyer; Tahlia Meyer; Nyalli Milne (Gold Coast AFLW); Mia Salisbury (Gold Coast AFLW); Courtney Sexton
Bond University goes into the 2025 Bond University QAFLW with a side that has lost much of its experience and is relying on the quick development of young talent. The last time that the Bull Sharks had a side this young and inexperienced, they (checks notes) won a premiership.
While it would be unfair to compare any generation of young players with the one that saw four players drafted by the Gold Coast Suns last December, the Canal remains a popular destination for young players wanting to enhance their game. The pick of this year’s interstate recruits looks to be Kendra Blattman who was outstanding in defence for the Allies Under 18s in 2023 and is fresh out of the Swans Academy.
Two of the greatest gains for the Bull Sharks are not listed above because they were already at the club. Ava Usher is nearly back from her ACL injury and will be champing at the bit to get back on the footy field. Fellow inside midfielder Charlie Adamson has had equally horrid luck of late and has played more games for Queensland Under 18s than for her club. The former round-ball footballer is likely to make the most any good fortune she gets.
The strength of Bond University as a club in recent years has been the core of older players able to keep the young ’uns on the straight and narrow. One of those, defender Grace Moodie, is now club captain. Her vice-captain will be Queensland defender Jasmyn Davidson who, in some clubs, would still qualify as a young ’un but is now in her sixth year of the state league and has found her voice in the backline.
Coach Andy Lovell is a master at, amongst other things, assessing where his side is placed and which opponents pose the greatest threats. This year, he’s hosing down expectations on his squad and talking about the challenges of bringing a new group together. However, there’s enough talent and experience in this Bull Sharks side to make teams look very ordinary and challenge for another Grand Final. Still, you should probably trust Lovell’s judgement over that of a commentator. Probably.