The second half of the Bond University QAFLW home-and-away season begins with a round that provides several opportunities for ladder movement.
The Round 9 featured match is the first ever game in the 25-year history of the Queensland women’s state league in which both teams are located north of Brisbane. While the 55 kilometres between Maroochydore and Moreton Bay make this a not-very-local derby, there has been significant player movement up and down the Bruce Highway in recent years with the Lions naming five former Roos in this week’s side alone.
Maroochydore has only beaten bottom-placed Yeronga in 2025 but its defence has looked stronger than most against the competition heavyweights. The Roos kept Southport to its second-lowest score of the year, albeit in poor weather, and only conceded four goals to Aspley.
Similarly, before Moreton Bay had its heavy loss against Southport last week, its defence had stood up well against Wilston Grange and Aspley. Defender Tahlia Smith is leading the competition for both intercept marks and effective kicks, and one senses it’s only a matter of time before her fearlessness spreads to her younger teammates.
Twelve months ago, Maroochydore were in a position similar to their current one before a mid-season surge had them seriously threatening for a finals place. Making up three wins on the top six with eight rounds to go is surmountable, although in the short term, bragging rights in the new Northern Derby may be enough of a prize.
The Southport juggernaut faces a tricky test away to Wilston Grange. They saw how the Gorillas pushed Bond University to the limit a fortnight ago and will assume that the defensive deficiencies exploited by Morningside last week have been addressed.
However, Southport are setting their own standards in 2025 and are probably the best passing team in Queensland state league history. The numbers show that they have completed 945 effective handballs in 2025 (next best is 603) at 74.1% (next best is 70.2%) but the numbers don’t describe the beauty of seeing it play out. The challenge for Grange is, in part, to break that up.
University of Queensland’s win over Bond Uni last week kept them in the finals race, but they will need to make sure that they don’t take a win over Yeronga for granted. The smaller ground at Base Architecture Meadows allows defensive errors to be punished more easily, which may suit the Devils who have gone three weeks without a goal and are too proud to let that continue. A couple of early majors to the Black and Reds could test UQ’s self-belief. The advantage for the Red Lionesses is that they only need to go back for seven days for evidence of their best.
At the start of the season, the match between Coorparoo and Aspley would have been marked as a likely four points to the Hornets; their last loss to the Kings was in 2022. The large injury toll at Graham Road has put paid to that assumption, as has the best form of the Kings. A win for Coorparoo will give them the inside lane for fourth spot and a home final; an Aspley win will bring them level with the Navy Blues and closer to matching their pre-season expectations.
“How will they go against Southport and Bond?” That’s the only remaining question about Morningside whose eight wins to begin their QAFLW existence has been stunning. It’s a very big question, though. Half of it won’t be answered until Round 16 when the two presently undefeated teams finally meet on the field, but the first half will be answered at The Canal on Saturday.
At last, we will see how Issy Levine and Shannon Nolan, currently second and third for contested possessions in the league, handle the other’s style. We will see if Kendra Blattman can find space to mark when tracked by Lucy McCormick. We will see if the pressure of Evy Reeves and Sunny Hewett can shut down the Roy sisters. And we will see if Grace Moodie and Courtney McDonnell, opposing captains and quite possibly a direct match-up, but former teammates and off-field besties, can generate anything resembling animosity for at least two hours. Anything. Please.
MAROOCHYDORE v MORETON BAY
Saturday 14 June 2025, 4:45pm at Neil Upton Oval, Maroochydore
Head-to-head: first meeting
WILSTON GRANGE v SOUTHPORT
Saturday 14 June 2025, 2pm at Hickey Park, Stafford
Head-to-head: Played 6 - Southport won 6
Head-to-head at Hickey Park: Played 2 - Southport won 2
Last time they met: 15 Jun 2024 - Southport 13.9 (87) d Wilston Grange 3.2 (20) at Hickey Park.
UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND v YERONGA SOUTH BRISBANE
Saturday 14 June 2025, 3:45pm at Base Architecture Meadows, St Lucia
Head-to-head: Played 29 - Yeronga won 17, UQ won 11, drawn 1
Head-to-head at Base Architecture Meadows: Played 8 - UQ won 4, Yeronga won 4
Last time they met: 12 Apr 2025 (Round 2) - University of Queensland 11.10 (76) d Yeronga South Brisbane 2.1 (13) at Leyshon Park No. 2.
COORPAROO v ASPLEY
Saturday 14 June 2025, 4:45pm at Giffin Park, Coorparoo
Head-to-head: Played 13 - Coorparoo won 6, Aspley won 6, drawn 1
Head-to-head at Giffin Park: Played 6 - Aspley won 3, Coorparoo won 2, drawn 1
Last time they met: 27 Jul 2024 - Aspley 11.9 (75) d Coorparoo 3.5 (23) at Giffin Park.
BOND UNIVERSITY v MORNINGSIDE
Saturday 14 June 2025, 4:45pm at Bond University Oval, Robina
Head-to-head: first meeting
You can watch all matches in the Bond University QAFLW by visiting the Official AFLQ YouTube channel.