Intermediate Girls and Boys best on ground winners - Ella Bologa (Narre North Foxes/Dandenong Stingrays) and Baxter Sruk (Rowville Hawks/Eastern Ranges). Image: Craig Dooley/AFL Photos
Rowville Secondary College has shown its dominance, claiming the 2025 Division 1 Herald Sun Shield Intermediate Boys and Girls titles on Tuesday 19 August at ETU Stadium, Port Melbourne.
Rowville powered to back-to-back Intermediate Girls Herald Sun Shield titles after a commanding grand final display, blitzing Sacred Heart College, Geelong by 51-points.
Sacred Heart had opened the scoring with a Sienna Schmidt goal in the first minute, but Rowville responded with five unanswered goals and from the early stages of the second quarter the match was never in doubt.
Ella Bologa and Lily Brittain (who both play for Narre North Foxes and Dandenong Stingrays) enjoyed stellar outings in the midfield for Rowville.
Bologa, who was named best on ground, took plenty of territory with her thumping kicks and was a major ball-winner, while Brittain provided great burst and was ganging whenever she found space.
The 51-point win capped off a dominant Herald Sun Shield campaign for Rowville after it prevailed by an astounding 117 points against Ballard Grammar in last week’s semi-final, having piled on 18 goals.
Jemima Hood (St Josephs - AFL Barwon) and Sienna Schmidt (Torquay JFC) led the way for Sacred Heart.
Hood kicked a pair of majors while Schmidt slotted her side’s other goal and also provided great spark in the middle.
In the Intermediate Boys, Rowville were the underdogs against undefeated APS representative Scotch College. Rising star Baxter Sruk’s talents were on full display as he booted three crucial goals in the final term to finish with four for the match and lift Rowville to a 13-point win over Scotch College.
Rowville and Scotch had been impossible to split across the first three quarters in an even and thrilling contest, with the scores level at the final change.
Baxter Sruk (Rowville Hawks / Eastern Ranges), who was voted best on ground, started the fourth quarter with a bang as he worked forward from the centre bounce to slot a brilliant goal and put his side in front.
Rowville didn’t look back from there, with Jessie Lewis (Lysterfield JFC) also enjoying an immense final term alongside Sruk – who was fresh off being crowned MVP at the under-16 national championships.
2025 HERALD SUN SHIELD RESULTS - INTERMEDIATE
GIRLS: Rowville Secondary College 9.19 (73) def. Sacred Heart College, Geelong 3.4 (22)
BOYS: Scotch College 7.8 (50) def. by Rowville Secondary College 8.15 (63)
WATCH BOTH REPLAYS on KommunityTV.com: CLICK HERE (Herald Sun subscriber content)
All Division 1 Herald Sun Shield results are available on PlayHQ: CLICK HERE