Header photo by Bradley Moylon Photography
In a tremendous result for Queensland Australian rules football, both the state men’s and women’s teams recorded brilliant victories in Tasmania at the weekend.
The women’s team under coach Jamie Stanton secured their third successive victory over Tasmania while the men under returning coach Stephen Daniel reversed the defeats from the previous two meetings.
The matches were held at the Latrobe Recreation Ground in north-west Tasmania near Launceston and the Queensland women played first and set the scene with a convincing 42-point victory 8.15.(63) to 3.3.(21).
Thanks to a brilliant snap goal by Southport’s Caitlin Miller in the second term, the Maroons went into half-time with a narrow three-point lead.
The turning point came in the third quarter when Tayla Gregory took control of the ruck and Queensland started to dominate the centre clearances. Her Southport teammates of Olivia Meagher (23 disposals), Kierra Zerafa (19), Queensland captain Steph O’Brien (20) along with Bond University’s Ella Calleja who delivered effective kicks into the forward line as they outscored their opponents for the quarter by 24 points. One of the highlights saw O’Brien power through a couple of Tassie tacklers to score from close range.
The trio of Miller, Meagher and Calleja all finished with two goals each with Aspley’s Kaitlyn Day also on the goal scoring list.
The dominance continued in the final term when Meagher scrambled her second goal in the first minute to put the issue beyond doubt as the home team were kept to a solitary point in the second half.
As a result of her outstanding ruck work with 31 hit outs and 23 disposals Tayla Gregory was named as Queensland’s best, but in reality, it was a brilliant team performance with many contributors.
Already buoyed by the women’s success, the men’s team came out running, putting last years first quarter blues behind them kicking six goals. The intensity and camaraderie instilled by coach Daniel was clearly evident from the first bounce.
Star Redland Victoria Point forward Matt Hammelmann was on the board early with two goals either side of a Jarrod Cameron (Sherwood) special.
In fact, the Maroons booted nine of the first ten goals and in the second quarter established a 54-point lead. It could have been more with some missed opportunities and the visitors at one stage had 17 total scoring shots to only three.
Tassie grabbed a couple of late goals before half-time to give their supporters some hope, but the Queenslanders were never really challenged.
The highlight of the third quarter was when Aspley’s Coen Harker took a forward line mark on the boundary. The dangerous Garrett McDonagh was lurking close by, then Harker unselfishly dished the ball off and with his trusty left foot the Morningside player saluted with a long 50-metre bomb.
Hammelmann sealed the deal with his fourth goal early in the final term followed by another from Surfers Paradise power midfielder Cam Ellis-Yolmen resulting from a brilliant tackle in the goal square. Players such as Palm Beach Currumbin teammates Tom Simpson (25 disposals 11 contested), Rhys King (15 and 11), Ryan Banks Smith (Aspley) and Ben Woodburn (Surfers Paradise) with several possessions between them, ran riot all over the ground. Combined with a solid team defence, the final margin was a comfortable 38 points -15.15.(105) to 10.7 (67).
Following his brilliant four-quarter effort Ellis-Yolmen was awarded the Zane Taylor Medal as Queensland’s best and captain Will Fletcher (Sherwood) gladly received the cup and shared it around with his jubilant teammates.
In summary, the results were a brilliant advertisement for the football programs being run in Queensland and well-deserved congratulations to all involved.
There was one TPIL Lawyers QAFL match on the weekend due to a make-up fixture from round one due to Cyclone Alfred.
LABRADOR hosted the inform BROADBEACH at Cooke-Murphy Oval on the Gold Coast and after a tight and scrappy first half the Tigers blew the game open with a nine-goal burst in the third quarter to run out winners 17.12.(114) to 11.7.(73)
The home team held a narrow margin of only three points at the main break, but three goals to playmaker Riley Coombes and two to forward Jayden Young helped establish a match winning 43-point lead at three-quarter time.
Other players instrumental in the win included Luke Coombes (two goals, William Derrington, Kane Godlevsky, ruckman Fletcher Pearce and young forward Brady Uglow showed potential with his first two goals for the club.
The Cats which had won three in succession before Saturday will rue that lapse after half-time and in fact when the quarter ended skipped Balke Erickson immediately called his team in for a stern chat. Aside from that lapse, Broadbeach matched their opposition and despite efforts from midfielders, Brandon Chadwick, Matt Harvey , Sam Jasper and three goals late from Beau Bailey, the Tigers again proved they are hard to beat at home.
Labrador are now on the seventh ladder with 24 points and face the team directly underneath them Wilston Grange (8th) next week while the Cats will lick their wounds over a bye.
Both TPIL Lawyers QAFL and Bond University QAFLW resume fixtures this weekend.
