by Daniel Viles
The Bond University QAFLW Preliminary Final this Saturday night between Aspley and Bond University will see one genuine premiership contender advance to the Grand Final and the other suffer the worst feeling in sport.
Losing a Grand Final is painful but visible enough to attract sympathy; just missing the finals is horrible but can be rationalised; even a wooden spoon is more numbing than shocking. But losing a Preliminary Final, expecting but not receiving an invitation to the biggest party, being the last team to be forgotten, that is what hurt is.
The typical playing styles of the Hornets and Bull Sharks are arguably the most similar in the league. Both love to handball in every part of the field, both have strong forward marking targets, both have defences that look to intercept and then quickly switch the play, and both use the full width of the ground. When both back fives are dominating, Aspley v Bond matches can make the ball look like it’s running laps.
Both sides are also stable. Aspley has been that way all season using the equal fewest players (33) of any team in the Bond University QAFLW. They have kept faith with the same 21 as lost to Southport last week.
The Bull Sharks have taken a while to find a stable line-up, no thanks to injuries and junior representative requirements, but the late-season emergence of forwards Bella Davies and Bronte Parker as reliable top-grade players has allowed the team to settle into a groove and string seven wins together. Bond’s one change from its Elimination Final team is to replace the unavailable Annabelle Foat with the ‘re-available’ Sunny Hewett.
The two meetings between Aspley and Bond Uni in 2024 have produced some of the prettiest football ever seen in the Queensland women’s state league. In wet weather at the Canal in May, both teams hit the century for handballs received (competition average is 57). In Pride Round, both had a disposal efficiency of 78.3% (average is 64%). These teams find their targets.
Individually, the two most accurate ball users from the home-and-away rounds are Aspley skipper Emma Pittman (83.0%) and Bond winger Tahlia Meyer (82.2%). Also in the top 10 are Pittman’s fellow defenders Tiarna Ernst (78.9%) and Eloise O’Connor (77.7%), Bond inside midfielder Mia Salisbury (78.6%) and Bull Sharks’ defender Grace Moodie (76.2%). Each club has three more in the top 20.
Significantly, both teams have defeated and lost to the other this year by playing their own style as well as possible. Tomorrow night, the likelihood is that Messrs Glacken and Lovell will trust their players to play the way they play best. If they fail, if they succeed, at least they’ll play as they believe.
But what if one of them tries to surprise their opposition by suddenly unleashing a more physical, direct style? If they try that and it works, the coaches and players are geniuses who outwitted their adversaries. If it doesn’t, they’re the fools who blinked first.
Note that three recent premiers have lost the previous year’s Preliminary Final: Wilston Grange in 2018; Yeronga in 2020; and Bond University last year. Southport lost last year’s Prelim and have qualified first for this year’s decider. A loss tomorrow night will be devastating, but it may be merely the middle of a different story.
Preliminary Final: ASPLEY v BOND UNIVERSITY
Saturday 17 August 2024, 4:45pm at Zupps Aspley Oval, Carseldine
Live stream with commentary on YouTube
Head-to-Head: Played 13 – Bond University won 10; Aspley won 3
Head-to-Head at Zupps Aspley Oval: Played 4 – Bond University won 3; Aspley won 1
Last time they met: 13 Jul 2024 (Round 12) – Bond University 5.9 (39) d Aspley 4.7 (31) at South Pine Sports Complex
Finals meetings: 2023 Grand Final – Bond University 10.6 (66) d Aspley 2.5 (17) at Brighton Homes Arena
You can watch all matches in the Bond University QAFLW by visiting the Official AFLQ YouTube channel.
