by Daniel Viles
Sharks Off to Carrara as Lightning Strikes Thrice
Southport marched into its second Bond University QAFLW Grand Final with yet another opening quarter blitz against Aspley in the Qualifying Final at Fankhauser Reserve.
After scoring four goals in the first stanza of two of its last three home games against the Hornets, the Sharks bettered that with five majors, three of them to Alannah Welsh, to lead by 32 points at the first break.
Southport won the inside-50 count in the first stanza 16 to 4; seven of those 16 made it inside 30 with the Sharks scoring from each of them. Conversely, Aspley’s four forward-50 entries resulted in only one disposal in the twentieth minute of the quarter, which Jo Baltais smothered.
No side in the history of the Bond University QAFLW has pressured oppositions more than the 2024 Sharks. The normally composed Aspley defence was given neither time nor space to make good decisions.
In the opening minute, Steph O’Brien lost possession in a tackle but regained within a second to pass Tayla Gregory into an open goal. Fullback Lucy Thompson’s desperate lunge clipped Gregory’s ankle; the free kick merely delayed the inevitable goal.
Aspley responded with plenty of possession but couldn’t get past Kaylee Kimber either by ground or air (4 intercept marks). When the Hornets defenders dropped a mark next to their own goalsquare, Maddy Baldwin pressured the defence into a handling error in front of goal, Welsh gathered the loose ball, stepped inside the last defender, and slammed home her first.
Two minutes later, the Sharks were lucky not to concede a holding free kick 30 metres from goal, but Welsh required no luck with her subsequent tackle on the otherwise brilliant Tiarna Ernst. The set shot was no challenge for Welsh.
More forward pressure from the Sharks created Welsh’s third major eight minutes later. After Gregory followed an audacious one-handed mark with a kick to the goalsquare, Baldwin, Hannah Davies, and Georja Davies forced Aspley into a poor handball across goal and a dump kick straight into the arms of Welsh.
Another dropped mark from the Hornets, this time when pushing out from defence, was returned with interest by Maddy Watt. Baldwin marked on the lead before getting her own name on the scoresheet. At this point, Southport could have declared and still won by an inning.
The second quarter saw Aspley win the first hit-out, clearance and inside-50, and probably dominate possession; however, they remained unable to get a genuine shot on goal, a point rammed home when Georja Davies nonchalantly marked a free kick in her own goalsquare simply by being too agile and tall.
Steph O’Brien scored Southport’s fifth set shot goal and sixth overall in the seventh minute of the term when she converted a free kick for hands in the back at a ruck contest.
Anna van de Wiel was not the most obvious player to unpick the Sharks’ defence, which may be why she was unmarked when Louise Tyson found her with a handball just outside 50 and put the usual defender through for her first goal of 2024.
Winger Emma Suckling produced her best game to date for Southport, whether switching the play from defence, evading tackles on the run, or hitting forward targets. Suckling created the Sharks’ only second half goal by supporting a turnover from Tearnie Brown and Ebony Milne and then finding Welsh on the lead at centre half-forward.
Aspley enjoyed a good final quarter with set shot goals to Tyson, Davy, and Kawa, although even they would acknowledge that Southport were low on gas after three quarters of high-octane running.
Kawa was relentless throughout, not only almost halving her ruck contest with Georja Davies (16 hit-outs to 20), but also leading the match for clearances (7). Davy escaped Southport’s leash more often than any other Hornets midfielder, not only leading the match for inside-50s with five, but also making several scything runs through the middle of the park. Ernst showed her experience in defence, cutting off Southport’s defence several times, most notably with an expert smother late in the second term.
Southport has qualified for its second Grand Final in just its third season of Bond University QAFLW football. Their opponent at People First Stadium on 25 August will be the winner of next Saturday night’s Preliminary Final between Aspley, going for its second Grand Final in two years, and Bond University, attempting to reach its fourth decider in six years.
Qualifying Final: Saturday 10 August 2024, 2:15pm at Fankhauser Reserve, Southport
SOUTHPORT 5.2 (32) 6.3 (39) 7.4 (46) 7.5 (47)
ASPLEY 0.0 (0) 1.1 (7) 1.1 (7) 4.1 (25)
Replay and match statistics
Southport
Goals: Alannah Welsh 4, Tayla Gregory, Maddy Baldwin, Steph O’Brien
Best: Alannah Welsh, Kaylee Kimber, Georja Davies, Emma Suckling, Abbie Pluples, Steph O’Brien
Aspley
Goals: Anna van de Wiel, Louise Tyson, Jess Davy, Jasmine Kawa
Best: Tiarna Ernst, Jess Davy, Emma Pittman, Jasmine Kawa, Anna van de Wiel, Holly O’Flaherty
Find all your information about the Bond University QAFLW at the Competition Hub.
