WA Football Commission

Rogers Cup Grand FinalTuesday, August 22, 2017 - 7:10 PM

Written by Sandra Argese, Photos by Thomas Campbell

Ticking the first of three boxes on this years grand final day, Swan Districts have showcased a stellar four quarter performance to over-run a brave South Fremantle outfit by 10 points in the Mundella WAWFL Rogers Cup 2017 Grand Final.

But the sweet win was no walk in the park for the eventual premiers.

If history dictated anything between the two sides, it was that this particular game would be no walk in the park for either team and a close encounter determined by the smallest of all margins. While the Swans entered the game as favourites, their previous run of undefeated wins over South Fremantle in season 2017 were decided by only 10 and 4 points in games during the regular season. Their recent semi-final encounter was decided by only a single point.

In the early stages of the game, the Swans consistently held the ball inside their half of the ground and looked dangerous each and every time they moved the ball moved forward.

Emily Hocking rewarded the Swans with their first major of the game and inspired her side forward into the second term.

It took half way through the second quarter for their first score, but the magical moment finally arrived for South Fremantle with a classy goal from this years Rogers Cup leading goalkicker (32 goals) Shakira Picket, who kept the Bulldogs in the contest.

With both teams so evenly matched, South Fremantle tugged at the Swans at every change. The margin never exceeded 7 points by three quarter time - setting up set up for a final quarter showdown that went down to the absolute wire.

Momentum and grit on the Swans’ side, the eventual premiers fought hard all day with consistent pressure around the ball and rarely came off second best in one-on-one contests around the ground. It was their ferocity and gritty attack that rarely gave the Bulldogs a sniff.

Swan Mikayla Hyde proved instrumental to their grand final win. The gallant number 5 racked up plenty of the ball and displayed composure across each of the four quarters to eventually be rewarded with Best on Ground accolades.

As the clock ran down in the final minutes of the game, the Swans faithful began to chant, and the first of its three WAWFL premierships were locked in.

GOALSCORERS

SWAN DISTRICTS: Emily Hocking, Rikkiesha Carling, Erin Brown.
SOUTH FREMANTLE: Shakira Pickett, Cali Hunt. 

QUARTER BY QUARTER

SWAN DISTRICTS: 1.0 (6) 1.3 (9) 2.7 (19) 3.7 (25)
SOUTH FREMANTLE: 0.0 (0) 1.0 (6) 2.0 (12) 2.3 (15)