Community Football was celebrated in style this weekend at Mahoney Park – the home of Women’s AFL in NSW. Sydney Swans super star Leo Barry was on hand to watch the women flying high this time around, along with AFL Commissioner Sam Mostyn and Craig Davis, long term supporter of women's AFL and father of Swans player Nick Davis.
They joined the players and suppporters of Sydney Women's AFL (SWAFL) to officially open the ground, as the first oval dedicated to the sport of Aussie Rules within the Marrickville municipality at a community level. The league has been granted the use of the ground for the winter season, with hopes of becoming a long term tenant and assisting the NSW/ACT AFL to start up a junior club in the area.
SWAFL President Jemma Still welcomed the officials and league players and thanked the council for giving the women the access to the ground for the season - a place they could finally call "home". Marrickville Council Parks (Assets Co-ordinator) Richard Herring was on hand to represent the council on the day and his efforts in helping the NSW/ACT AFL and the SWAFL to secure the oval for the sport of AFL were recognised by all present.
Leo Barry also addressed the crowd and spoke of the importance of AFL in the community and how valuable it is to young players rising through the ranks. He also presented Balmain Dockers captain, Natasha Devlin, with the match ball from their morning clash again Sydney Univeristy in recognition of being voted "best on ground". She played fiercely all day and was succesful in leading her team to victory by over 50 points.
The ceremony was followed by a battle of arch rivals Newtown Breakaways and the Western Wolves, who have played against each other in three out of the four past grand finals. It was close at half time, with only two goals in it, but the Wolves ran away with it in the last quarter to win 10.9 69 to 4.3 27.
The final match of the day saw St George Crows taking on UNSW/ES Stingrays in a game that could have gone either way after the first quarter. It soon became a matter of whoever could convert their opportunities into goals would take the ascendency, with the Crows managing to find the big sticks and win the game 6.10 46 to 1.8 14.
Last Modified on 15/05/2008 16:56