AFL Sydney Women’s team and AFL Canberra Women’s team went head to head in Game 2 of the Women’s State of Origin series on Saturday afternoon at Blacktown International Sports Park
by Holly Rourke
In a tightly fought contest, the Canberra Women managed to maintain the lead throughout the match and claim victory 3.7.25 3.4.22, retaining the trophy for the second year.
The two sides met in Canberra for Game One of the two match series on June 7th, with AFL Sydney taking the honours on that occasion with a 32-point victory. A drawn series sees Canberra take the trophy back home.
The Canberra side had a lot of fresh faces, with 15 girls over the course of the series playing their debut representative game, however this seemed to work to the side’s advantage, with new and old players working well together and playing a very competitive game.
Canberra’s Rach Crittenden did her job faultlessly in the half back line and managed to get in the best for the day. Familiar face to the side Heather Anderson also contributed to the side’s strong back line, making it increasingly hard for Sydney to score.
Newcomers to the side Ella Ross and Caitlin Bunker were also a part of the sides key players, showing just how quickly they have picked up the fast pace of representative football.
Although Canberra did take on a quick lead, Sydney did not go down without a fight, challenging the side in the second and third quarter. Sydney’s Mai Nguyen and Codie Briggs ensured that the game wasn’t easy for the Canberra girls, however Canberra fought back and took a tight win.
Canberra Women’s coach Adrian Pavese states that the depth of talented female players in Canberra is expanding, and it is now a much stronger and more versatile competition.
“Out of two games, we have had 34 girls play. We have had 15 players play their first ever AFL game at a representative level. I think that this is really good for the competition. The competition is expanding and it’s a great opportunity for the girls” says Pavese.
Photo: courtesy of
Last Modified on 08/07/2014 09:35