SANFLW Match Wrap | Round 12

Round 12 marked the last occasion of playing at home for the season as we came up against fourth-placed Sturt. We had the opportunity to celebrate a retiring great of our club in Jess Bates and celebrate Batesy for all she has brought to our club. In parallel we had the opportunity to debut 18 year old Kori Webb, a skillful small forward-midfielder who will give us many moments to celebrate in future seasons.

The first quarter was a stalemate with neither side able to capitalise. We were comfortable knowing that we had played out the quarter into a 2-3 goal breeze and had not conceded, but we were a little wasteful with missed goal opportunities after dominating the territory game.

The second quarter saw Elizabeth Johnson convert an excellent running goal from 40m after a quick handball receive from Aleesha Robran. Shortly after, Jess Bates popped through a set shot with composure and we headed into the half time break pleased with the way we had dominated contested possession, clearances and inside 50s.

The third quarter posed our biggest challenge as Sturt had a strong 2-3 goal breeze and kicked 2 goals to put themselves marginally in front.

We were confident at the 3/4 time break that we could finish the game strongly and we certainly made the most of our chances when Kaitey Whittaker converted truly after looking very dangerous all game (2 contested marks). It was fitting that Jess Bates was the one to work hard forward of the contest to get out into space and snap a goal on close range to seal the win (33 disposals, 2 goals, 10 clearances) in a performance that reflects her standing in our SANFLW competition. Our backline were united throughout the whole game and all played their roles with composure and maturity.

It was pleasing to witness the belief and resilience of our group, and to end the game with +30 contested possessions is reflective of our fight.

We head to Norwood Oval on Saturday morning determined to string together successive wins to build momentum going into 2026.

GFCW Best: Jess Bates, Liz Johnson, Asha Dufour, Ash Dyer-Pietsch, Kori Webb