Central’s women’s side capped off a sensational season with a thoroughly deserved premiership on the weekend.
The Magpies women were the dominant force in Broken Hill women’s footy this season, and in this low scoring affair on Saturday, Central were never headed, winning the game by 26 points.
It looked ominous from the start for South as Central dominated the game and were kicking with the breeze.
Only the Magpies wastefulness kept the Roosters in the game. Despite dominating the contest, Central only found the big sticks once to take a slender 10-point lead into quarter time.
South had the benefit of the breeze in the second quarter, but just could not capitalise.
The Roosters girls lifted their game to another level, but just could not penetrate the Magpies defence. Incredibly, the second quarter was scoreless from both sides as Central took the same 10-point lead from quarter time into the half-time break.
The third quarter of an Australian Rules football match is often called the premiership quarter, because it is when games are decided. In the third quarter, Central stamped their authority on the game, and the season, kicking three unanswered goals.
It wasn’t just in attack that the Magpies were awesome, their defence was stellar too as they kept South scoreless for a third straight quarter. A 28-point lead at three quarter time meant Central Broken Hill had one hand on the Steve Radford Premiership Cup already.
South Broken Hill showed tremendous fighting spirit and threw the kitchen sink at Central in the final term.
Kicking with the wind, the ball was almost exclusively in South’s attacking half in the last quarter, but the
Roosters women just could not get a goal that might have spurred them on to an unlikely comeback. They did manage to trouble the scorers, kicking two behinds, but as the siren went it signified premiership glory for the mighty Central Broken Hill women’s senior side.
The players celebrated and a big cheer went around the ground for each player as they went up to receive their premiership winner’s medallion.
The biggest cheer was saved for when the girls hoisted the trophy.
It was a tremendous day for the Magpies women, only soured by an undisclosed injury to Gigi Hooper-Birch in the first quarter, that saw her taken away by the paramedics. No further information regarding the injury is available currently.
Premiership winning coach Ethan Kimball was delighted with the performance of his side and praised South as being worthy opponents as well.
“We played really well,” he said. “We had a plan and we executed it. It’s a credit to our girls and I am delighted for them to have this moment.
“South were fantastic, hard opposition and I am sure they’ll come back from this even better next year.”
South player Abbey Stevens won the Chelsea Masclet Medal as best on ground in the 2022 women’s Grand Final.
Central have set a high bar in the women’s game this year, with everyone else needing to play catch up to prevent the Magpies from dominating the women’s league again.
Congratulations to Central, the 2022 AFL Broken Hill women’s premiers.
