Tara Murray
The legacy of Keilor’s women’s program continues to grow with the club claiming the Essendon District Football League premier division premiership.
Having either won a premiership or been in a grand final every year since forming a women’s side, the Blues were keen to add to that on Saturday against Aberfeldie.
They would control the grand final throughout, coming away with a 5.4 (34)-0.2 (2) win and secure back-to-back premierships.
Blues coach Brooke Surgeon said the group was keen to go out there and play a good game of football.
Last year they were awarded the premiership for being on top of the ladder when the season came to an early end due to COVID-19.
“It was really good to have a good hit out against Aberfeldie,” she said. “They brought it to us and the girls dug deep and came away with the win.
“The girls just wanted no question marks hanging over their heads that they were the best team.
“They really wanted to earn it and we wanted to earn it as a club. It was a fantastic opportunity.”
After a week which resulted in both the preliminary finalists, Oak Park and Westmeadows disqualified, Surgeon said for them it was about focusing on what they could control and not worrying about the outside drama.
She said they wanted to stick to their game plan. They did exactly that and looked the winner throughout much of the match.
“We had our eyes on the prize,” she said. “They were phenomenal today and an absolute powerhouse.
“Lauren Caruso drove her legs all day and Meggsy [Megan Neill] went up forward and was such a ball magnet.
“We were so lucky to have them out there.”
The Blues back line set up much of the Blues attacks, with Abers having only a couple of good shots on goal for the match.
Surgeon said they had really worked on that in the back part of the season.
“It was definitely was a huge focus for us, no easy marks, no easy possessions,” she said.
“We spent a lot of time improving our scoring throughout the season, the last couple of weeks was really focusing on our defence and locking down their opponents and not letting them get any easy position.”
Leading by 18 points at half time the Blues were able to continue to steady the ship with another goal.
They moved a number of players around in the last quarter, as cramping and the heavy ground took its toll.
Surgeon also made sure every player got time on the ground and got to enjoy the moment.
“We had to keep changing some things around as Aberfeldie were tagging some of our players and it was about trying to bring them into the game,” she said.
“It’s also developing players. While it’s a grand final, we’re still looking to the future and 2023 and trying to get them experience through the midfield.
“Steph [Aleksovski] in the midfield pretty much played the whole game having never played midfield before.
“We knew they were going to be looking for Caruso and Liv [Manfre] and everyone like that she’s just a competitor.”
Sabine Navarro, who was awarded the best-on-ground medal, got a goal in the dying seconds to cap off the win.
Surgeon said Navarro was playing in her last game, having decided to retire.
The premiership in the Blues’ third women’s premiership.
Surgeon said it’s pretty special for the club and making sure they leave a mark in female football.
“It’s been around for the last few years and it’s been a focus,” he said. “It’s kind of like Geelong and we keep trying to get better.
“Every year we build on different things. We started at the bottom and kept adding building blocks to be so competitive every season.”
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