LIVESTREAM WATER POLO: Dynamic trio Gabi Palm, Bridget Leeson-Smith and Alice Williams return to Thunder

Queensland Thunder have got back three ace juniors for the Australian Water Polo League to be livestreamed at www.courier-mail.com.au from March 31.

Andrew Dawson

3 min read

March 24, 2021 - 12:30AM

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Queensland Thunder has got back three ace juniors for the Australian Water Polo League to be livestreamed at www.courier-mail.com.au from March 31.

Olympic training squad members Gabriella Palm and Alice Williams and 2019 AWL grand final match winner Bridget Leeson-Smith have returned after stints with Sydney Uni and Balmain respectively.

Palm is the incumbent Australian goal keeper while Williams was added to the Olympic training squad last season.

They will be key players for the Thunder women in a 16 day carnival of water polo which will see the AWL, the youth championships and Olympic practice matches livestreamed on www.couriermail.com.au and around the country. More than 160 games will be livestreamed.

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Williams said the onset of the COVID-19 crisis drew her back to Brisbane last year and when restrictions eased she found herself training with the QAS squad.

The All Hallows’ School alumni said it would have been unfair on Balmain not to be training with them and it made sense for her to play with the same group of girls from the QAS she had been training alongside.

Alice Williams. Picture: Richard Walker

Williams said it would be the first occasion she had played with the Thunder, the Queensland representative team which was rebranded during her two seasons with Balmain.

Williams said she was excited to be a part of a young team. “I like playing with the younger girls and it is exciting to be a part of their season,’’ Williams said.

Palm’s pathway back to Queensland is similar to Williams, with the Brisbane Girls’ Grammar Alumni bunking down in Brisbane as the COVID-19 crisis approached last March.

“Once we started to return to training, I was based in Brisbane and I really enjoyed being at home and working with the Queensland girls again.’’

Palm said she loved her one season stint with Sydney Uni where she trained and played beside a number of Australian Stingers teammates in the lead-up to the Tokyo Olympics.

Gabi Palm. Photo Lachie Millard

“But moving back home to Queensland I was able to get just as good training up here and I have enjoyed working with all those girls again like Bronwen (Knox).’’

Leeson-Smith nailed the match winning goal for Queensland Thunder in 2019 when the side won the state’s inaugural women’s national title.

At the time she was described by Thunder coach Benn Lees as “our lucky charm’’, posting the winner 40 seconds before full-time.

Gabi Palm. Photo Lachie Millard

A Brisbane Girls Grammar School alumni, the Australian representative played late last season with the powerhouse North Brisbane Polo Bears side which claimed the state club grand final where she played alongside Knox and several Olympians in the state club finals.

Williams, Palm and Leeson-Smith are not the only comeback stories around the Queensland Thunder.

In the men’s team, Gold Coast’s Jasa Kadivec and former Australian player Anthony Martin have not played for three seasons but will be returning to the squad, while northern NSW native Mason Fettel didn’t play last year and is also back in the Thunder cap.

Martin is a 20008 Olympian who will add vast experience to the squad.

Water polo player Bridget Leeson-Smith.

The Queensland Thunder teams:

Women: Gabi Palm, Amelia Hodgson, Sophie Milliken, Abby Andrews, Bridget Leeson-Smith, Bronwen Knox (c), Charlize Andrews, Kate Blew, Kasey Dalziel, Alice Williams, Jess Emerson, Amelia Watt, Tenealle Fasala, Eve Gath.

Men: Matt Lenarduzzi, Mason Fettel, William Downes, Casper van der Struijk, Billy Miller

Anthony Martin, Jasa Kadivec, Dan Hansen, Markus Berehulak, Rhys Howden, William Valentine, Reilly Townsend, Tom Culleton, Sam Lenarduzzi, Noah Bright.

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