AWL livestream: Watch replays: QLD, NSW water polo blockbusters replays (AWL)
WATCH REPLAYS: QLD Thunder, Devils (NSW) water polo blockbuster replay action on a night when several Thunder rookies earned their first Australian caps.
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Watch the replays of two cracking AWL double header matches between Queensland Thunder and Drummoyne Devils.
The fixtures continued AWL livestreaming by www.couriermail and News affiliates on a night when four Queensland rookies won their first Australian squad selections.
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RELATED LINKS
TRITONS SET FOR LIVESTREAM CURTAIN-RAISER MATCH
WATCH THE REPLAYS, Thunder v Hurricanes
WATCH THE REPLAYS, Cronulla v UNSW Wests, Balmain v Devils
Matches were leading into the finals to be staged April 6-8.
THE MATCHES
Thunder v Drummoyne (women)
Queensland Thunder unbeaten women celebrated the selection of six players in the Australian Stings bound for the Intercontinental Cup in Peru with a victory over Drummoyne in a high class encounter at a rain drenched Valley Pool.
Tokyo Olympians Gabi Palm and Abby Andrews will be joined in the national squad by recalled pair Bridget Leeson-Smith and Alice Williams, and new selections Charlize Andrews and Tenealla Fasala.
Fasala follows in the footsteps of her swimming parents, Greg and Rickie Fasala, as Australian representatives, while Andrews has achieved what many good judges predicted would happen - Australian selection.
“I am really excited. Obviously I have been to camps before and for me it is really exciting to cap up and play because I have really wanted to play for Australia,’’ said Fasala, aged 19.”
And I am really excited to play for Chuck (Andrews).Andrews, 20, said she most admired Fasala for “being a hard worker and giving it her best the whole time’’.
“She is a great team player and I really admirer her.’’
Fasala said Andrews, a North Brisbane Polo Bears, was reliable.
“She is always there and if I pass the ball in the pool, I know she is always there. She tends to know exactly what I was thinking.’’
Andrews, who went to the great Bronwen Knox’s old school of St Paul’s School, said was excited to represent Australia.
Fasala, a UQ Water Polo Club (Barras) junior and Ipswich Girls’ Grammar School old girl, said it was a great honour in following in the footsteps of her parents as Australian representatives but “it is also good to make my own path’’.
In the match tonight, Queensland Thunder went crash, bang and wallop in the championship third quarter to take the game away from the Drummoyne Devils.
The unbeaten Thunder turned a 4-all halftime scoreline into a 9-4 advantage with a blazing eight minute burst.
Thunder hit the front for the first time just after halftime when recalled Australian Stinger Alice Williams scored.
Then Andrews took on the blocker, and shortly after she combined in a one-two power play with Tenealle Fasala who scored to make it 7-4.
Kasey Dalziel then nailed a look away goal while Matilda Moore, fresh into the pool, did a driving scoop shot and all of a sudden Thunder had an almost match-winning break of 9-4.
The Devils pegged the score back to 9-6 into the fourth quarter, but Queensland eased away to win.
Earlier on, Drummoyne’s Bridget Johnston staked an early claim for Player of the Match honours with an outstanding performance in the cage for the Sydney side.
She saved shots across the opening two quarters despite Abby Andrews hattrick of goals and Thunder’s Tenealle Fasala celebrating her Stingers selection by levelling the scores 4-all by halftime
The Devils Olympian Zoe Arancini, on loan for the AWL from Freemantle, was a danger for Drummoyne as they rose to the challenge against Thunder.
Devils v Thunder men
The Drummoyne Devils snapped Queensland Thunder’s unbeaten run with a gripping 7-6 victory tonight.
Late goals by Thunder pair Anthony Martin and Sam Lenarduzzi speared Queensland to the cusp of a drawn scoreline.
A long distance, outside shot in the dying seconds was saved by Devils Harry Shaw in the cage and the Devils were victorious.
Earlier, the visiting Devils held a 5-3 advantage entering the fourth quarter after a dogged effort by the Thunder men.
The Devils led 3-1 and 5-3, but goals to UQ student, South African Slade de Randt, veteran Anthony Martin and young buck Jack Fodor kept the home side in touch.
There was a key moment just before the third quarter ended when Devils goalie Shaw saved a driving shot.
It was a special moment by Shaw who saved a certain goal and ended up being the difference between a win and the scores being level.
There was nice news for the Thunder when team mates learned Reilly Townsend (Warriors), who scored a fourth quarter goal, and Marcus Berehulak (UQ Water Polo), had won their first Australian caps in the squad bound for Peru.
Pride Round Exhibition Match
The Tritons Pride v Team Rainbow started proceedings in at times heavy and was played in great spirit.
It is a milestone season for the LGBTIQ+ community club which, for the first time, has been entering a team in the Brisbane Water Polo women’s competition.
In six seasons the club has grown from a dozen members to around 90.
“The growth of the club is something that we are all really proud of,’’ said Tritons president Ash Monaghan.
THE PREVIEW
The double header featured around a dozen Olympians, but side-by-side those decorated water polo players will be another 12 rookies on the rise.
Drummoyne features Olympians Tyler Martin, Mitch Emery, AJ Roach, Blake Edwards and Morgan Baxter, while the Thunder has Bronwen Knox, Abby Andrews, Gabi Palm, Rhys Howden, Billy Miller and Nic Porter in their ranks.
But the next generation of Australian representative
TOP ROOKIES
CHARLIZE ANDREWS (Thunder)
From Bronwen Knox’s old school of St Paul’s School, Andrews, 20, is an old water polo head on young shoulders who was identified early and selected in the Australian youth team for a World Series in 2018. The North Brisbane Polo Bears junior dipped her toe into the AWL during Queensland’s 2019 winning campaign, and has blossomed since. “She reads the play really well,’’ said Queensland Thunder women’s coach Benn Lees. “Out of the water she is a lovely, sweet person, and in the water she is a true competitor. “She is combative and plays without fear and is a real team first player who is good in attack and defence. She ticks a lot of the boxes,’’ Lees said.’’
RELATED LINKS
DELFINA WATER POLO REPLAYS HERE
“She is combative and plays without fear and is a real team first player who is good in attack and defence. She ticks a lot of the boxes.’’
AMELIA WATT (Thunder)
Originally a netballer, the Ascot State School and St Rita’s College alumni followed her older sister (Hannah) into water polo in 2016. “I really wanted to be like my sister,’’ she said.
But she had to make a choice between water polo and netball when, in 2018, she was chosen in a junior Queensland representative netball team - and also in the Queensland water polo side. Watt said the competitive nature of water polo, “getting in and having a bit of a brawl’’, was what she enjoyed most about the sport.
MOLLY NASSER (Thunder)
Nasser, whose uncle Brendan was a Wallaby, was a swimmer whose link to water polo first came through her year 7 maths teacher - Nicola Johnson. Johnson, the founder of the Mermaids club, introduced her and a friend, Lara Owen, to Mermaids and Nasser immediately loved the sport. “My cousin (Sophie) also played and I wanted to be like her, but I also just loved it from the start,’’ the Stuartholme alumni said. “I loved playing as a team, the team environment.’’ Nasser also has two sporting cousins - Josh is a Queensland Reds player and Isabella Nasser 19, a Rugby 7s for Queensland and Australia.
LULU ELLIOTT (Thunder)
An East Brisbane resident who initially was a junior swimmer with the Brisbane Jets, Elliott was in the second ever intake of water polo players at the Mermaids club shortly after it was formed in 2015. The BSHS alumni came from water polo stock, with her mother having played for Queensland alongside Nicola Johnson, who along with husband Lance founded Mermaids. “Through that connection I came to Mermaids aged 10 or 11,’’ Elliott said. “As opposed to swimming I liked the teamwork. Swimming was more individual and I was getting a bit bored just swimming up and down, the black line.’’
TAAFILI TAOSO (Thunder)
Taoso is a 16-year-old year 11 student at Brisbane SHS who made her Thunder debut on Sunday when she scored a goal. A Queensland centre forward of Samoan and indigenous descent, she started in the sport in 2019 when a mate, Lulu Elliott, encouraged her to join the Mermaids club. “My first year was a bit rocky but after understanding the sport I felt more comfortable,’’ she said.
TABI JONES (Thunder)
A Brisbane Barracudas junior, Jones has bravely battled back from injury. “She has fought back from knee and shoulder surgery,’’ explained Thunder coach Benn Lees. “She is a very mobile, dynamic player with excellent defensive skills. She is determined and selfless.’’
JASMINE HIGGS (Drummoyne)
If the name sounds familiar, it should. Higgs was a star for New South Wales at the recent Summer Series. Indeed she influenced the result of the grand final win over Queensland with outstanding goalie work. The Drummoyne Devils rookie has been a part of their line up for six of their seven games so far. Higgs is also a member of the Australian Junior Women’s squad.
JACK FODOR (Thunder)
Fodor enjoyed scoring a goal for Thunder against Hunter Hurricanes last Sunday. A Brisbane Boys College old boy and former Moggill State School student, he started playing when he was aged 12 after his father, Vlad, “who is a big water polo guy’’ encouraged him into the sport. “I hated it at the start. I wouldn’t go in,’’ he said.
“But I kept training and the more I played the more I enjoyed it and the more fun I had. Being a part of the Thunder and mixing with some Olympians is an enormous experience. I have learned a lot.’’
Footnote: Vlad Fodor’s influence on Queensland sports extends to swimming - he was the one who promoted Olympic Games swimming coach Dean Boxall into coaching when he was aged just 19-20. Boxall of course is famous for coaching Ariarne Titmus - among a small army of other Australian representatives.
KOBE JENNISON (Thunder)
Another Brisbane Boys College old boy, Kobe Jennison is a driver who was once a competitive swimmer. “I used to do national swimming and then dad got me into water polo,’’ the UQ Barras junior said. “I was not really growing that much at the time and dad said that would not matter as much in water polo,’’ Jennison said.
WILL VALENTINE (Thunder)
The junior representative, 18, was encouraged into the sport by his water polo playing mother. “She took me and my brother Tom to the try out at the Yeronga pool when I was eight and Tom was 10,’’ Valentine recalled. “My brother didn’t want to play and so I kicked up a bit of a fuss as well, but after being sort of forced into it, I started to love it. We were both rugby players, and found it like rugby in the pool. Lots of contact.’’
MARCUS BEREHULAK (Thunder)
The goal scoring young gun is one of the finest rookies in the sport after came to the sport through the back door and not through traditional channels after attending Indooroopilly SHS. He started in the sport socially because he has family links to water polo and has emerged as an exciting prospect.
JORDAN LANCASTER (Drummoyne)
Lancaster is a member of the Australian Junior Men’s squad, and was a stand out performer at the recent 2022 Summer Slam in Brisbane. Having lined up for Drummoyne in all AWL matches so far this season, Lancaster is one to watch.
THE SQUADS
Thunder men: 1. Nic Porter, 2. Sam Lenarduzzi, 3. William Downes, 4. Slade du Randt, 5. William Miller, 6. Anthony Martin, 7. William Valentine, 8. Daniel Hansen, 9. Marcus Berehulak, 10. Rhys Howden, 11. Jack Fodor, 12. Reilly Townsend, 13. Matthew Lenarduzzi, 14. Ryan Medic, 15. Dylan McDonald, 16. Kobe Jennison, 17. Isaac Kyle-Little, 18. Noah Bright, 19. Fraser Duguid, 20. Joshua Eyles.
Drummoyne men: 1. Harry Shaw, 2. Lachlan Edwards, 3. Samuel Slobodien, 4. James Kolenda, 5. Adam Hall, 6. Aidan Roach, 7. Mitchell Emery, 8. Tyler Martin, 9. Jack Rector, 10. Lazar Pasuljevic, 11. Marko Marceta, 12. Blake Edwards, 13. Jordan Lancaster, 14. James Smith, 15. Leo Hurley, 16. Aidan Schmitt, 17. Ben Tuite, 18. Laurence Barker, 19. Jackson Brown, 20. Charlie Kospetas, 21. Edward Gilmore, 22. Gianni Taranto
Thunder women: 1. Gabi Palm, 2. Amelia Hodgson, 3. Sophie Milliken, 4. Abby Andrews, 5. Bridget Leeson-Smith, 6. Bronwen Knox, 7. Charlize Andrews, 8. Kate Blew, 9. Kasey Dalziel, 10. Alice Williams, 11. Jessica Emerson, 12. Amelia Watt, 13. Tenealle Fasala, 14. Matilda Moore, 15. Tabitha Jones, 16. Molly Nasser, 17. Lulu Elliott, 18. Eve Gath, 19 Taafili Taoso.
Drummoyne women: 1. Bridget Johnston, 2. Megan Linder, 3. Lexie Woolley, 4. Macy Hansford, 5. Elle Armit, 6. Bronte Ryan, 7. Jolie Marsden, 8. Lilli Harris, 9. Erin Moodie, 10. Brooke Mcclean, 11. Morgan Baxter, 12. Tasma Woolley, 13. Georgia Southern, 14. Charley Porter, 15. Alex Brown, 16. Chelsea Isaac, 17. Maeve Ryan, 18. Jasmine Higgs, 19. Stephanie Dunn
MATCH REPLAYS
TRITONS PRIDE GAME
THUNDER V DEVILS (WOMEN)
THUNDER V DEVILS (MEN)
Watch replay in main player at top of story.
AWL Finals:
April 8-10 - 16 games
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