2019 QAFLW champions: We look back at Bond Univesity’s 2019 QAFLW Development premiership
As we prepare to welcome local football back on July 11, we have decided to take a look back at the heroes who led their team to QAFLW premiership greatness in our new ‘We are the Champions’ series. SUBSCRIBE TO READ FULL SERIES
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THE smell of freshly cut grass wafts around the Gold Coast. Lines are painted and goalposts secured. Pies are warmed up as canteens prepare to reopen.
Footy is back!
From this Saturday, the Gold Coast will again be bursting with mouth-watering suburban match ups as eased restrictions allow for a condensed Aussie rules season to play out.
To celebrate, we are taking a look back at our 2019 Gold Coast premiership sides in our new We are the Champions series.
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We’ll uncover the untold stories, behind the scenes drama and gripping moments that culminated in premierships for the ages.
In the 2019 QAFLW development league, Bond University were the ones to beat.
The Bull Sharks lost only one game on their journey to the decider where they faced the threatening Coorparoo Kings just two weeks after escaping with a four-point, semi-final victory.
In a pure arm-wrestle, Bond eventually prevailed 26-21, winning the inaugural QAFLW Development decider.
Zali Cheffers: Injury robs emerging star of premiership glory
NOBODY wants to be a spectator on grand final day.
But despite playing eight matches and serving in the leadership group, that’s exactly where Zali Cheffers found herself when she snapped her fibula in two places midway through the 2019 QAFLW development season.
Growing up in country Victoria with a dad who used to play Aussie rules, footy was in Cheffers blood.
In high school, netball was her code of choice until a bunch of mates convinced her to give Aussie rules a crack.
She headed down to the Burleigh Bombers for training that afternoon and played for the club for two years before making the switch to Bond University in 2018.
Midway through the 2019 season, Cheffers and her teammates could feel something special was building.
They’d only lost one game and had won others by sizeable margins.
But in Round 8 against Aspley, Cheffers
“We’d just run out after half time and I was pretty happy with my game from memory,” she said.
“I don’t remember too much about how it happened but I remember hearing lots of cracks and I looked over into the crowd at my dad and said ‘dad I’ve just snapped my leg’ because I knew deep down it wasn’t good.
“I waited for an ambulance in the rooms and then we got to hospital and had some X-rays done.
“My fibula had snapped in two places which at the time was a good result because they decided not to operate and told me it would be about a six-week turnaround.
“I went to training the next Monday and told everyone I’d be back for the grand final because I was quite confident we were going to make it and even though I wasn’t sure what was going to happen on the day, I knew it was achievable with the team we had.”
Six weeks later, and Cheffers returned to hospital for further scans.
As her mum sat by her side, her doctor informed them both that the injury hadn’t healed in the slightest and she may as well have broken her leg the day before.
“I looked at mum and started bawling my eyes out,” the 19-year-old said.
“The doctor was a bit concerned but mum explained I was more upset I’d miss the grand final than the additional healing time.
“It dawned on me pretty quickly and I couldn’t go to training for about two weeks after because I knew I’d get upset if I had to speak about it.”
Like Cheffers predicted, Bond did qualify for the grand final as did Coorparoo and when she tried to take her place on the bench to encourage her teammates, strict grand final rules forced her to sit behind the fence with spectators.
Despite finding themselves one point behind at the final change, Bond stormed home to claim the 2019 premiership 26-21.
“I started crying straight away and wore my sunglasses during the whole aftermath to hide it,” Cheffers said.
“When we got into the rooms, our coach Emma (Williams) had my guernsey and a medal to present me with which was a special moment.”
After a tiresome rehabilitation process, Cheffers rejoined her teammates earlier this season for training only to feel “off” and discover she needed a full ankle reconstruction and will likely sit out the rest of the year.
Bond University restart their QAFLW season on Saturday against the Coolangatta Bluebirds with development kicking off at 11am followed by seniors at 1am at Eximm oval.
Rihanna Saliadarre: Blending a band of ‘misfits’
SO much so was the ‘misfit’ mentality of the Bond University QAFLW development side, players spent the hours before the grand final trying to tally up if they’d played enough games to qualify.
In a team full of new players, cross-coders and ring-ins, captain Rihanna Saliadarre was a constant of Bond’s 2019 side.
Having played in Bond’s 2017 premiership, Saliadarre took it upon herself to guide her teammates through the exciting but at times unnerving finals experience.
With unavailability, injuries and a lack of numbers forcing Bond to get creative with team selection throughout the year, the turning point for the Bull Sharks playing core came against Maroochydore in Round 5.
Only five Bond listed players took to the field that day as the Bull Sharks suffered their first and only loss of the season.
“We only lost by a few points but we showed a lot of heart which gave us more drive than anything that we could push through and persevere,” Saliadarre said.
“We gained a lot of resilience.
“The more experience a group has playing together, the more you’d back them in to win but we had so many new girls and girls from different sports coming into the club.
“Our biggest achievement each week was actually getting a team on the park.”
Saliadarre was first introduced to Aussie rules when she started studying at Bond University and hoped to join a soccer team.
At the time, the sport wasn’t offered and so one of her friends suggested she give footy a crack.
Despite having no idea how to kick, mark or handball, Saliadarre fell in love with the physicality of the game and hasn’t missed a season since.
At the start of 2019, Saliadarre set herself a goal to enjoy the game for what it was – and the season all came down to a grand final against Coorparoo.
“I always have a routine and braid my hair really tight but I was also able to be calm because it was probably the first game where everything was sorted and we weren’t worrying about who was playing or our guernseys or anything,” she said.
“Someone did have a problem with their guernsey number though and we were filling out paperwork before the game trying to work out who had played enough games to play finals.”
Bond found themselves one point shy at three-quarter time, prompting once last cry from their captain and eventual best and fairest winner to leave it all on the field.
“I wanted us to be dead on the floor because even if we lost, we gave it everything,” Saliadarre said.
“The siren started and I started crying.
“We had a lot of girls who were injured and weren’t able to play so we got to bring home the flag for them.
“It lifted a weight off our shoulders and we felt like we were finally noticed.”
Emma Williams: Coach’s nerves unshaken by grand final hurdle
IT’S very rare on grand final day that absolutely everything goes your way.
So when Bond University’s bus driver took a wrong turn which set them back 30 minutes on their trip to Yeronga, you could forgive first year Bull Sharks coach Emma Williams for feeling a little nervous.
After coaching Burleigh in the QAFW Division One league, Williams was headhunted to take the next step with Bond University and steered her team to a near undefeated season - their only blemish coming against Maroochydore in Round 5.
At times compared to a band of misfits, Williams managed to blend a core group of players with some who had never played Aussie rules as her side struggled for a full slate of 22 each week.
Bond narrowly defeated Coorparoo in the semi-final to book their place in the 2019 decider, only for Coorparoo to win their way through as well for one last shot at revenge.
“It’s not very often you get into a grand final and we knew we were up against very tough opposition and they weren’t going to let us win easy,” Williams said.
“It was more about attitude and mindset than skills and game plan because we’d been winning all year so we need to make sure we were mentally in the game.”
Having just overcome Coorparoo two weeks earlier, Williams crafted a few specific match-up
s and demanded physicality and pressure from her players.
The game swung each way as Bond struggled for accuracy in front of goal, leaving them one point shy at three-quarter time despite having five more scoring shots than their opposition.
“The girls make me nervous sometimes but in the end, I told them I had confidence in them and that there was 15 minutes left so I didn’t want them coming off the field with any regrets,” Williams said.
“I was pretty nervous going into the game and it was my first grand final experience but we had a few seniors girls who knew they would have to step up and show their experience and composure.”
Bond eventually prevailed 26-21, securing the inaugural QAFLW development trophy which they carried with them on a much shorter bus trip back to the Gold Coast.
Erin Sundstrom – Milestone maestro claims cup and top gong
ERIN Sundstrom had a lot to celebrate on August 25, 2019.
The dashing midfielder capped off her 50th match of Aussie rules football with a premiership cup and best on ground medal.
After joining the Bull Sharks in 2016 and winning a division one premiership with the club in 2017, the 21-year-old climbed the pinnacle once more at the end of her third season.
“Pretty bloody special for my 50th” she said.
“There were four of the girls who played in the 2017 grand final out there with me so that was really special for me.
“It was a super exciting game.”
After Bond defeated the King’s 18-14 in week one of finals, the grand final rematch was just as thrilling as the Bull Sharks overcame a two point half time deficit to run away with 26-21 winners.
With just one point separating the sides at the final break, it was Bond who broke through with two goals in the last quarter to seal the game and the premiership by five points.
“We all went in with a very positive headspace,” Sundstrom said.
“We got told to play it above the shoulders because on paper and statistically, you’ve got this covered.
“To have a new head coach, and a new team that’s only come together this year, it was really special to see how we gelled so quickly.”
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