Redan claims first ever Ballarat women’s football premiership

Redan creates history in Ballarat women’s football as two players outscore the opposition in the grand final. More here.

All it took was one quarter for Redan to show why it was the form team this year and the premiership winner in the Ballarat Football League Women’s (BFLW).

Redan claimed the inaugural competition with a 32 point win over Darley at Mars Stadium on Saturday.

In a low scoring contest, with just seven goals kicked during the contest, Redan got on top in the third quarter to claim the title.

It is the first time a premiership winner has been decided in the Ballarat Football Netball League (BFNL) after previous winners came from the AFL Goldfields competition.

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The BFNL women’s competition started last year but there was no winner after Covid cancelled the season.

In a close contest in the first half, both teams kicked one goal each, as scores were level at the main break.

Redan then took control in the third term, kicking a goal inside the first 35 seconds of the second half, to assert control.

Three more goals in the quarter, including two to Zoe Larkins, put the side up by 26 points at the last change.

Redan was never challenged, keeping Darley scoreless in the final term to claim the premiership with just one loss all season.

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“I don’t know whether it was nerves but they weren’t playing for each other, so they weren’t getting to the ball with numbers and supporting each other,” Redan coach Mick Larkins said.

“I gave them a bit of a rouse up at half time and it’s up to them at the end of the day (to deliver) and they brought it in the third quarter and that is what busted it apart.

“We just started playing our natural game and it looked a lot better.”

Larkins said the added pressure helped the team to front up better in attack.

“One we started bringing the pressure we played a lot better,” he said.

“It started coming off (our play) a lot better after a scrappy first half.”

Larkins said Zoe was one of the best for the team alongside a couple of defenders and midfielders.

“She (Zoe) was very good, she’s had a great year and capped it off with a grand final win, which was great,” he said.

“Amelia (Jarvis) in the backline was solid and Shan (Shannon Simpson) was also solid in the backline.

“The wingers ran all day and the midfield all stood up in the second half.”

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For Zoe Lawkins her third quarter came after admitting her form in the first half wasn’t up to her standard.

So she went about improving it.

The small forward kicked two important goals in the third quarter, the first from the goalsquare, running on to the ball, while the second was a snap shot to almost seal the premiership for the Lions despite a quarter and a half to play.

She almost added a third but kicked wide not long after as Redan took control of the contest.

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The Lion kicked more points in a 10 minute spell than Darley did the whole game.

She, along with Jess Bokma, who kicked two goals in the third term and one in the final quarter, outscored Darley from their own boot.

“Coming into the third quarter I had a bit of a shocker in the second so I had to just step up a little bit,” Zoe said.

“I didn’t think about it, I just put it on the boot (with the snap).”

Zoe said the determination from the team to end the season on a high was what triggered the explosive third quarter.

“We reflected on how good our season has been and did we want it to end how it was looking like to end (a loss),” she said.

“We all said ‘we don’t want to lose, we want the premiership in our hand.’

“We got our fuel from that and played harder and was stronger at the ball.”

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Zoe was one of the best players in the game but the best player award went to two players.

Redan captain Carly Twaits was the BFLW best on ground with Charli Linssen winning the AFL Victoria award.

Linssen said plenty of others deserved the honour, not just her.

Redan midfielder Charli Linssen was the best player in the grand final.

“I was like this is not real (when the award was announced), but I was like ‘awesome, I appreciate it so much’,” she said.

“I don’t really know (if I deserved it) I put in all I could and there are so many players in our team that could have got the award.

“I’m grateful I received it.”

This is Linssen’s first full season at Redan since coming to the club from Melbourne.

She’s glad to be a Lion.

“I moved from Melbourne to Ballarat for Uni and I thought that Redan looked like a good club,” Linssen said.

“Now it is my home.”

In the other grades, Redan claimed the under-18 premiership with a 26 point win over North Ballarat.

North Ballarat claimed the under-16 and under-14 premierships with wins over Bacchus Marsh and Darley respectively.