Darebin Falcons strive for premiership four-peat in VFL Women’s competition
THEY’VE lost just one game in four years and are chasing a fourth straight flag. Darebin Falcons could well be the best footy team in the country.
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THINK Hawthorn has been dominant in the AFL in recent years?
The Hawks are still in the hunt to win a fourth straight premiership this season and if you look at their past 100 games, 78 wins and 22 losses is nothing to be scoffed at.
But amazingly it is a record that does not stack up all that well against what has unquestionably been Melbourne’s most dominant football side of recent times.
Like Hawthorn, VFL Women’s side Darebin Falcons are shooting for a premiership four-peat this season as they prepare for a grand final clash with Melbourne University on Sunday.
Darebin Falcons champion Daisy Pearce pockets VFL Women’s best-and-fairest
But unlike Alastair Clarkson’s men, the Falcons have not lost a game all season.
In fact, the Falcons have dropped just one game in the past four years, having also completed undefeated campaigns in 2013 and 2014.
The powerhouse’s record from its past 100 games stands at 94 wins and six losses and the Falcons have a percentage of 475 this year.
There is no doubt Darebin has star power, with four of the 12 marquee signings for next year’s inaugural AFL National women’s competition — Daisy Pearce (Melbourne), Melissa Hickey (Melbourne), Katie Brennan (Western Bulldogs) and Darcy Vescio (Carlton) — hailing from the Preston-based club.
But Falcons’ captain Pearce said playing together as a team had been the key to success, particularly this season.
“If we get the result on Sunday, and that’s certainly what we’ll be aiming to do, it will be a really satisfying one because the whole competition’s improved,” Pearce said.
“Our top-end talent from the Youth Girls competition has gone elsewhere and we’ve really had to dig in and play a real team brand of footy. If we were to get the result on Sunday it would be really satisfying because I love it when that team footy stands up.”
Brendan Fevola’s club — Western Region Football League powerhouse Deer Park — also has a pretty impressive record from its past 100 games.
During that time, the Lions have scored 84 wins including five flags — the past four in Division 1 as well as one Division 2 in 2011.
Their latest premiership came last weekend when, playing with a broken sternum, Fevola booted four goals in a 114-point rout of Hoppers Crossing.
Eastern Football League outfit Balwyn rounds out the top-three top-grade sides in Melbourne based on their past 100 games with 80 wins and one draw.
The Tigers — who have won three of the past four flags including last year — will meet Vermont in this Saturday’s Division 1 grand final.
HOW THEY STACK UP
RECORDS OF TEAMS FROM THEIR PAST 100 GAMES
Darebin (VFL Women) — 94 wins/100 games
Deer Park (Western Region Football League) — 84/100
Balwyn (Eastern Football League) — 80-1/100
Hawthorn (AFL) — 78/100
Aberfeldie (Essendon District Football League) — 78/100
Dingley (Southern Football League) — 76/100
Williamstown (VFL) — 70/100
Heidelberg (Northern Football League) — 67-1/100
Old Xaverians (Victorian Amateur Football Association) — 66/100
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