STJFL finals preview: Top young footballers to battle it out

Three weeks of junior footy grand finals kicks off on Friday night with the STJFL’s finest to take centre stage at North Hobart Oval. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW >>

Ryan Rosendale

@RosendaleRyan

2 min read

August 25, 2022 - 12:13PM

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FRIDAY night will see the beginning of a busy three weeks for the Southern Tasmanian Junior Football League (STJFL) with grand final action set to kick off at North Hobart Oval.

The league has had another successful season, with over 209 teams competing across 20 different grades from under 8’s to 18’s with STJFL executive officer Tony Gibson looking forward to the competitions’ best teams now being on show.

“It’s been a very successful year for the STJFL and we are looking forward to the beginning of grand final action on Friday night,” Gibson said.

“13 grades of competition will playing off in grand finals across the next three weeks and we know each team is ready and raring to go.”

Action will commence with a double-header scheduled on Friday night.

Lauderdale will face the South East Giants in the under 14 A2 Boys grand final at 5:30pm with the Giants looking to win their second grand final in as many years.

STJFL Finals. U/14 A2, Leyland Fysh (Lauderdale) and Josh Rawson (South East Giants) at North Hobart. Picture: Chris Kidd

“We won last year so we are really looking forward to hopefully going back to back,” South East Giants player Joshua Rawson said.

“The club hasn’t been around for long so to be able to win consecutive grand finals would be really special.”

“We are pumped but very nervous to play on Sunday. It’s the first grand final for most of us and the Giants are a really strong team so we will have to play well to beat them,” Lauderdale player Leyland Fysh said.

The under 17.5 A2 girls will follow at 7:30pm with Sandy Bay and Southern Storm vying for glory in that clash.

STJFL Finals. U/17.5 A2, Evie Banks- Smith (Sandy Bay), Connie Donato (Southern Storm) at North Hobart. Picture: Chris Kidd

“We lost to Glenorchy last year in the grand final so hopefully we can rectify that on Friday night,” Sandy Bay Lions player Evie Banks-Smith said.

“We beat Sandy Bay the last time we played them so if we play well we are confident we can have the same result,” Southern Storm player Connie Donato said.

Grand final action will continue on Sunday with the under 13 A2 girls match between New Norfolk and Clarence. The match will be a curtain raiser to a full day of SFLW Grand Final action with three divisions of the senior women’s competition to also conclude their seasons on Sunday.

STJFL Finals. U/13 A2, Gemma Bosworth (Clarence), Molly Edmand (Clarence) and Elsie Chaplin (New Norfolk) at North Hobart. Picture: Chris Kidd

Despite the continued competition of other sports across the state, Gibson said this year had seen another positive growth of girls playing football while the boys had a strong representation across the entire league.