VAFA livestream: Kew, Caulfield, Melbourne Uni, West Brunswick feature in Premier Women's finals (VAFA Finals Series)

Dogged defence was the order of the day in brutal conditions as goals proved elusive in both the qualifying and elimination finals. Relive the action from our VAFA Women’s Premier League LIVESTREAMS.

Kew have increased their hopes of VAFA Women’s Premier League title success after defeating Caulfield in a hard fought game, 2.7 (19) to 1.1 (7) at Coburg City Oval.

On a windy day, Kew’s strong defence kept Caulfield scoreless in the second half while Kew added two behinds to their 17 first-half points to grind out a win.

Dakota Villiva continued her fine form this season for Kew while Amelia Dawborn took strong marks and contributed well to her side’s win.

Shanae Carter performed well for Caulfield as did Amelia Hines, who got in the way of Kew’s attack in defence.

Kew will face St Kevins in a semi-final next week for a spot in the grand final. The loser of that game will play in a preliminary final the following week.

Caulfield will face Melbourne University in a do or die semi-final clash next week.

Melbourne University ended West Brunswick’s season in a low-scoring nailbiter at Downer Oval to progress through to the semi-final.

The sole goal of the game came from Hannah Smith who scored in the third quarter to give her side a nine-point lead at three-quarter time.

West Brunswick gave Melbourne Uni a fright in the final stages of the game as they scored three points to get within a goal of levelling the score, although it was Uni holding on to win 1.4 (10) to 0.4 (4).

The game was tightly contested as the Uni took a 2-1 lead into halftime.

PREVIEW: Excitement grows as VAFA hits finals time

The excitement is building as the VAFA Premier Women’s competition makes a return to finals for the first time since 2019.

And with the streaming deal with KommunityTV showcasing the competition to a big audience, Kew, Caulfield, Melbourne Uni and West Brunswick will have plenty of eyes on them on Sunday.

KOMMUNITYTV TO LIVESTREAM VAFA FINALS SERIES

News Corp will livestream 15 VAFA finals matches including six Premier Women’s, four Premier Men’s, four Under 19 Premier Men’s and the Masters decider. Of those matches, 13 will be exclusive to KommunityTV.

St Kevins took home the minor premiership, earning themselves a week off before they play the winner of Kew and Caulfield next week.

Heading into the elimination final against Caulfield Grammarians, Kew have added strength to their side with players returning from injury and rest weeks.

Coach Jess Burger said the depth of her squad, with 49 having played a game in the reserves this season, was helping them, although she assured that continued improvement was imperative.

“As we have gone throughout the season, team’s are taking enormous strides in developing, so we need to continue to be hungry for more,” Burger, who is also the head of women’s football at Collingwood, said.

“We can’t just rest on our laurels and be comfortable.

“I don’t want to get a participation medal in finals, I want them to be hungry to develop.”

Kew have an excellent defensive record and have only conceded 19 points in their last five games. That run of excellent form included keeping Sunday’s opponents Caulfield to just one point in a 38-point win a little over one month ago.

In Sunday’s other game, Melbourne Uni will play West Brunswick in an elimination final, which marks a stunning turnaround for a club who were relegated to Premier B after the 2019 season.

Melbourne Uni captain Emma Delaney is hoping her side can be rewarded for the strong connection they have built, particularly as she attempts to make a return from a broken finger in a few weeks time.

Emma Delaney (Melbourne Uni) and Genevieve Walsh (West Brunswick).

“We’re really happy about where we are at with our training and how we are playing,” Delaney said.

“I think we are really hitting our form at the right time.

“We had a bit of turnover this year from last year.

“And now I think in the latter half of the season every has really got to know each other and now we play a lot better.

“So hopefully if all is going well, we can go deep into the finals series.”

Delaney said players, including some ‘draftable’ tennagers, have learnt about the strengths of teammates as well as basics like how far they could kick, which helped coordinate their game play better.