Replays: 2023 Tri-State water polo tournament (Tri-State Water polo Tournament)
There were two penalty shootouts in gold medal matches, with some thrilling water polo to close off the competition in Geelong. Watch all the replays here.
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GEELONG Marlins were not able to overturn a six-goal group stage loss to Richmond, going down to the Melbourne-based side in the under-18s grand final of the tri-state tournament.
The Marlins, who combined with the NYP Dragons for the tournament, suffered just one loss in the lead into the tournament decider, beating Wagga Wagga 6-1 in the semi final to earn a place in the grand final.
Richmond took an early lead, scoring the first three goals to lead 3-0 at half time, with an undisciplined Marlins outfit giving away two five-metre penalties and gifting Richmond an extra player twice in the first half.
Marlins president Bec Talbot said the tournament was a huge success.
“It was great to see so many teams come, it was easily our biggest tournament yet, and it’s only going to get bigger in the years to come,” she said.
“All of the reports out of the clubs initially is everyone had a great time, clubs are already talking about coming back next year and bringing more teams.
“To get the under-18s team, which is the first time we have had an under-18s side, into the grand final is something we’re really proud of.
“This Richmond side is really strong, a lot of really good players who have been playing together for a long time.
Richmond ultimately won the match 7-0.
U16 Boys grand final: Melbourne Collegians (7) def DVE (7) in penalties
Melbourne Collegians trailed 4-1 but came back late in the boys’ contest to send it to penalties.
Collegians and DVE each scored their opening penalties, but DVE’s Harry Wightman hit the crossbar with his shot at goal.
As the shootout extended past the original five shots with each team tied on three each, Wightman had a chance to atone for his miss but his shot was saved.
Collegians ultimately won the shootout, 5-4 in an extended match.
Meanwhile, the Marlins’ U16 boys’ side lost in the semi final to a dominant DVE outfit, before losing against Richmond in the bronze medal match.
U16 Girls grand final: Albury Sharks (4) def Wagga Wagga (4) in penalties
After four quarters the two best U16 teams could not be separated, tied at 4-4.
The game went to penalties, with the Sharks winning the gold medal 2-1 in the shootout.
Wagga Wagga had a chance to extend with a tying penalty, but the high shot clanked off the crossbar.
U14 Boys grand final: Albury Sharks (7) def Albury Tigers (1)
In an in-house grand final, the Albury Sharks have walked home with the gold medal, triumphing comfortably over Albury Tigers.
The Sharks got out to a 4-0 lead early and did not look like giving it up throughout the rest of the contest, eventually claiming gold medals easily.
The Tigers were still awarded silver medals for their efforts to make it to the grand final.
U16 Boys 5th place playoff: Albury Sharks (13) def Honey Badgers (7)
Scoring eight of the first 10 goals of the contest has set up a Sharks win despite valiant efforts to come back late from the Honey Badgers.
The Sharks broke out to an early win, leading by six goals before the Honey Badgers piled on the pressure, bringing it back to a winnable position, but the Sharks were able to close it out for the fifth-placed win.
U16 Girls 5th place playoff: Albury Tigers (7) def Richmond (2)
The Tigers claimed fifth spot in the U16 girls grade with a strong win over Richmond.
Richmond tied the game at 1-1 before six straight goals to Albury, with Richmond keeper Sienna Barkei doing an admirable job in saving countless attempts despite the strong Albury scoreline.
U16 Boys semi final: Melbourne Collegians (10) def Richmond (4)
Melbourne Collegians will enter the grand final against DVE full of confidence after a 10-4 victory against Richmond.
Leading from the jump, Richmond was barely in the contest, with Collegians dominating with their strength and speed through the water.
DVE had a dominant win against Geelong Marlins in the other semi final, setting up a cracking final.
U18 Girls semi final: Geelong/NYP (6) v Wagga Wagga (1)
Geelong/NYP has booked itself a gold medal match against Richmond after a dominant 6-1 victory against Wagga Wagga.
The ‘home’ side led from the start and built the lead throughout the contest, with Wagga Wagga only scoring late in the game.
Geelong/NYP lost to Richmond earlier in the day, and Richmond’s dominance in the semi final was apparent against Albury.
U16 Girls semi final: Albury (4) def Pool Pirates (3)
The low-scoring affair was a battle of two of the competition’s best defences.
Albury was able to take advantage late as the Pirates tired, scoring two late goals to put the game out of reach.
A late Pool Pirates goal made it a close result, but it was too little too late.
Albury will move onto the gold medal match.
U14 Boys semi final: Albury (6) def Richmond (5)
A half-court heave in the dying seconds clanked off the crossbar and ended Richmond’s chances at a gold-medal match after a game that went down to the wire.
The two sides traded blows for the entire four quarters, with neither gaining major ascendancy.
Albury will advance to the final of the under-14s competition with the thrilling win.
U16 Girls: Albury Tigers (7) def Monash (0)
Albury was again too strong for Monash, winning 7-0.
The Tigers will progress through to the semi finals of the competition after another easy win.
U18 Girls: Richmond (9) def Geelong/NYP (3)
Richmond showed its dominance in the under-18s competition with a resounding six-goal victory against the highly-touted Geelong/NYP side.
A second-half spurt gave life to Richmond’s attack, scoring five goals to one to finish the game.
Both sides are still in the hunt for a gold medal match berth.
U12 Mixed: Wagga Wagga (6) def Geelong (5)
Geelong’s under-12 mixed team has suffered an agonising defeat in the opening match of the tri-state water polo tournament’s second day of action.
Playing Wagga Wagga, the Marlins went down early by three goals, but began to claw back into the deficit with a strong second and third quarter.
But a late goal from the visiting regional side was able to break the late deadlock and give them the victory 6-5.
U14 Boys: Honey Badgers (7) def Northcote (1)
Meanwhile, the Honey Badgers’ under-14 boys side had a dominant win against Northcote, piling on seven goals straight to start the game.
Northcote scored a late consolation goal to get the scoreboard to 7-1, but that is where it stayed when the final whistle blew.
U14 Boys: Albury Sharks (17) def DVE (0)
Albury is fast-becoming the team to beat after the demolition job the Sharks did on DVE.
The Sharks started strongly, piling on a relentless number of goals and just applied pressure for the rest of the match.
Albury was far too dominant, and will move forward in the competition as a favourite in the age group.
U16 Boys: Honey Badgers (6) def Pool Pirates (4)
In possibly the game of the tournament so far, Honey Badgers triumphed over the Pool Pirates by two goals.
The two sides went goal for goal in the early stages, with teams being tied late in the second half.
But late goals to the Honey Badgers, including one in the dying seconds, confirmed the side the victory.
The full list of 442 water polo juniors that are set to play in Geelong’s tri-state tournament has been released, with games set to start on Saturday.
The finals will be held on Sunday, with all finals matches set to be livestreamed here.
Break down all of the teams, ranging from under-12s to under-18s are below.
More than 500 competitors from 45 teams will hit Geelong this weekend for the annual tri-state junior water polo tournament.
The two-day event, which starts on Saturday, features players from Victoria, NSW and Tasmania ranging in age from U12s to U18s.
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You can catch all the action from 17 games on Sunday LIVE on KommunityTV from 8am. The coverage includes four grand finals.
Event organiser Deb Johnson said it was great to have the largest regional junior water polo tournament back in its full capacity after the impact of Covid.
“We’ve got a Geelong team in every age group, from mixed under-12s, under 14 boys and girls, under 16 boys and girls, as well as under 18s,” she said.
“In the mixed 12s, we’re hoping to help some other clubs with surplus players so that everyone gets some water time.
“So it looks like there will be at least 60 athletes from Geelong, which is great for our program.
“But even then, every member of our club has already volunteered a couple of hours to help run it all, so for a small, non-for-profit, regional, minority sport, we are very lucky with such an inclusive community that wants to be involved.”
Teams will come from regional and metro Victoria, regional NSW and Tasmania.
Johnson said the growth of the tournament showed the interest levels the sport had on a national scale.
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“It used to be a very small tournament a number of years ago, it was never on this scale,” she said.
“About six years ago it was renamed and redeveloped as the tri-state junior water polo tournament.
“The last two years were heavily impacted by Covid, we were down to 18 or 19 teams due to lack of travel or risk of infection, and players were contracting Covid and that was impacting it as well.
“So to have it up and running and bigger than ever is so amazing for us, we’re so excited for it to begin.”
Young stars dominate junior carnival ahead of homecoming
Some of Geelong’s brightest young water polo talent will use their experiences on an elite stage to their advantage in preparation for the tournament.
Harry Talbot, Isaac McPherson and Josh Hirst were all selected to represent Victoria in an under-16s carnival, with the trio winning gold medals to put Geelong on the water polo map.
The three Marlins players will also test their skills this weekend in Geelong.
McPherson said he was ecstatic to represent his state and the tournament would provide his teammates a great launching pad to challenge and win the Geelong competition.
“It was a great tournament, and a lot of fun,” he said.
“It was great to win with my mates and keep getting better together.
“The tri-states will be a lot of fun.”
Marlins president Bec Talbot said it was fantastic for the program to be performing at such a high level.
“The program for the juniors is still in its infancy a bit, it’s not that old, so to see some of our top level athletes come through from the juniors and play at this sort of level is fantastic,” she said.
“And now to get the ability to host the tri-state tournament as well, it’s really good for our club and the region here.”
Originally published as Replays: 2023 Tri-State water polo tournament (Tri-State Water polo Tournament)
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