The women of Wadeye made history last week competing in their first ever grand final

PALUMPA Power made history last weekend when they were crowned the first ever champions of a Wadeye senior women’s competition

Wadeye women played in their first ever grand final. Photo: AFLNT Media

PALUMPA Power made history last weekend when they were crowned the first ever champions of a Wadeye senior women’s competition.

A senior women’s competition came to life in Wadeye this year with three teams, Wadeye Reds, Manthathpe Roo’s and Palumpa Power vying for the top spot.

The pre-season competition ran over five weeks with each side playing each other once with the Reds finishing on top of the table.

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They then played Palumpa in a tightly contested grand final which Power won 3.8 (26) to 2.3 (15) to claim the first ever women’s competition honours.

AFLNT youth football development manager for Wadeye Birrigan Young was impressed by the growing interest in the women’s game in the region.

“The concept of women’s footy is still new to Wadeye. The only other senior women’s game that has been played in the region was stand-alone in 2018,” Young said.

“We’ve run a few junior female scratch-match games in since mid-March which gained heaps of interest from senior women and from there we realised the potential for a competition.

“Running a pre-season competition showed the community women can not only play footy but also drive interest for others to play.

“We believe we will be able to expand the competition to four or five regular full Wadeye and Palumpa teams for next season which would be amazing.”

AFLNT participation, programs and remote projects manager Cassidy Fitzclarence said the women’s game was the main area of growth in the remote footy space across the Territory.

“The growth of women’s footy in town is mirrored in remote communities which is awesome to see,” Fitzclarence said.

“Some communities have been quicker than others to take women’s competitions up likes Gove and Galiwinku which have been pioneering regions.

“Galiwinku has high player engagement with seven regular women’s teams supported by senior members of the community and it’s fantastic to see Wadeye and Palumpa following suit.”