Federal get revenge in grand final rematch to open CAFL 2025 account
Federal men and Wests women scored Round 1 wins to seal grand final rematch revenge, while there were goals aplenty for the Rovers men. Catch up on the opening round action.
Northern Territory
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A six-goal to two last quarter lifted Federal to a come-from-behind 12-point win over reigning CAFL premier Pioneer in their grand final rematch at Traeger Park at the weekend.
The Demons trailed for three quarters before a last quarter comeback produced a morale boosting 10.13 (73) to 8.13 (61) win.
New Federal coach John Glasson described the win as the most courageous he had been a part of in a long association with the game.
“We were forced to make about 10 changes to the side we selected on Thursday night and still ran over the top of them in the last quarter,’’ Glasson said.
“The whole side lifted when it counted, it was a real team effort from every player out there and it sets us up for a big season.
“Of course we would have preferred to be the reigning premiers, but to beat a very good side like Pioneer in the manner we did is a big plus for all the players.”
Harry Armstrong running out of a back pocket was Federal’s best, alongside fullback Tom Hynes, while under-18 ruckman Libron Watson dominated the aerial contests in his second match in 24 hours.
Glasson was also impressed with skipper Braydon Weilly’s ability to lead from the front and 17-year-old wingman Hartley Roe in his league debut for the club.
Pioneer joint coach Steven Hayes was disappointed in his side’s inability to run out the game.
“Our fitness let us down in the last quarter when it really counted, no one wants to lose a game of footy like that,” Hayes said.
Shawn Foster at fullback and Nelson Ander around the ball were the Eagles’ best players.
Rovers gave former player Fred Campbell the perfect homecoming when the Double Blues beat West Alice Springs by 105 points in their twilight game at Traeger Park.
Tosh Kunoth (seven goals), Tyson Woods (five) and Kaleel Ross (four) feasted on the Bloods defence in Rovers’ 21.9 (135) to 4.6 (30) win.
“It was pretty impressive to watch the players come together as a team and each one contribute to the win,” Campbell said.
“It was hard to pick out individual players, but Toshy’s seven goals, Kaleel’s four goals on debut for us and the combination of Deacon Braun and Billy Pareroultja in the centre worked well.”
Josh Wallace and Colin Thiele were standouts for Wests in a game Ben Ellis and his coaching staff would have got some positives from.
In the senior women, Wests got some form of revenge for their narrow loss to Rovers in last season’s premiership decider when they beat the reigning premier by 60 points.
First year coach Hope McSkehan said the combination of a big pre-season and the sight of a Rovers side with only 16 players meant her side was ready to go in the grand final rematch.
“I was pretty confident in the team we’ve put together this year and we’ve got a lot of players to pick from, so to win that well was a good start to the season,” McSkehan said.
“Michelle Ellis dominated up forward for us with four goals in her comeback to Alice footy after three years out through injury, Gigi Dadds around the ball and down back late in the game was very good and Florence Bourke in the ruck who dominated after a quarter warming up.”
In other games Charlotte Rudd around the ball, Lily Zofia in defence and strong marking ruck Sian Furniss were the best for Federal in their 7.4 (46) to 3.2 (20) win.
The red and white led all day despite Pioneer closing to within a goal at the main break.
Federal coach Jackson Ankers said his side’s rustiness after a seven-month layoff had been countered by their intensity around the ball against a quality opponent.
Alkamilya had too much class for Souths in Wednesday night’s season opener at Albrecht Oval.
The Cyril Rioli coached Panthers won 18.15 (123) to 0.1 (1) in a big pointer towards their premiership chances in the 2025 season.
Originally published as Federal get revenge in grand final rematch to open CAFL 2025 account
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