Newtown & Chilwell premiership defender Casey Price reflects on 2013 flag ahead of Eagles’ 2025 grand final appearance
Friday’s A-grade grand final marks Newtown & Chilwell’s 11th straight appearance, as retired premiership defender Casey Price recalls the beginnings of their incredible run.
Newtown & Chilwell’s 11th consecutive GFNL A-grade grand final now rivals that of a powerhouse South Barwon of the mid-2000s to early 2010s.
But history beckons for the Eagles in the league’s 25th year of netball, if they can bring home a record ninth flag in Friday’s grand final against St Joseph’s.
Twelve years ago, it was a new-look Newtown side who ended the Swans’ premiership dominance at eight flags, the Eagles’ undefeated 2013 season sparking a new dynasty which would span seven straight flags and an inconceivable 150-game winning streak which was eventually halted in round 4, 2022.
Grand final defeats to Colac in 2022-23 were eventually vindicated when the Eagles reached the summit again in 2024 – defeating St Joseph’s by four goals for a eighth flag.
In turning the page back to that first premiership, remarkably four names still remain and will again line up on Friday– Julia Woolley, Danielle Mather, Natalie Tommasini and Amy Wirth – in an incredible testament to their longevity in the league.
Joining the foursome in arriving at Elderslie Reserve in 2013 – after the club finished the 2012 season in 10th – was defender Casey Price.
Now 39 and two months into a work move to Tasmania, Price revealed the talent on paper that year meant there was an self-expectation they could challenge for wins in their first season playing together.
But Price said they had little idea just how dominant of a season they’d put together – and in the years to come.
“I think we were incredibly lucky – we had a great mix of new players to the club, but also some stalwarts who had been at Newtown for a long-long time,” Price said.
“Maddy McMahon being one of those – there was just a lovely mix.
“(But) what you never know is how well everyone is going to gel together.
“We were incredibly lucky because we enjoyed each other’s company, number one, which makes playing together a hell of a lot easier.
“There was really good combinations … I think it was one of those things that kept the winning streak in that first season alive is we probably got better as the season went on as we started to get used to each other.
“We always had a self-expectation we would do well, but probably having that undefeated season was not necessarily something we thought we’d achieve.
“The league is obviously incredibly strong, you’ve got players playing in it for such a long time, South Barwon at that time were the leader in terms of their performance.
“We certainly knew what we were up against, and certainly had that as a target for ourselves.”
First flag the start for powerhouse
Progressing through the 2023 unbeaten, the Eagles’ grand final triumph over South Barwon stunned largely for its significant final margin – 54-31 – with Price later judged best on court.
“It wasn’t expected, South Barwon and a lot of their individual players were clearly known to us, a lot of them played in VNL themselves,” Price said.
“Sometimes nerves get the better of people and the expectation you put on yourselves – we knew South Barwon was the top-tier for us, so we certainly had that in front of us.
“Where we finished up and the result probably was a little bit unexpected.
“From memory the result only extended in those later parts of the match.”
For Price, a job in defence saw her matched up against Swans’ attacker Olivia Cameron, who like Woolley, Mather and co. continues to play A-grade in the GFNL to this day.
“Have matched up on her plenty times before, she played in the VNL as did I,” Price said.
“I knew what I was up against, she brings an incredible amount of speed and agility to the court, she’s obviously a really talented goaler.
“The fact she’s still playing – I can barely get out of bed in the morning – it’s just mind-boggling to me, but it’s who she is, it’s in her nature.”
For Price, playing for a local football-netball club was largely a foreign concept hailing from Melbourne and spending most of her time in the VNL and ANL.
It wasn’t until joining Newtown she settled with a club for a significant time, going on to play in their seven flags from 2013-2019 before retiring.
The defender felt it wasn’t wasted on players what they were able to achieve back then and now – Price thrilled to see her former teammates go on and continue that lengthy run of grand final appearances.
“If you look at so many grand final wins in a row, undefeated seasons … it comes with a lot of expectation and we certainly felt that – that we had managed to put ourselves in a position that we became one of the teams to beat,” she said.
“There is a weight that comes with that, and if you look even now, this being their 11th grand final, that expectation hasn’t gone away.
“And when you look at the competitiveness of the league and the teams, it's so amazing to see – not being involved anymore – that the team has still managed to put themselves in a position that they’re making grand finals all these years later.”
Original four lead from the front
Price believed it was a credit to the club for fostering its talent in keeping its A-grade side strong year-in-year-out – the likes of current A-grader Ruby Pekin-Schlicht coming up through their junior ranks while Olivia Powell was playing both A — grade and 17 & Us last year.
Vanessa Augustini will be eyeing her fourth flag on Friday, after playing in her first in 2018, while various other names have lined up in premierships over the years including Kath Nutt (nee Knott), Renee Pilkington, Sophie Hinkley (nee Barr), Jacqui Newton and Melissa Oloamanu to name a few.
For the four originals who remain – Woolley, Mather, Tommasini and Wirth – Price believed their talent as netballers was “undeniable”.
“For them to maintain a position in a A-grade squad for such a long period time, is just a reflection of their netball talents and capabilities,” Price said.
One thing Price believed got lost in the discourse though was their leadership and mature heads in helping maintain the squad’s high level of competitiveness for more than a decade.
“With that comes a natural leadership that comes in terms of developing and fostering some of that new talent coming through,” she said.
“I think for me, if I look at them and what they’ve been able to achieve, both as individuals but also as a collective, it’s undoubtedly impressive and a testament to their leadership capabilities, their desire to be the best and win and foster talent and really lean into what the club is trying to achieve.
“I don’t know how they do it after 12 or 13 years, but I think it’s very much in their nature.”
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Originally published as Newtown & Chilwell premiership defender Casey Price reflects on 2013 flag ahead of Eagles’ 2025 grand final appearance
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