Greensborough College Takes Home State Footy Championship  

On Thursday the 28th of August, our very own year 7 to 10 AFLW team took home the State Championship - defeating Rowville by 35 points. The high stakes game was held at the Tony Sheehan Oval, Latrobe University. The game was supported by a massive turnout of Greensborough College student spectators and teachers including Mrs Barker, who was really looking forward to the game. The team was led by their two captain’s Dakota Edmonds and Lucy Gillottie, and coached by Miss Laura Frazer, the girls played with grit, determination and just overall great teamwork. 

It was a slow start for Rowville with them only kicking one point in the first quarter, but not for our girls, they came out strong kicking 2 goals and it didn’t stop there. Tiffany Freestone started the momentum with an excellent field goal from the top of the goal square instantly putting them in the lead. After the first goals were kicked in the first quarter, a Rowville player commented that ‘They have never been down before’. 

The momentum only continued with Taya Hanan-Datson, Deena Gerges and Mataya Howell kicking more goals throughout the whole game. By half-time we were leading with the scores being 31 to 2. Miss Frazer did a motivating pep talk at half time which ensured the energy stayed high. This energy was evident when the second half began and the girls showed great persistence and pushed to their limits, even when things didn’t go there way and they made mistakes, they all showed resilience.  

Mataya Howell, a key player from the team said, ‘Our girls were so supportive of each other that whenever I did something wrong or any other player on the team made a mistake, the girls would tell me it’s okay and keep going’. 

Even when they were ahead by so much and the scores were so high, not once did they faulter and they gave 100% effort right to the end. From the groundball pickups to the spoils and pressure when the ball was in Rowville’s possession, they all made a difference, every member of the team played a part in this win.   This was the smallest winning margin across the ten games the girls played to get to the State Championships. When it came down to the final siren and the girls had won, the crowd erupted into an applaud and cheers. The final score came down to 44 to 9 with our girls taking home the victory.   

Our two Captains, Lucy Gillotie and Dakota Edmonds said: ‘The energy was ecstatic so proud of them all’ (Lucy G), ‘When that final siren went, I looked around and took in the crowd and atmosphere, just soaked in the feeling’ (Dakota E).

After the game, the medal ceremony was held. Congratulations to Maya Bloomfield, a key member from the team who won Best on Ground, she played a big part in what the girls achieved that day. With her great ball movement across the ground to her high team spirit I think we can all agree she deserved it. We had a chat with Maya post game, and she said, ‘The win was a massive achievement and was a whole team effort, winning Best on Ground was like the cherry on top, it made me feel really happy with my performance, it made me feel like I contributed to the team a lot’.  Miss Laura Frazer, who coached the girls through it all, said ‘I was a bit emotional after the final siren. There were tears of happiness, relief and pride. I was happy for the girls because they knew they deserved it. I was so proud!’  

‘The last time I coached a Greensborough team to the State Championships in girls AFL was back in 2016. This was when Gabby Newton (2019 #1 AFLW draft pick) was in year 9’ 

What a fantastic achievement for our school and I know I’m not alone when I say I’m incredibly proud of the girls.