Brisbane Lions Roars the AFLW Grand Final

The Match started off with the Brisbane Lions against North Melbourne Kangaroos which it was an incredible journey for the 2023 AFLW Season. The Brisbane Lions Women’s Team has last won the Grand Final since 2021 against Adelaide Football Club and were runners up in 2022 against Melbourne Demons at the very close match with a low scoring affair which they mostly have playoff experience during the 2017 and 2018 season. Breanna Koenen who was the captain of the Brisbane Lions since the women’s team was established in 2017. Coach Craig Starchvich is the Senior Coach of Women’s Team of the Lions. Princes Park (also known as Ikon Park under naming rights) is an Australian rules football ground located within the Princes Park area in the inner Melbourne region of Carlton North.

The Grand Final started off with a scoreless draw throughout most of the 1st Quarter from both defense sides with avoiding the scoring opportunity until Taylah Gatt did a small pass to Jasmine Garner and got the first goal of the match inside the 50 metre circle. The 2nd Quarter started off with Charolette Mullins kicked the ball inside the 50 metre circle which it was dropped by the goal square which no one was able to get it which the Lions got themselves their first goal of the match out of nowhere for Brisbane to get their moment. Afterwards, there was words from the players for pushing while the referee ruled foul on Brisbane which Jasmine Garner from the Kangaroos scored another goal inside the 50 metre circle. The crowd was excited for North Melbourne to take the lead to bring up the energy. In the meantime, Ruby Svarc of the Lions took the ball and passed it to Ally Anderson which she went in circle to pass it to Ellie Hampson on the mark and scored a goal for the Brisbane Lions. When it was halftime, The North Melbourne Kangaroos has took the lead by 2.2 (14) to 2.1 (13)

When the 2nd half the match began, it started off with the Brisbane Lions defending the ball and Caitlin Wendland passed the footy to Orla O’Dwyer and kicked her left foot to give the Brisbane Lions a goal and first time they took the lead. The fans were excited for the lead of the Lions on the other side of the venue. Afterwards, The Lions made tackles with the Kangaroos at every pass when the footy goes around the stadium. Then Jasmine Garner took the footy while no one was able to get and kicked it far up to Katie Shierlaw at the mark and gained the lead back for North Melbourne to score a goal inside the 50 metre circle. The Kangaroos fans went wild after the tremendous goal. It didnt stop North Melbourne to score another goal from Alice O’Loughlin which had some help from her teammates. By the time it reached to the 4th Quarter, Kiara Hillier of the Brisbane Lions managed to stay in bounds and kicked the footy to Dakota Davidson and scored a goal for the Lions to get the margin back. Dakota Davidson has caught the footy momentary and scored the goal again for the Lions and got themselves back in the lead from a 5 points margin with less than 8 minutes left. While Chris Fagan the Coach of the Men’s Team for the Brisbane Lions wanted to watch the Women’s Team because he wanted to see Brisbane for the Women’s Team get a souvenir which it was nice of the Manager to watch the women play in action for the support. With less than 4 minutes left, Mikayla Pauga took the footy and Brisbane wanted to have the ball which North Melbourne was caught for hold inside the goal square but gives Brisbane the free kick to Ellie Hampson. When Ellie Hampson kicked the footy, she scored her 2nd goal for the Lions and extended the lead which it was a thriller for the Lions fans. With the last minute left, both teams kicked the footy outside of the goal zone until Breanna Koenen the Captain of the Brisbane Lions scored the last goal and the whole team was excited to wrapped up the grand final.

The match end with the Queens of the Jungle as the Brisbane Lions are AFLW Champions for the 2nd time since 2021. The match ended with the Brisbane Lions victory of 7.2 (44) to 4.3 (27). The Brisbane Lions has roar the crowd and lifted the trophy for their amazing turnaround of the tournament. The team celebrated with their fans and families after the match was over and had the opportunity to celebrate with their supporters and give young fans autographs. The little kids also did the hand out with the medals to the athletes and thank them for the support.