Fairytale is in reach for Brighton

BRIGHTON captain Zoie Crawford said winning the SFLW grand final against Lindisfarne at North Hobart Oval today would be “massive” for a club that could not field a men’s SFL team this season.

The Robins were forced to withdraw from the men’s draw just before the season started, forcing a last-minute shuffle of games and extra byes.

Brighton women’s team has set the standard in SFLW competition, finishing on top of the ladder, qualifying first for the grand final and starting today’s game (11.15am bounce) as favourite.

“If we won, it would mean a lot, something massive, and be a building block on what we are looking to build as an entire club for the seasons to come,” Crawford said.

“Most people are aware of the position Brighton was in this year so to have the men’s reserves team go two weeks into the finals and us girls being quite successful this year, there is a lot of excitement through the entire club.

“There will be a senior men’s team next year and everyone at the club has been right behind us so we are hoping we can win.” The Brighton team is a mix of old and new. “Over 50 per cent of our list had never played a game of football before in their life,” Crawford said. “So to come through the season and play on the day everyone wants to play on is massive for all of us.”

The Two Blues came through the preliminary final. “Half of our list have never played footy before. We have six girls playing in their third grand final in a row, and we’ve got six girls playing in their second,” Lindisfarne coach Jodie Mather said.