Bluebirds rally after early scare
COOLANGATTA QAFLW coach Nicole Graves hadn’t even climbed into the coaches’ box on Saturday when she saw Aspley had already scored its first goal of the day just 30 seconds into its Round 12 clash.
Coolangatta had opted to rest several of its experienced AFLW-listed players, including the likes of Leah Kaslar, Paige Parker, Kate Surman and Sally Riley, for its final match of the home and away season.
Coolangatta had already secured a home preliminary final but one last win against the bottom-placed Aspley remained an important box to tick to take momentum into finals.
Despite the early scare, the QAFLW premiership contenders rallied to record a 45-10 win at Beenleigh after the match was relocated from Brisbane to allow Bluebirds players within the border travel bubble to play.
“We knew we didn’t have to flog them, it was just about getting a win,” Graves said.
“We certainly weren’t going out there to shame the bottom team, we wanted to have one last good hit out and respect the fact it was their last game for the season.
“I wasn’t even in the coaches box when they scored their first goal and we gave away a 50m penalty so that didn’t go to plan but Aspley have got some ripping players.”
Coolangatta has now won four out of its last five games, its only blemish coming against Coorparoo, and guaranteed a return to finals for the first time since 2018.
The Bluebirds are hoping their development side will defeat Bond University in week one of finals and join the senior side in the preliminary finals after they beat Aspley 121-6.
Bond University also finished its QAFLW season on a high with a 53-29 win over Coorparoo to seal the minor premiership.