By Holly Slattery
The Bull Sharks have been held to a nail-biting 42-42 draw in the QAFLW grand final rematch with UQ.
Bond led by one at the main break and extended their lead before surrendering a 27-point comeback from UQ to level the scores 6.6.42 - 6.6.42 late in the contest.
The intensity of the game surpassed expectation for Bond back flanker Caitlin Thorne who was a standout player in defence.
“We didn’t actually know the UQ team because it’s such a different team from last year,” Thorne said.
“We still trained hard for it because we thought it was going to be a hard game, but it was much harder than I thought it would be.
“They [UQ] were very hard at the ball and had a lot of small good girls, but I think if we can beat them to the contest, we’ll be good.”
Bond ruck woman Jasmyn Davidson says she is disappointed but not disheartened by the final score after UQ equalised with just a few minutes left on the clock.
“It’s a bit disappointing obviously,” Davidson said.
“We just let in that last point, so we could have had it, but at least it wasn’t a loss.”
The 19-year-old is looking forward to taking on the defending premiers again in round seven where the Bull Sharks can bolster their stake in premiership contention.
“I know we can do it next time,” she said.
“We were missing a few girls today and we are going to train hard to keep improving and do well for the rest of the season.
“It’s going to be very competitive and they’re [UQ] going to be our top competitor all the way through.”
Remarkably the reserves also drew 4.4.28 - 4.4.28 against UQ.
Last Saturday also saw the men’s team kick off the QAFL season with a compelling 98-56 victory over Robina.