Bond University are the 2026 QAFLW premiers.
Their 6.4 (40) to 3.4 (22) win saw them rise from third on the ladder to topple a Southport Sharks side that finished the home and away season a win clear of second with a percentage pretty much twice the size of anyone else’s.
Although the scoreline remained close, it probably didn’t reflect Bond’s dominance in front of a boisterous bunch of travelling Bull Sharks fans on a searingly hot afternoon at Brighton Homes Arena in Springfield.
Bond got off to a flier courtesy of a tumbling Evy Reeves effort from fifty after just 43 seconds of play.
If that early goal set Southport on its heels from the get-go, the Kendra Blattman effort that followed five minutes later must have had them wondering what they had wandered into.
After a sustained build up characterised by ferocious tackling and gut-busting second efforts, Blattman – the competitions leading goal-kicker – roved her own spilled mark and finished brilliantly.
Bond didn’t score a single goal against Southport last time they played.
They now had two before the halfway mark of the first term.
The quarter time margin of 11 points was extended soon after the resumption when Amelia Ella found space in attacking fifty and kicked truly. She followed it up with her second soon after.
Southport hung in with two goals of their own, both scored against the run.
The Bull Sharks kicked the only major in the third through Millar Brosnan-Ball as the game tightened and players fatigued, but Southport couldn’t land a meaningful blow.
The final term played out much like the third – tight and tense – but marked by Southport’s inability to find a way through.
Their frustration was palpable.
When Charlie Adamson copped one high, her firebrand opponent Olivia Meagher remonstrated.
The resulting fifty metre penalty turned a possible Bond goal into a certainty and pretty much iced the game for a Bull Sharks team that never really looked like losing.
All afternoon Beth Pinchin and Halle Geyer were impassable in defence.
Geyer’s attack on the ball was first class and Pinchin’s tenacious poise on the last line was game-shifting.
The evenness and depth of Bond’s midfield rotation also proved critical.
It was a point of difference that had filled Andy Lovell with quiet confidence all week in the lead up.
Southport may have had some strong bodies and experienced heads among an impressive midfield core, but Bond had numbers.
Shannon Nolan led the fleet with an extraordinary individual game and was adjudged best afield and a neat complement to the ‘best on’ medal she won as a Bond Reserves player back in 2023.
Around her everyone lifted.
2026 Riewoldt Family AFL Excellence Scholar, Kierra Zerafa - only a few weeks back from a long-term injury - enjoyed some crucial touches at important times, Charlie Adamson –the 2025 Riewoldt scholar - was a tireless physical presence all afternoon and the three Ella sisters – Trinity, Amelia and Grace – were absolutely relentless.
With the ball often in dispute in heavy traffic between the arcs, everyone had to put their hand up when their time came.
Charlotte Taylor and skipper Grace Moodie were exceptional.
Tobi Chapman – a big improver this season - had some fine moments, too.
And talls Jas Davidson, Skye White and Millar Brosnan-Hall all made telling contributions.
But it’s a futile exercise pointing out individuals.
This was a win marked by collective hunger – a classic case of a champion team downing a team of champions.
A month ago, Bond clawed their way to victory over a desperate Aspley Hornets outfit in bitterly cold, wet conditions in an elimination final at The Canal.
Yesterday they lined up in 35 degrees plus to completely overwhelm a class opponent and claim a flag.
They must think there’s nothing they can’t do.
After the game coach Andy Lovell labelled this batch of Bull Sharks the best team he’s ever coached.
Who could argue?