Bull Sharks deliver a clean sweep in season openers.

The Bull Sharks made a stunning start to the 2024 season with wins across all grades.

The reigning QAFLW premiers sent a message to the rest of the competition with a comprehensive victory over Yeronga on the road to kick off their premiership defence. The men trailed for most of the day before digging deep to seal victory in the dying moments to give new coach Shaun Hart his first win.

Round 1 review. 

QAFLW  

Bull Sharks 12.13 (85) def Yeronga 0.1 (1).

Best Players: Courtney Sexton, Paris Lightfoot, Imogen Evans, Shannon Nolan, Nyalli Milne, Sophie Balcombe. 

Goals: Isabella Iverach 3, Nyalli Milne 2, Shannon Nolan, Courtney Sexton, Abbey Bevan, Charlotte Taylor, Arianna Clarke, Maisey Evans, Imogen Evans 

WHERE IT WAS WON:

“It was a fierce physical contest all day and we got outtackled by 23. It was our superior ball use by foot that was the difference. We had 55 Inside 50m entries to the opposition’s 12. Our overall shape on defence and offence helped us own the field.

THE HIGHLIGHT: 

“Ten individual goal kickers reflects our level of team care and ability to share the ball around.”

WHAT MADE YOU HAPPY: 

“We had seven new players into the team and I was delighted with our level of connectivity given we were so new. Everybody was really determined to simply play their role. Aleah Stringer from the Suns’ Academy made her debut at half forward and created many scoring opportunities with her speed and agility.

BULL SHARKS FOOTBALL: 

“We really set ourselves to send a message to rest of the competition around our footy DNA, which is to be low and hard in the contest and outnumber through work rate in uncontested ball.”

THE WORK TO DO: 

“We need to keep working hard on our stoppage set ups and clearance effectiveness.”

TRADEMARK PLAYER: 

“Sophie Balcombe, playing as a small defender, performed a disciplined shutdown role across half back that really epitomised our attack on the body and the ball.”

With Andy Lovell 

QFA 

Bull Sharks 10.6 (66) def Carrara 10.3 (63).

Best Players: Nick Scott, Nicholas Francis, Sam Bowen, Oliver Burrows-Cheng, Matthew Green.

Goals: Nicholas Francis 2, Tom Ferguson, Nathan Rataj, Nick Scott, Jack Tilley, Sam Bowen, Hamish Furphy, Matthew Smith, Mitchell Dell     

WHERE IT WAS WON: 

“It took the best part of three quarters, but the Bull Sharks eventually gained the ascendancy through manic pressure and good ball use.”

THE HIGHLIGHT: 

“Our two Riewoldt Family AFL Scholarship lads tore the game away from the Saints in the dying minutes. Nick Francis, the major ball winner on the day in his first game for the club, slotted his second goal and Tom Ferguson put the icing on the cake moments later to secure the win.”

WHAT MADE YOU HAPPY: 

“Nick Scott’s arrival in the off-season was a major coup for us and his experience and calming influence late in the game certainly impacted the result. Some of his efforts and direction got the team over the line.       

BULL SHARKS FOOTBALL: 

“We have a term ‘Got to War’ which means attack the footy, particularly in the midfield, in an uncompromising fashion to either gather the footy or attack the opposition and create a turnover. This was done to the letter in the last quarter.” 

THE WORK TO DO:

“We need to be switched on from the start, we were very slow out of the blocks and that is something we will work to improve on.”

TRADEMARK PLAYER: 

“Sam Brooks was aggressive in his attack on the footy and the opposition. He played the small defender role exceptionally well.”

With Shaun Hart