The last time we faced Carrara the Bull Sharks suffered their only loss of the season — and Matthew Kennedy admits he wasn’t quite sure what to expect this time around.
But any doubts were quickly put to bed as the Bull Sharks produced one of the most complete performances of the Kennedy-Andy Lovell era, dominating Carrara with a 73-point win on home turf.
It was a different story for the women, who fell to UQ in the Battle of the Universities — just their second defeat of the season. Lovell praised their third-quarter fightback but admitted the side lacked its usual energy and aggression.
QFA
Bull Sharks v Carrara at The Canal
Bull Sharks won 17.5 (107) - 4.10 (34)
How it was won
It was one of the best total team performances of the Andy Lovell era. To a man, everyone played their role to the letter.
What made you happy
To win like we did against arguably the best team in the competition was outstanding. Our attack on the footy and the opposition was relentless across all four quarters. We had individual standouts, but the gap between the top performers and the rest was next to nothing.
Bull Sharks Footy
That game was 100 per cent what we’re about. If we could bottle our attitude and spirit from the weekend, that’s exactly what the label would say.
The work to do
We still need to tidy up our finishing. We kicked too many behinds, but the sheer number of scoring shots was a big part of what made the performance so dominant.
Trademark Players
Our defensive unit — Will King, Wyatt Bacon, Alec Crow, Nick Bare and Archie Prime — was elite. But the outlier again this week was Miles Enders. He had it on a string all day and was unstoppable.
With Matthew Kennedy
QAFLW
Bull Sharks v University of Queensland at UQ
Bull Sharks lost 10.5 (65) to 7.1 (43)
How it was lost
Full credit to UQ — they beat us at our own game. They won the stoppages, locked the ball inside their forward 50, and smothered us with pressure. We struggled to cope.
What made you happy
We’re proud of the second-half fightback. We kicked five straight goals— four late in the third and the first in the last — to get within three points. Unfortunately, we couldn’t go on with it. Missing five of our starting midfielders didn’t help.
Bull Sharks Footy
We lacked our usual energy, especially on defence, and our ball use was uncharacteristically sloppy. But we regrouped and got the stoppages back on even terms, which allowed us to finish the third quarter strongly.
The work to do
Our review was really honest. We’ve acknowledged we need to get back to being ruthless at the contest and aggressive with our pressure — that’s been a hallmark of our season. We were 10 per cent off, and it cost us.
Trademark Players
Milla Brosman Ball, in her debut after coming across from the Suns Academy, was outstanding. Kendra Blattman was a strong target up forward, while Charlotte Taylor and Lexi Samuels worked tirelessly.
With Andy Lovell