Trophy time as women unbeaten in first tournament of 2023

by Grace Knight 

The Bull Sharks AFL club have claimed their first silverware for 2023 with the women’s side taking out the new AFLQ pre-season competition the McNab ‘Cooly’ Cup.  

The round robin event, played at Coolangatta’s Eximm Oval, involved four men’s and eight women’s teams, ranging from Division 2 up to senior QAFL sides. 

The Bull Sharks women’s team went on to win the tournament undefeated. 

“The girls were just outstanding,” said Bond’s Director of AFL Andy Lovell.

“Everything that we’ve trained and practiced during the pre-season they were able to implement, which I think is a really great sign.” 

Following some significant structural changes within Bond’s AFL club, Lovell said it was encouraging to see the women play so well ahead of the 2023 QAFL season. 

“We’ve had quite a big turnover within our women’s team,” he said. 

“A huge number of new players have come in and we are a young team, so it was a real confidence booster to take the win on Sunday.” 

Among the new faces in action were Riewoldt Family AFL Excellence Scholarship student Jemma Blair.

The Bull Sharks men’s team proved their worth in Saturday’s competition with some strong performances against the likes of 2022 QAFL premiers the Broadbeach Cats and the Coolangatta Blues, the reigning Division 2 South premiers.  

As a testament to their dedication during pre-season training, the Bull Sharks won their match against the Burleigh Bombers and went within a whisker against both Broadbeach and the Blues, losing by a mere goal in each game. 

Lovell was incredibly pleased with the men’s performances.

“It was really great to see the boys in action and implementing the game style that we’ve been working on over summer,” he said.  

“After watching the boys come so close against Broadbeach and Cooly, there’s some really great signs around our style of play as well as our ability to match the skills of those strong teams.”