By Bonnie Hancock
The Brisbane Lions have entered Bull Shark territory.
The club’s AFLW squad dove into The Canal on Monday to utilise Bond’s world-class facilities for pre-season testing.
The countdown to the August premiership season opener is underway and captain Bre Koenen said Bond’s facilities provided the perfect environment to kick off the club’s pre-season campaign.
Bond University is a foundation sponsor of the Lions AFLW side as part of a commitment to women’s football that also includes naming rights sponsorship of the QAFLW competition.
“Just walking in here this morning, the vibe on campus is amazing,” Koenen said.
“The location and facilities are incredible, and we feel very grateful that we could come down and experience it.”
The most dominant club in the women’s competition since its inaugural season in 2017, the Lions have made the grand final in four of the last six years, winning the premiership in 2021 and 2023.
Known for their fast, aggressive style of play and physical toughness, the team undertook a day of testing supervised by long-time high-performance manager Matt Green.
“We had a 1.2-kilometre time trial in the morning and everyone ran a personal best, which is always a good starting point,” Koenen said.
“The competition keeps getting better every year, so we just have to keep pushing ourselves, finding that hunger and going again.”
It was a first time visit to the campus for Koenen, but not her first encounter with Bond’s AFL program. The veteran coaches Morningside in the QAFLW who were narrowly defeated by Andy Lovell’s Bull Sharks women two weeks ago.
The Magnetic Island product, who will celebrate her 32nd birthday this year, has led the Lions since 2022, and is hoping to make an impact which outlives her footballing career.
“I’m still trying to improve and get better every year, I’m big on growth mindset,” she said.
“I want to empower those around me and leave a little bit of a legacy – I’m trying to build up the emerging leaders and everybody who will take over one day.”
“I just want the club to succeed for a long time.”