Relive the Bond Bull Sharks' four magnificent premierships of 2025 in words, pictures and videos.

A sea of blue and gold. Nails chewed to stubs. Normally stoic sports fans moved to tears. Final sirens that sounded sweeter than any symphony. The 2025 grand finals for Bond University played out like Hollywood sports movies – acts of courage, sublime skills, against-the-odds victories and heart-stopping finales. Four Bull Sharks teams, four premierships, each sealed in the dying moments.

But as dramatic as those endings were, it wasn’t cinematic miracles that delivered the silverware. No fire-and-brimstone halftime rants. No superhuman rescues. Bond’s golden winter was built the old-fashioned way. From Ballymore to Broadbeach and then Nissan Arena, Bond achieved success through meticulous planning, relentless practice, the courage to perform when it mattered most and a Bull Sharks instinct to fight to the finish. At a university, where exams and graduations can mean a revolving door of players at selection time, there’s no other way.   

The nature of sport is that the stories of great triumphs evolve over time into fantastic tales – 50m shots on goal become 75m bombs; a tackle-busting try becomes a length of the field epic, with a trail of defenders scattered like bowling pins; final minute heroics are stretched to the dying seconds and athletes of average size become giants. 

So what of the stories of this peerless winter?

There was Oscar Pledge’s incredibly courageous act in the dying moment of the grand final to back into a pack and pull down a mark that became the defining image of the season. Or Kaylin van Greunen’s toughness in overcoming a virus that floored her in the week leading up to the preliminary final to put together two outstanding performances when she was needed most. And what about Hamish Roberts scoring the winning try with his first touch of the footy?

They are the stories that will headline future premiership reunions, and the memories that will live on for players, families and friends. Coaches may even draw on them in future times of adversity when inspiration is needed, but they will play no role in the work of summer – planning title defences. Because these premierships were born of an unbreakable bond between players and coaches.

The men’s rugby team, once outsiders, stormed to their first title. The women’s rugby side completed a dynasty with a fourth straight premiership. The netballers overturned a seemingly hopeless deficit to capture their maiden crown. And the AFL men broke Coolangatta’s grip in extra-time, led by a first-year coach deliberately groomed for this moment.

Bond’s winter of glory was not a coincidence. Coaches built game plans not just for the perfect scenario, but for adversity. Players drilled those plans until they became instinct. And on grand final day, when the pressure was suffocating, they trusted themselves to execute.

The results spoke for themselves. Netball coach Rebecca Stower’s decision to weaponise the two-point super shot. AFL coach Kain Ford’s overtime drills, rehearsed weeks earlier. Rugby coach Mick Heenan’s patience to wait for Dan Boardman’s availability in the second half of the season – knowing the former captain could provide the missing piece to the puzzle.

As the Vice Chancellor reflected: “Remarkably, every premiership was won in the last minute of each game, demonstrating the indelible Bull Shark brand of never-say-die and competing until the last breath. Hollywood could not have scripted this.”

Netball breakthrough

At halftime of the Hart Sapphire Series grand final, Bond were staring down the barrel. Fourteen points behind against Kedron-Wavell, the competition’s powerhouse, the task looked too big. But Stower didn’t panic. She trusted her process. She reshaped her midcourt, introduced spark through Kirra Tappenden. And gradually, the Bull Sharks clawed their way back. Each defensive stop, each goal edged them closer.

Then came the moment Stower had planned for. When Netball Queensland introduced a Super Shot rule last year, the Bull Sharks adapted best. Hours were devoted to practising from long range and a game plan designed to stretch defences. Against Moreton Bay in the regular season, Mia Stower broke a competition record with 21 long range bombs. The final would prove that was no fluke. 

The turning point in the grand final came when Tappenden drained a long-range two-pointer late in the third quarter to give Bond the lead. The noise was deafening. The final score: 61–60, Bond’s first-ever premiership. For a program that not long ago teetered on the brink of collapse, it was a statement of revival. Hollywood would call it a miracle. Stower knew it was preparation meeting its moment.

Men's AFL apprenticeship pays off

If the netball triumph was about unwavering belief, the AFL flag was a vision two years in the making. Bond didn’t stumble into Kain Ford as coach. He was recruited deliberately as a playing assistant coach and apprenticed under three-time AFL premiership star Shaun Hart. The plan was for Ford to win the respect and trust of his teammates with his on-field exploits and hone his coaching craft under Hart. That foresight paid off in spades.

When Ford took the reins, his philosophy was simple: stand up in the contests and the Bull Sharks’ high-speed ball movement and relentless running would wear teams down. All season, he told his players that if they kept faith, their style would hold up when it mattered most. He even walked them through extra-time drills, rehearsing a scenario few thought they’d need. And yet, in the grand final against reigning premiers Coolangatta, they did. The siren sounded with scores locked at 42 apiece. No panic. Just execution.

In extra-time, Bond’s legs proved fresher, their plan clearer. Goals to Nicholas Francis and Jack Avage sealed a 12-point victory. For Ford, it was vindication. For Bond, it was a masterclass in vision: invest in a coach, build a style, prepare for every scenario. The payoff was a premiership.

Women’s Rugby dynasty rolls on

At halftime of the Founders Cup decider, Bond trailed Easts 19–5. They were outmuscled – the dynasty looked shaky. But head coach Lawrence “Uncle” Faifua had prepared his side for this very situation. He knew the bigger Easts side would tire. His halftime message was calm, focused: stay in the fight, keep moving them around the park and wait for the opportunities, trust in each other.

What followed was a 20-minute blitz. Tries to Zara Colless, Dianne Waight, TJ Murray and Lucy Thorpe flipped the game on its head, Bond piling on 27 unanswered points. Easts rallied, but Bond held firm. The final whistle confirmed a fourth consecutive premiership, cementing their status as Australia’s most dominant women’s rugby program.

For Faifua, it was about more than tactics – it was culture. His team played for each other and when the pressure was at its peak, that bond carried them through.