Great Southern women hand South West only loss of country champs and secure spot in top division for 2026

Great Southern women cemented their place in the top tier of the football country championships last week, bringing home a third-place finish and — more importantly — a defeat of the comp’s powerhouse team. Coach Sheridan Kowald was bursting with pride at the efforts of her squad during the two-day competition, and said they really hit their stride by the second day. “They played some brilliant footy. I always believed that they could and they would, and glad they found that as well,” she said. “On Thursday . . . they played some brilliant first-half footy and led at half-time very convincingly but just didn’t play consistently enough for long enough in the second half and the defensive transition let us down. “We went away and when they came back on Friday, they learnt from what we were missing in the first two games and took the feed back so well, just put on a showcase of 40 minutes of footy.” A first-up loss to Great Northern by 10 points and a draw with Peel on Thursday had the team on the back foot, until they rallied on day two. An upset win over South West by four points started the final day on the right note but they narrowly missed out on a grand final berth after Great Northern were winners of the last qualifying game to knock Great Southern out of the top two. Great Southern then faced Peel in the division one relegation game to close out the championships, and after a strong start they emerged 12-point winners to relegate their rivals. Great Southern handed six-time champions South West their sole loss of the competition, a feat Kowald said proved their worthiness in the top grade. “They smashed the big dogs, which was wicked,” she said. “Considering the doubt from outside voices and there not being a lot of confidence about us being in division one, because it hasn’t been pretty in previous years, there wasn’t a whole lot of belief. “It just shows they can challenge the top teams, that they have it in them and that its possible.” Kowald hailed Kathryn and Meg Slattery, Sophie Richards and Kiahn Perry for outstanding efforts, and also said Emily Wray, Zoe Kestel, Sarah Einsenberg and Laura Carter stepped up on Friday to lift the rest of the team. “There were a lot of standout players, and everyone just really knew their role, played their part and got it done,” she said. “I’m so glad we finished third because they don’t deserve to drop down a divvy. “Even if we don’t bring home the chocolates, division one brings the best out of them and I’m very glad they can reap that challenge again next year and give it another red-hot crack.”