State 18 Girls honoured as All-Australians

SEVEN players from WA’s State U18 Youth Girls team were named in the All Australian side at the completion of the National Championships in Shepparton, Victoria on May 11.

Caitlyn Edwards (East Fremantle), Brianna Green (East Fremantle), Hayley Miller (Joondalup), Kira Phillips (Peel), Ashley Sharp (Swan Districts), Belinda Smith (Claremont) and Emma Swanson (Peel) all received All-Australian honours after starring for WA in their narrow Grand Final loss against Victoria Metro.

After convincing wins over South Australia, Queensland and NSW/ACT in the qualifying rounds, WA entered the Grand Final full of confidence and made a strong start to lead by seven points at quarter time.

That lead was reduced to two points at half time and WA paid the price for skill errors and inaccurate kicking in front of goal in the second half, with Victoria Metro building a 12-point lead in the third term and then extending their advantage in the last quarter to claim a hard-fought 15-point win.

Final scores were WA 3.7 (25) defeated by Victoria Metro 6.4 (40).

Kira Phillips was also the Leading Goal Kicker of the competition with 16 majors, the most by any Youth Girl since the inception of the National Championships.

WA’s Kellie Gibson was named the Best on Ground in the Grand Final.

West Australian Football Commission Female Football Manager Alison Moore congratulated all of the girls on their performance and paid tribute to the WA businesses that sponsored the team.

“We had phenomenal support from local businesses who helped the girls achieve their goal of representing their State. Thank you to all of you,” Ms Moore said.

SCOREBOARD

WA 13.21 (99) defeated SA 1.1 (7)

WA 6.5 (41) defeated QLD 3.4 (22)

WA 11.9 (75) defeated NSW/ACT 0.0 (0)

Grand Final

VIC METRO 6.4 (40) defeated WA 3.7 (25)