Seven teams will take the field in the 2012 South-East Queensland Women’s League.
The South-East Qld Women’s League has expanded to a seven team competition with Palm Beach Currumbin Lions and Griffith Moorooka Reds being the latest clubs for the 2012 season.
Round 1 starts this weekend with 2 of the 3 fixtured rounds being played out of Kedron AFC. Kedron Lions will host the Logan Cobras at 10am on Sunday 15 April for the first game of the season. Both teams had mixed results in 2011 and will both be looking for a good start to the season.
Ron Kemp will again be coaching Kedron this year. The Lions, have lost Aimee Sewell through a job transfer to Townsville and will be looking to rely on experienced players Casey & Mica Cubis as well as former Under 18 Qld player Lucy Kemp and Sunfire player Libby Scott. Fair bet to make the finals.
Paul Grieve has taken over the coaching role for Logan this year with the team finishing out of the finals last year for the first time in 5 years. Logan have also lost a few key players with the establishment of Palm Beach Currumbin and will be looking at Sunfire players Jade Pregelj & Pippa McWha, and ex-Under 18 Qld player Kellie Hopkins to lead by example. Plenty of young talent coming through for Logan in 2012. Will need to be disciplined in 2012 to make the finals.
Game 2 at Kedron AFC at noon will be a Grand Final replay between the Morningside Wildcats and Yeronga/South Brisbane Devils.
Morningside have suffered heavy losses in the off-season due to their aging player list but have maintained a good core of experienced players to help guide the new recruits through in 2012. Coach Alex Clarey has stepped up to the plate this year to try and guide Morningside to that elusive premiership in 2012 with two great seasons backing them up. With the loss of Sunfire players Emma Best, Sherie Sayle & Jenna Van Dyk, All-Australian player Emma Zielke will have to shoulder the responsibility of leading the team with experienced players such as Juanita Mottram and Georgia Black. If they stay injury free with definitely be a finals chance.
Yeronga/South Brisbane has also suffered a few losses of players through retirements and transfers but will still be the team to beat in 2012. Coached this year by Jacob Simmonds-Bliss, Yeronga look a force to be reckoned with with a young but lethal group of girls determined to go back to back this season. Two-time All-Australian player Katie Brennan, and Sunfire players Kate Lutkins and Heidi Thompson provide a good backbone to an already strong team of current and former U18 Qld players. Finalists a good bet.
The last game for the weekend is being hosted at Palm Beach Currumbin at 11am on Sunday 15 April.
Griffith Moorooka Reds have recruited heavily for the past year with former Morningside player and current Sunfire player Jenna Van Dyk doing most of the leg work over the past year. Former All-Australian Laura Stampa and current Sunfire player Tiarna Ernst who has moved down from Cairns in the off-season will have a tough job ahead of them to guide this inexperienced team through the season. The team has players with ages ranging from 18 to 43 years and representing a diverse cross section of backgrounds from Indigenous Australian to French and Swedish. Will be great for the culture of the Women’s league and keep it growing. Former Sunfire player Antoinette Daylight has taken over the coaching duties of the team whilst also playing.
Palm Beach Currumbin, after a false start in the 2011 season, have promoted the club well and have a solid player base as the only club on the Gold coast at the moment in the Women’s League.
Wayne Davis has been appointed as the coach in the Club’s inaugural year.
Daughter and Sunfire player Cleo Davis will be part of a very eclectic group of players, some coming out of retirement to join the Gold Coast team, others transferring back from Brisbane clubs to be able to play in their home town and others brand new to the game.
Difficult to say how Palm Beach Currumbin will go in their first year but I am tipping there will be a few upsets from the Coast girls. Dark horse for a finals berth.
