William Buck Premier Women’s Grand Final Preview: St Kevin’s vs Old Scotch

The two powerhouses of the 2024 William Buck Premier Women’s competition will collide in the ultimate decider, live streaming Sunday 2.15pm on Kommunity TV & VAFA.com.au. Will it be a record-setting 4 flags in a row for St Kevin’s or will Old Scotch make history of their own?

ST KEVIN’S vs OLD SCOTCH – Sunday 2.30pm Elsternwick Park

LIVE COVERAGE:   KommunityTV (coverage from 2.15pm) & VAFA.com.au Live Stream

• BOTH FINISHED at 17-1 – an incredible 5 games clear of the rest of the field.
• ONLY HOME & AWAY LOSSES were to EACH OTHER:   St Kevins by 14pts in Rd.9;   Old Scotch by 5pts in R17.
• They met in the 2^nd SEMI FINAL – Old Scotch held St Kevin’s goal-less in the first half & led by 3 goals before St Kevin’s kicked the next 5 goals to WIN by 8pts & progress straight to Grand Final Day.
• Old Scotch then d.Caulfield Grammarians by 50pts in the Preliminary Final to set up the premiership showdown we’ve all been waiting for.

Prem Women’s GF Live Stream: St Kevin’s v Old Scotch

It’s not often you go 17-1 and not end up as minor premiers, but that’s what happened to reigning premier St Kevin’s this season – pipped on percentage by their main rival Old Scotch, who finished top by almost 62%.

In fact, the whopping percentages of both these teams tells the story of their dominant seasons – Old Scotch at 417.1% and St Kevin’s at 355.1%. They have quite simply been in another class to the rest of the competition, but now they must decide which of them is the HEAD of the class in 2024.

Each won the home leg of their regular season series, with St Kevin’s coming from behind to win the Second Semi Final on neutral ground at Elsternwick Park. On Sunday they return to VAFA HQ for the premiership decider.

Key players SARAH CAMERON & MIA CAFFRY joined the VAFA’s official Women’s footy podcast INSIDE THE BOUNDARY for a special Grand Final Preview during the week.

You can catch their full interviews in the podcast. Here’s some of what they had to say:

SARAH CAMERON (St Kevin’s): “It’s been an awesome rivalry. We have a lot of respect for them as well. It’s been a couple of interesting games. I don’t really think any of them have really gone the same way either. Really interesting to see what happens on Sunday.

“Leaders lead. So Kate Stanton, Jess Joyce, Bree Doyle – all those sorts of people – they sorta know when the game needs to be turned on and they just put their head over it and get the job done.

“But not only that, we’ve got such depth… the group effort and the trust and love that everyone has for one another – I think that’s what really special about us and that’s what lets us go for four quarters and lets us turn the game when it looks from the outside that we’re in a tough spot.

On the prospect of a fourth consecutive flag: “The thing that keeps us so refreshed and revitalised each year is that it’s a new year, it’s a clean slate. We don’t really look back too much because we accept the new energy that comes into the group every year and we let that change us and we let that guide us.

“Our ability to overcome what we have this year and gel and bond as a team and potentially go again is so special within and of itself that the other three we won’t even think about. We just feel so lucky to be in this position again – so grateful.

“And I think every week we go out there we just want to give honour and respect to how much everyone puts in, whether it’s Tommy (Purcell, senior coach), the Presidents, the girls on the sideline running water, the Twos, the Threes, the supporters.

“We just want to do them justice by getting up and putting in our best footy, win, lose or draw… The four-peat I’m sure – if we get it – then we’ll have that sort of ‘ra, ra’ but it definitely won’t be something we discuss pre-game…That genuine care for each other will always be the measure of our success and flags are just on top of that.

On keys to success versus Old Scotch: “They’ve got a lot of talent – they’ve got some really good forwards as well. Mia Cowan is obviously a weapon and Eloise Defina – just the way she moves, the way she can evade a tackle and get the ball forward – she is a genuine goalscorer and a very scary prospect for any defence. So definitely shut down a couple of their key forwards.

“And I feel like they’re a pretty skilful side, so just try to bring the ball to ground, keep it scrappy, keep it open, keep it a bit chaotic and hopefully that will be enough to do the job.

“But yeah, super nervous, super excited. This one feels massive, so I can’t wait for the contest.”

MIA CAFFRY (Old Scotch): “After last year’s finals, we really had our eye on the Grand Final this year and getting there definitely has been a long road.

“I think it’s a bit surreal. Like we can’t believe we’ve made it here… there’s a lot of excitement around the club, especially with the Reserves in (the Grand Final) which is massive for us. I think we’ve just created such good depth in our club.

“Our whole team – just everyone – brings something different and I think it’s so valuable to have that in a team and I think we work really well together. We have really good connection throughout all the lines and I think it’s really helped us this season.

On Dean Anderson: “He’s a fantastic coach. Yeah, probably one of the best coaches I’ve had in all the sports I’ve played. I think he just knows how to bring people together and teams together really well and have everyone go towards a common goal, which really helps teams win because everyone’s in it for each other.

On St Kevin’s strengths: “I would definitely say their stoppages… In comparison to other teams, there’s probably more stoppages… They’re quite strong on pressure so there ends up being a lot of stoppages when we play St Kevin’s. So that’s a bit of a challenge for us.

“Open and fast footy. We like to run the lines quite a bit, so a bit of give-and-go and link up.

“For us, it’s probably just the one-percenters that everyone can do on the ground. I think hard running, hands out – just like the little things that people don’t see. I think that stuff really lifts our group.”

Tune in from 2.15pm Sunday to watch ST KEVIN’S vs OLD SCOTCH play for the premiership via our LIVE STREAMS on KOMMUNITY TV or VAFA.com.au