Old Scotch claim minor premiership as Finals spots are locked in – William Buck Premier Women’s Round 18 Review

The William Buck Premier Women’s home-and-away season has come to and end with Old Scotch claiming the minor premiership after a dominant victory over Old Brighton, while Caulfield Grammarians, Westbourne Grammarians and Fitzroy also secured wins in the final round.

With the top four now confirmed, the finals campaign begins this weekend, with Kew facing Old Brighton on Saturday before Old Scotch takes on Caulfield Grammarians on Sunday.

Old Scotch 12.17 (89) def Old Brighton 3.1 (19)

Old Scotch finished the home-and-away season in emphatic fashion, defeating Old Brighton, to secure top spot on the ladder.

Anna Vrsecky led the way in front of goal with five majors, while Mia Cowan, Charlotte Crough and Jordan Mifsud each contributed two.

Jordan Mifsud, Katie Hunter-Scott and Sophie McIntosh were among the Stars best performers as the minor premiers produced another strong performance heading into finals.

For Old Brighton, Tiger Doultree kicked two goals, with Georgia Zuchowski also finding the goals. Doultree, Eloise McCrae and Lily Tait were the Tonners’ best.

Despite the heavy defeat, Old Brighton coach Pat Malone was pleased with the way his side continued to compete.

“I was really pleased with the way the girls kept fighting on Saturday. We didn’t drop our heads and continued to try to play the brand of footy we’re building, even when things weren’t going our way,” Malone said.

Malone identified small errors as the difference, with fumbles, dropped marks and miskicks giving Old Scotch opportunities to punish the Tonners.

“They’re the sort of moments we need to keep getting better at, particularly against the quality of opposition in Premier,” he said.

Lily Tait was praised for her best performance of the season in the ruck, while Eloise McCrae and Georgia Zuchowski also impressed.

For Malone, the season has represented a significant achievement in Old Brighton’s first Premier campaign.

“At the start of the year, we wanted to show that we belonged in this division and ultimately build something that continues the legacy of the club over the last decade.

“When I look at how much we’ve grown as a group, improved on the field and connected as individuals, I couldn’t be prouder of what we’ve achieved so far.”

The Tonners now face Kew in a first-week finals clash, with Malone adamant the season is far from over.

“And importantly, we’re not finished with 2026 yet!” he said.

Caulfield Grammarians11.16 (72) def West Brunswick 0.6 (6)

Caulfield Grammarians also finished the home-and-away season strongly, defeating West Brunswick in dominant fashion.

Hollie Brodribb was the standout in front of goal with four majors, while Kera Galaminda Gellar and India Lehman each kicked two.

Caulfield’s defensive unit stood tall throughout the contest, while their forward line produced a spread of contributors in a comprehensive victory.

Caulfield Grammarians coach Danielle Di Stefano was pleased with the consistency of her side’s performance after last week’s defeat to Old Scotch.

“We played our brand consistently for four quarters, which will put us in good stead heading into finals,” Di Stefano said.

“It was great to see us bounce back so quickly after a loss last week. Looking forward to taking that momentum into Scotch this week.”

Di Stefano highlighted the contribution of both ends of the ground, with defenders helping generate attacking opportunities and its forwards connecting effectively.

“Our backs stood tall all day and really helped us in attack, and our forwards connected really well, capped off with multiple goal scorers,” she said.

West Brunswick was held goalless for the afternoon, with Caitlin O’Brien, Sissi Scott-Hickie and Clare Balbata among their best.

West Brunswick coach Ryan Wandel was pleased with his side’s ability to remain positive and move the ball effectively at times, but acknowledged the opponent was superior across the afternoon.

“We were outplayed across pretty much every facet of the game. We did have good patches of front half play, but that didn’t result in as much output as we would have liked,” Wandel said.

“Poor conversion was again an issue. Caulfield were too good in the end.”

Wandel praised O’Brien for her performance in defence, while Claudia Piggott also competed strongly in the ruck.

The result brings an end to a frustrating season for West Brunswick, who finished sixth after sitting within touching distance of the finals race for much of the year.

“A ‘what if’ season for us,” Wandel said.

“We dropped some games we shouldn’t have with concentration lapses and poor conversion, and had a bit of bad luck at times with injury.”

Despite the disappointment, Wandel believes the program has continued to develop from last season.

“Still plenty of green shoots from last year to this year in terms of our DNA and ability to play our way,” he said.

Westbourne Grammarians 6.7 (43) def Kew 5.3 (33)

Westbourne Grammarians finished their season with a 10-point victory over Kew.

Danielle Marshall was the leading goalkicker with three majors, while Lydia Waghorne added two. Sarah Dickie, Eleni Kikidis and Elsie Conroy were among Westbourne’s best.

For the Bears, Amelia Dawborn kicked two goals, with three other individual goalkickers also contributing. Isabelle Boyle, Sarah Ford and Alexandra Schuller were their best performers.

Kew coach Mannie Di Parsia was disappointed with the result but delighted to see his side secure a finals berth after a tightly contested home-and-away season.

“A fantastic week for the Kew Football Club with three senior teams making finals and we are ecstatic to be one of those teams,” Di Parsia said.

“After such a close and competitive season we are delighted to have earnt our place in the Women’s Premier Finals Campaign for 2026.”

Kew struggled to build momentum during the second quarter as Westbourne opened a 21-point half-time lead, before responding strongly after the main break to reduce the margin to 10 points at three-quarter time.

Despite dominating the tackle and clearance counts, Kew’s inaccuracy and defensive lapses ultimately proved costly.

Alexandra Schuller was a standout with six tackles and three clearances, while Sophia de Castella provided plenty of energy. Isabelle Boyle was particularly impressive in her debut, finishing with 11 disposals and nine tackles.

Di Parsia said the challenge now was to turn their pressure and possession into greater scoreboard impact as the side prepares to face Old Brighton.

“We must build on this relentless pressure and translate our superior possession into more consistent scoreboard impact next week,” he said.

The result sees Kew finish third and Westbourne ninth, with the top-four Kew now preparing for their first finals campaign against fourth-placed Old Brighton.

Fitzroy 6.6 (42) def St Kevin’s 3.4 (22)

Fitzroy also ended its home-and-away campaign on a winning note, defeating St Kevin’s.

Evie Lee kicked two goals for Fitzroy, with four other individual goalkickers contributing to the victory. Milla Lappin, Belinda Woolcock and Emily Hurley were among Fitzroy’s best.

St Kevin’s had two goals from Holly Kenealy and one from Bree Doyle, with Mia Giannopoulos, Doyle and Lilly Griffiths their best performers.

The victory sees Fitzroy finish the season in fifth place, while St Kevin’s finishes ninth.

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With Old Geelong having the bye, the final ladder sees Old Scotch finish first, ahead of Caulfield Grammarians, Kew and Old Brighton, with Fitzroy, West Brunswick, Old Geelong, St Kevin’s and Westbourne Grammarians completing the top nine.

The first week of finals now provides two intriguing contests. Kew and Old Brighton will meet on Saturday, with both sides entering finals after very different final-round results, before Old Scotch and Caulfield Grammarians renew their rivalry on Sunday.

With the minor premiers having defeated Caulfield in Round 17 before the Grammarians bounced back emphatically against West Brunswick, the contest promises to be one of the most anticipated matches of the season.