Caulfield Grammarians v Old Scotch – William Buck Premier Women’s Grand Final Review

Caulfield Grammarians v Old Scotch

William Buck Premier Women’s Grand Final

Sunday September 20, 2:30pm @ Revo Fitness Park

The William Buck Premier Women’s season reaches its conclusion this weekend, with Old Scotch and Caulfield Grammarians set to meet in a Grand Final that brings together two sides that have repeatedly tested each other across the past two seasons.

For Old Scotch, the occasion represents an opportunity to claim a third consecutive premiership, while Caulfield Grammarians will be looking to reverse the result of last year’s Grand Final.

The two sides have already met three times during the 2026 home-and-away season and finals series.

Old Scotch opened the 2026 season with a 26-point victory, winning 9.10.64 to 6.2.38 in Round 1.

Scotch again prevailed in Round 17, producing a dominant performance to defeat the Fields 6.7.43 to 1.2.8.

That result came just a few weeks before the sides’ first finals meeting, when the Stars entered the opening week of the finals as minor premiers and undefeated.

Caulfield triumphed, overcoming a 17-point first-quarter deficit to defeat Old Scotch 6.9.45 to 6.1.37 and earn a week off ahead of the Grand Final.

The victory demonstrated the Fields ability to respond when Old Scotch established early momentum, something coach Dani Di Stefano highlighted after the match.

“I was incredibly pleased with our pressure all over the ground for almost a full four quarters, and our ability to stick to our brand despite the momentum swings in the game,” Di Stefano said.

The Fields were forced to adjust after the Stars gained ascendancy at the centre bounce early in the contest.

“We let Scotch get ascendancy at centre bounce early which made life hard for our backline. We made some adjustments in the midfield which allowed us to limit those quick clearances and get the game more on our terms,” Di Stefano said.

For Old Scotch, the qualifying-final defeat provided a setback, but coach Dean Anderson was quick to acknowledge Caulfield’s performance.

“Full credit to Caulfield. They were amazing and fully deserved the win. We know that they are capable of what they produced,” Anderson said.

Old Scotch identified that their front-half pressure and ball use were areas requiring improvement after the loss.

“We were relatively poor with our possession efficiency, our ability to convert possession into scoring opportunity,” Anderson said.

“We allowed Caulfield to take an unacceptable level of intercept and often uncontested marks from our offensive plays.”

Old Scotch responded in emphatic fashion the following week, defeating Kew 15.13.103 to 2.3.15 in the Preliminary Final.

Jordan Mifsud kicked five goals, taking her to 50 goals for the season in her 50th game, while Mia Cowan and Anna Vrsecky added three goals each.

The performance gave Anderson confidence that his side had addressed some of the issues exposed against Caulfield.

“It was a very strong response to last weekend’s game against Caulfield,” Anderson said.

“Our focus was on our offence and the prelim final was a showcase of how well we can execute in offence.”

The 2026 Grand Final is a rematch of the 2025 decider, where Old Scotch defeated Caulfield 4.9.33 to 4.4.28.

That five-point result continued Old Scotch’s recent run in the competition and means this year’s Grand Final will be the latest chapter in a rivalry that has repeatedly produced close contests.

For Old Scotch, victory would deliver a third consecutive premiership and further extend the club’s recent run of success.

For Caulfield, the Grand Final represents another opportunity after falling narrowly short last season.

The two sides enter Saturday’s contest having already demonstrated different ways of challenging one another.

Much of the contest could again revolve around the midfield and the ability to control territory.

Caulfield’s qualifying-final victory came after its midfield adjusted to Old Scotch’s strong start at centre bounce, while the Fields’ pressure across the ground prevented the Stars from consistently turning possession into scoring opportunities. Look for Ebony Angelopoulos and Jacinta Baxter to put their stamp on their battles early in the contest.

For Old Scotch, the forward of centre combination of Mifsud, Cowan and Vrsecky will provide a significant attacking threat after the trio combined for 11 goals across the Preliminary Final.

It is delicately poised to be a fantastic contest with the 2026 William Buck Premier Women’s premiership on the line.

Prediction: Old Scotch by 7 points