Fremantle Marlins and Sydney Uni Lions qualify for the Final after another thrilling day of competition

Published Sat 27 Apr 2024

An action packed day three of the Australian Waterpolo League Finals Series confirmed the Women’s Fremantle Marlins and the Men’s Sydney Uni Lions as the last two teams qualified for the AWL Finals. The decisive matches to crown the 2024 AWL Champions will be played tomorrow Sunday 27 April at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre. The Griffith University Queensland Thunder and Drummoyne Devils have already qualified, in the women’s and men’s divisions respectively, after yesterday’s games.

Coming off a close game only won on penalties in the previous round, the Fremantle Marlins had again to fight tooth and nail until the last seconds of their semi final to edge the UTS Balmain Tigers 10-9. After a tense game with multiple lead changes, it was two-time Olympian Glencora McGhie who put the Western Australians in front with just one minute to go. The last seconds of play were frantic on both ends with the Marlins’ defence narrowly holding on to the lead, also thanks to another strong performance from young goalkeeper Izzy Scott.

“It was very stressful,” Scott said. “There were lots of steals on both sides and everyone was shooting, trying to get that last goal. Honestly I was expecting the game to go to penalties again - that would have probably been less stressful than the actual few minutes of that game!

“Every match is nerve wracking, but we’ve got a great team and I always trust the girls to keep us in the game. We’re playing well together and there hasn’t been a single stand out, everyone has been working together and doing their best,” she said.

The loss meant a third-place finish in this years’ AWL Finals Series for the UTS Balmain Tigers, while the Marlins will face the Griffith University Queensland Thunder in tomorrow’s Final. It will be the fourth game in four days for Fremantle, whose third place in the regular season meant they had to come all the way through the qualifying rounds.

“Obviously everyone is feeling a bit of fatigue, but I reckon we can still keep it up and hopefully smash it tomorrow,” Scott continued. “We’ve got nothing to lose and it’s always best to be the underdogs coming into a game like this. There are less expectations and hopefully we can come in and show them what we can do.”

Fatigue will be a factor for the Sydney Uni Lions as well, who won the second men’s semi final defeating the UTS Balmain Tigers 11-7. It was a game of ebbs and flows, with the Lions off to a sluggish start after beating the UWA Torpedoes and the ACU Cronulla Sharks in the qualifying rounds on Thursday and Friday. The Sydney Uni team still managed to capitalise on two Tigers’ red cards, including an early one to captain and top goalscorer Daniel Lawrence, to reach halftime with a three-goal advantage.

“We started off extremely slow, but I think that was because of fatigue from the last two days.” said Sydney Uni Olympian Billy Miller, who scored twice for the Lions today.

“The other team made a few mistakes and there were a few calls that went our way, but the game was still very hard for us. I’m just glad that we were able to control it in the third quarter and then win,” he said.

The Tigers came out of the break with a renewed sense of purpose and managed to turn the momentum of the game around, scoring four unanswered goals early in the third period. It was a crucial moment where the game hung in the balance, before goals from Nick Hallam and Tom McJannett sparked another Lions run to close the game and clinch a Finals berth.

“In that third quarter, it felt like we could have lost it, but luckily enough we were able to come back out and score two quick goals, taking control of the game. I think they lost momentum there and it became a one horse race in the last quarter,” Miller said.

The Lions are excited to face Drummoyne for the title tomorrow, but Miller is aware that it will be a tough task to challenge a fresher team who’s been in winning form all season long.

“They’ve got a really good line-up, they fill every position, they’ve got lots of national team players or former national team players and they only played once here, while we played three hard games,” Miller said. “They’re probably odds-on favourites, but hopefully we can find some extra gear or extra energy as it is a Grand Final. In saying that, tomorrow it’s going to be hell again!”

Two more games were played today to assign fifth places in both divisions. In the women’s series, the Drummoyne Devils defeated the UWA Torpedoes 14-12 on penalties. Tasma Woolley scored four goals for the Devils, who also have goalie Bridget Johnston to thank as she made two crucial saves during the shoot-out to secure fifth place for Drummoyne.

UNSW Wests Magpies and UWA Torpedoes faced off in the last game of the day. Ord Minnett Aussie Sharks co-captain Nathan Power and fellow Olympian Jarrod Gilchrist scored four each for UNSW for a 16-10 Magpies’ win.

AWL Finals Series - Day Three