SEMI FINALS DECIDED ON DAY ONE OF 2025 AUSTRALIAN WATERPOLO LEAGUE FINALS

The semi finals of the 2025 Australian Waterpolo League have been decided, with the elimination finals won and done on day one of the Finals Series.

Watch today’s replays via KommunityTV - click here

Catch up with all of today’s action below…

WOMEN: UTS BALMAIN TIGERS 16 d DRUMMOYNE DEVILS 9

In the first game of the 2025 Australian Waterpolo League Finals Series, UTS Balmain Tigers matched up against cross town rivals Drummoyne Devils.

Bianca Romano opened the goal scoring for the UTS Balmain Tigers early in the first quarter, her team mates adding another five goals to the tally in the opening quarter, to take the quarter time score to 6-3.

In the second quarter, the Tigers managed another five goals to set themselves up with an 11-5 lead at the half time break.

Strong defence from both teams in the third quarter made it a low scoring affair, with only two goals to the UTS Balmain Tigers and one to the Drummoyne Devils.

Three goals apiece in the fourth quarter, saw the UTS Balmain Tigers claim a 16-9 win.

It was a special game for veteran Bron Knox, who played her 350th Australian Waterpolo League. But for her, it was about achieving the result her team wanted.

“There’s always a few nerves for the first game of the Finals Series, don’t know what the pressure is going to do to some people,” Knox said.

“So for us it was just about chipping away, working away and we just kept that composure and worked the whole way through the game.

“Everyone did a great job today, everyone just did their role and that’s all we can ask…go in there, do your job and play to your strengths, and we’ll play as a team. I think today was a really good team game,” she said.

WOMEN: FREMANTLE MARLINS 14 d CRONULLA SHARKS 12

In the second game of the day, Fremantle Marlins defeated Cronulla Sharks to book their spot in the semi finals.

The Marlins led from start to finish, a 4-2 first quarter setting up the momentum they carried through the full four quarters.

Co-captain Zoe Arancini said it was a full team effort, but there’s always room for improvement ahead of tomorrow’s match up against reigning champions, the Griffith University Queensland Thunder.

“It was a tough competition, tough game, a bit slow and probably a little bit of nerves at the start. But we grinded out a win and that’s the main thing, so we’re onto the next round,” Arancini said.

“We’ve got to look at our defence, probably some things that we need to work on but overall a good win. Pretty happy with that, and to get to the next stage,” she said.

Through to tomorrow’s semi finals, Arancini said the process won’t change, and their approach will be the same as every other game this season. 

“Keep it simple - we’re not changing anything drastically coming into finals. What we’ve got, what we know is…that’s it. We’re just going to work with what we’ve done throughout the season, and keep it simple,” she said.

MEN: FREMANTLE MARINERS 20 d UTS BALMAIN TIGERS 19

In a thrilling penalty shoot out finish, the Fremantle Mariners defeated the UTS Balmain Tigers to make their way through to the semi finals.

With the scores locked at 14-14 at full time, the teams were sent back into the pool for a sudden death penalty shoot out.

Captain Luke Pavillard said it was an emotional win for his team, that they’ll take a moment to enjoy before switching on for tomorrow's semi final against UWA Torpedoes.

“Any game that goes to penalties is going to be emotional, regardless of the outcome, win or lose, you don’t want to be on the wrong side of it,” Pavillard said.

“Today we were fortunate enough to come through, an amazing job by Damo (Williams). It’s an emotional rollercoaster, you get out the other side and all you can do is just be happy that we came out on top,” he said.

Looking ahead to tomorrow’s game, Pavillard said they’ll take a lot of learnings out of today’s game and not be wanting to change too much.

“I mean you have to take confidence, especially with a game like tomorrow. You can’t take time to dwell too much on the mistakes,” Pavillard said.

“At the end of the day we’ll go back, we’ll do a review on what we could have done better…we can always do something better.

“But we’ll definitely look at what we did well as well, because that’s just as important. If you spend too much time thinking about the stuff we could have improved on, you forget that we’re semi finalists and that’s a thing we’ve got to enjoy.

“It’s going to be a great game, UWA is an amazing team,” he said.

MEN: SYDNEY UNI LIONS 12 d DRUMMOYNE DEVILS 6

A dominant display from the Sydney Uni Lions saw them claim the last semi finals spot on offer, as they upset reigning champions Drummoyne Devils.

Sydney Uni Lions young gun Luka Krstic said his team are looking forward to tomorrow's match up, but their approach will remain the same.

“It was a very good game from the boys, we held together very well as a team and I think our defence is what led us into the offence,” Krstic said.

“Our transitions attack was good and by the end of the game you could see that we were the fitter team and we managed to keep subbing very well and beating them in fitness by the end of the last quarter. 

“I think the boys will definitely be confident but this is the type of team that goes into any game, with the same approach no matter if we won today by three goals or one goal, this is the tyoe of team that will approach tomorrow's game the same way. 

“If we are playing the top seeded team or the lowest seeded team, we are still just going to play our game," he said.

2025 AUSTRALIAN WATERPOLO LEAGUE FINALS SERIES - DAY 2

10am | Women’s 5th Playoff | Drummoyne Devils v Cronulla Sharks

11:30am | Women’s Semi Final 1 | Griffith University Queensland Thunder v Fremantle Marlins

1pm | Women’s Semi Final 2 | Sydney Uni Lions v UTS Balmain Tigers

2:30pm | Men’s 5th Playoff | UTS Balmain Tigers v Drummoyne Devils

4pm | Men’s Semi Final 1 | UNSW Wests Magpies v Sydney Uni Lions

5:30pm | Men’s Semi Final 2 | UWA Torpedoes v Fremantle Mariners

In Sydney? Tickets for the 2025 AWL Finals Series are available for $5. CLICK HERE to purchase

Can’t make it to the pool? Every game will be livestreamed via KommunityTV. CLICK HERE to watch