SUPER SATURDAY SEMI FINALS WON AND DONE IN 2025 AUSTRALIAN WATERPOLO LEAGUE FINALS SERIES

The teams for the 2025 Australian Waterpolo League medal matches are set, after a huge Super Saturday of semi finals.

Watch today’s replays via KommunityTV - click here

Catch up with all of today’s action below…

WOMEN’S SEMI FINAL 1: GRIFFITH UNI QUEENSLAND THUNDER 9 d FREMANTLE MARLINS 7

The Griffith University Queensland Thunder have taken one step closer to defending their Australian Waterpolo League crown, with a win against Fremantle Marlins in the women’s semi finals today.

Eager to continue their winning form, the Griffith University Queensland Thunder lead from start to finish, an early hat trick from Olympic silver medalist Alice Williams setting up a formidable lead.

“It was a good game, we had a really nice start and we kind of let them come back in the second quarter, and then it was a little bit of cat and mouse after that,” Williams said.

“But pretty happy with that performance, we’ve got a lot of young girls as well so this is their first big national league game, so a bit of nerves were happening as well,” she said.

Looking ahead to tomorrow’s gold medal match, Williams said they won’t be taking the occasion lightly.

“We’ll have a bit of confidence going in, but no complacency. We know that Sydney Uni and Balmain are both really, really good teams, they’ve got such solid players and experienced players,” Williams said.

“I think we’ll take what we can from today’s game, but then we’ll be looking forward to the next game and how we can improve there,” she said.

WOMEN’S SEMI FINAL 2: SYDNEY UNI LIONS 8 d UTS BALMAIN TIGERS 6

The 2025 Australian Waterpolo League women’s gold medal game is set to be a State of Origin style affair, after the Sydney uni Lions booked their spot following a win against cross town rivals UTS Balmain Tigers.

A full team effort, courtesy of strong attack, and formidable defence anchored by goal keeper Isobelle Pamp was the key for the Sydney Uni Lions today.

“It was a very tense game, Balmain definitely brought it as we expected, but it was great to get away with the win,” Pamp said.

“It was definitely a hard hit out, and we know that Queensland are going to bring the same sort of strength and determination.

“We’re just going to try and learn from our mistakes today, and go in hard and confident tomorrow,” he said.

MEN’S SEMI FINAL 1: UNSW WESTS MAGPIES 12 d SYDNEY UNI LIONS 8

The UNSW Wests Magpies are chasing an historic eighth title, after confirming their place in tomorrow’s men’s gold medal match.

For the Magpies, after finishing outside of the medals last season, there’s one thing they are chasing this season - gold.

“For us, there’s no excuses now. With how we’ve been playing, and the confidence we have…it’s no excuses if we don’t get the job done,” said Wests veteran Nathan Power.

Reflecting on today’s game, Power said it was the defence from both teams that made for a low scoring affair.

“Their defence shut up shop for a fair bit of that game, and it was quite a bit of up and down for us today,” Power said.

“I think our defence came on really good towards the end - there was so many moments when our defence lapsed and Johnny Hedges in goals was able to get to places that not many others can.

“Certainly him shutting up shop there for us helped, and we were able to get some goals in those key moments,” he said.

MEN’S SEMI FINAL 2: UWA TORPEDOES 22 d FREMANTLE MARINERS 20

It was raining goals in the second men’s semi final, the final score 22-20 falling in the favour of UWA Torpedoes.

UWA import, and USA Olympian, Hannes Daube top scored with 12 goals, while Fremantle’s Luke Pavillard scored 10.

“It was a tough game,” said Daube. “They made a good start and made a big run in the second quarter.

“We had a moment of resilience in our team, we have been working hard and we took it one possession at a time in our huddle. 

“We knew there was a lot of time left in the game to come back and I’m just really proud of this team for the effort they put in. It took every single one of us to come back in this game against a really good team.

“We are here to win the tournament and there's a really good team ahead of us tomorrow, so we are just going to try and recover the best we can and look forward to tomorrow,” he said.

MEDAL MATCHES

10am | Women’s Bronze | UTS Balmain Tigers v Fremantle Marlins

11:30am | Women’s Gold | Sydney Uni Lions v Griffith University Queensland Thunder

1pm | Men’s Bronze | Sydney Uni Lions v Fremantle Mariners

2:30pm | Men’s Gold | UNSW Wests Magpies v UWA Torpedoes