UNSW WESTS MAGPIES AND SYDNEY UNI LIONS CROWNED 2023 AUSTRALIAN WATERPOLO LEAGUE CHAMPIONS

The Australian Water Polo League Finals delivered an impressive gold medals finals playoff at Sydney Olympic Park, with Sydney teams the UNSW West Magpies and Sydney Uni Lions claiming the overall crowns.

An experienced outfit guided UNSW West Magpies to a thrilling one point 11-10 win over Sydney Uni Lions, at the Australian Waterpolo League finals today at Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre.

Four-time Olympian Richie Campbell together with Tokyo Olympian and current Aussie Sharks captain Nathan Power helped to guide an experienced UNSW Wests side to their seventh AWL victory.

While UNSW Wests Magpies were strong from the outset, there was never more than three goals between the two sides.  Trailing 6-9  into the final quarter, Sydney Uni staged a thrilling comeback pushing the game to be within one point with just 30 seconds left on the clock.

But with Japanese dual Olympian Katsuyuki Tanamura in goals, UNSW Wests Magpies proved formidable in defence and held off the Lions.

Despite four Olympic Games and more than 300 AWL games, Campbell admitted this was the most nervous he felt before an AWL gold medal final.

“That was crazy, I don't know what happened today. I was the most nervous I have ever been before a final of AWL and for some reason the team put together the best game that they have ever played together today.

“We haven't had a single game this season when we have led from the start and yes they came back at the end and almost got us, but for some reason we just trusted what we were doing.

“When we lost Nathan [penalty ejection] we just kept going, stuck to the same routine and it all seemed to work. I am super happy with the efforts from everyone today. That was amazing,” he said.

In the women’s, minor premier’s Sydney Uni Lions capped off their season in style taking gold in the women’s AWL final after defeating UWA Torpedoes 15-8.

It’s the first time the Sydney Uni Women have won the AWL title since 2017, with a fresh faced side combined with some strong international players delivering an impressive gold medal performance.

Co-captain for the Lions, Isobelle Pamp, was impressive in goals and helped lead her side to victory.

"I can't believe it, I'm so excited. To be able to lead this group of girls to a Championship it just means the world to me.

"I don't like to celebrate until that final buzzer goes, but it was such a good feeling as soon as it did. I had all this built up tension and I was ready to jump in the pool and cheer with my team.

"With a player like Bron Knox leading [UWA] we had to have a very tactical game plan to shut down her, she leads the team really well. The plan was to respect all their dominant players but at the same time believe in ourselves and that's exactly what we did today to win," she said.

For UWA Torpedoes captain Dayna O’Leary, this has been 10 years in the making for her and she couldn’t be prouder to see her side make it all the way to the gold medal match. 

“It’s so special, I think the girls have put in such a great effort. We might not have pulled through and won the game today, but there were 23 games that got us to this point,” said O’Leary.

“We’ve played so well, and we’re really proud of what we’ve done. We’re walking away with a silver medal, and that’s such an achievement for the girls and shows how far not only we as a team have come this season, but also how far our Club has come since its inception,” she said.

Griffith University Queensland Thunder have narrowly defeated Fremantle Marlins 10-9 to clinch the bronze medal in the women’s division.

The Marlins held an early one point lead at the end of the first quarter, but the Thunder dominated the second quarter to score four goals and manage to keep the Marlins scoreless.

Despite the Marlins coming home strong in the final half to outscore the Thunder by two goals, the Thunder managed to hold their lead and take home the win.

Griffith University Queensland Thunder Captain, Bridget Leeson-Smith, said that while the team would have liked to have been in the gold medal playoff to defend their title, they were pleased to finish the AWL on the podium.

“We are happy to come away with the bronze.  While we would have liked to be playing for gold, we have built so much over the last four days.

“We have a lot of nice young girls playing here and it’s a really good experience for them to come and be exposed to something like this and each season we are going to keep building, and they are the pathway,” she said.

ACU Cronulla Sharks have secured the bronze medal after delivering a strong 10-5 win over Drummoyne Devils.

The Sharks bounced back after going down to the Devils in the final round robin game yesterday.  The scores were locked 2-2 at the end of the first quarter, with the Sharks dominating the second quarter to secure two goals and keep the Devils scoreless.  Heading into the third quarter in the lead, the Sharks dominated to score five goals to the Devil's two.

ACU Cronulla Sharks captain Sam Cockios led his team from in front proving vital in goals.

“We had a few losses leading into the finals series, so our momentum wasn’t there. But we really pulled it together and played a very strong game of water polo today. Hopefully moving forward we can build towards the gold medal match.

“This year in particular we had a lot of depth with our juniors, it actually became quite hard to pick a team and everyone wanted to play which is great. We have a good group of boys and I’m sure they’ll stay together moving forward,” he said.

For full match replays visit KommunityTV.  For full results click here.