GNFLW grand final preview: Brigades look to cap off undefeated season against 2022 champs Chapman Valley

Brigades have gone undefeated all season but need one more win against reigning premiers Chapman Valley as they face off for the 2023 Great Northern Football League Women’s flag. The Hawks women’s side has been one of the most dominant teams in the entire GNFL this season, winning every game in the home-and-away season and finishing with a percentage of 537.84. Going the entire season without a loss is something that doesn’t happen very often in sport, and coach Drew MacGregor gives full credit to his team. “It is a strong competition that we do play in, but the effort I think has been huge, with massive numbers at training every week. . . the girls have put in the effort” he said. The side has been unstoppable and helped in large part by the 2023 GNFLW joint best-and-fairest winner in Gemma Dix. “She’s an absolute amazing athlete as is, but I think the biggest one for her is the leadership skills she shows,” MacGregor said. “She has brought a lot of other girls into the game, whether its on game day or at trainings. . . she’s been outstanding and very proud of her.” The side will take on last year’s champions in the Royals, and MacGregor said his team would stick to what has worked for them all year. “They play very well structured footy, so hopefully just match with them as well. . . not really going to change too much,” he said. “We’ve been playing good footy and the girls really understand each other and their roles, just looking to play the same as we have all year.” Chapman Valley have been historically a dominant force in the women’s league, with this being their fourth straight grand final. The Royals come in as defending champions, winning their first flag last year, when they overcame their poor finals record. However, they come into this game as the underdogs, with coach Jay Corlett saying it was nice having the target off their back. “(Brigades) have been the benchmark all year, so it’s actually taken the pressure off us for a change” he said. Chapman Valley managed to scrape into finals off percentage, but have fired up since then, including a nail-biting victory over Northampton last week. “It was a bit of a special one, was a pretty fierce contest. . . it was good to see the girls, just they never ever counted themselves out of that game,” Corlett said. “They were keen to finish it off and it was good to see them run the whole game out, keep challenging and keep attacking and keeping their heads up and their confidence levels up.” Going into the grand final, Corlett said the team would need to keep the Brigades’ big game players in check if they want to win. “To try and curve a couple of key player influences in Gemma Dix and Jessica Giudice-Nairn, obviously try and shut their attacking game style down,” he said. “They’ve got a few damaging players there that we’ll be keeping close check on.” The grand final contest between Brigades and Chapman Valley kicks off from 1.10pm, at WA Country Builders Stadium in Wonthella on Saturday.